Doing work for furniture manufacturers

[gene]

A homeowner buys an expensive sofa. The fabric frays within a year. It is defective. The store calls the manufacturer and the manufacturer wants an upholstery estimate.

The store calls you and asks you to work directly with the manufacturer. You sent your estimate to the manufacturer. They say the work is approved and you will be getting the fabric.

You told the manufacturer that you need 1/2 of the estimate before you pick up and reupholster the sofa. You need the final amount paid before you deliver the sofa.

You get the fabric but no check for the 1/2 deposit.

You refuse to pick up the furniture until you get the deposit.

It seems that the manufacturer is hoping that pressure from the store will get you to do the job, then you can wrestle with the manufacturer to get paid.

When you do the job, the homeowner is happy, the store is happy, the manufacturer is happy, but you, who had nothing to do with this problem in the first place, are unhappy because you did all the work to make everyone happy and you have not been paid.

Have anyone else had these kinds of situations?

I am not going to pick up the furniture until I get a deposit check, and I will not deliver until I get paid in full. Does this sound OK to you? Am I being too unrealistic in dealing directly with a manufacturer? Am I being too strict - cutting off my nose to spite my face? I do not want to damage my relationship with the store, but I guess more than that, I do not want to reupholster a sofa and then have to wait and wait and fight and fight to get paid.

Thank you for your replys.

Gene

[bobbin]

That has not happened to me.  A guy I used to work for always required a 50% deposit on work he took on.  He always got it, too, or no work was performed.

I think your business requirements are reasonable.  You are a small businessman with overhead of your own and expenses that must be met in a timely manner.  A large company often deals with payables on a "so many days" schedule, and unless you specify and require otherwise your bill could well be one of them.  I think explaining your position to them will make collecting the deposit easier. 

[SHHR]

This doesn't relate to your issue, but it shows how waiting for payment can be a hindrance.

I recovered a seat in a local business' delivery truck. I even went and pulled the seat out, delivered and installed it when finished to our local municipal airport where the truck was stored.

First off, the customer is not a new one. I've done work before on his boats, so I wasn't too concerned knowing I'd be paid.

I called and told him the seat was done and installed to wich he replied he was leaving town on a short trip and the first of the next week he would pay   -not a big deal yet-  .

I did go to his office to drop off an invoice with his secretary, again, she said he was gone and to come back the first of next week .  Still no big deal since I knew about it.

The next week came and nothing yet. He called me and said hey when are you going to bring an invoice by? I replied I did last week. He finally said oh, yeah I see it here in my box by my desk.
He went on to say I could come get paid or he could mail it so I said I'll come by to get it.

When I got there he was gone , but the secretary handed me an envelope so I was on my way only to discover the check was made out to a shop that I never heard of and in a different state!

It turns out he did lose my invoice and instead of calling and asking what the name was, he googled what he though was my shops name and that is what he found so thats what he made the check out to.

I'm just thankful he didn't mail it out and another shop got paid for my work.

My new policy is payment on delivery, No exceptions!
Kyle

[byhammerandhand]

I'd say you made your (reasonable) terms clear at the beginning of the transaction.  They implicitly agreed to your terms by sending the fabric.  I happen to know that this is your usual and customary policy.  You are not singling them out for any reason.

I usually have recurring clients that I do "due upon receipt,"  but they've earned that by paying promptly in the past.  I had one customer who I had to nudge a few times that "no more work until I get paid for outstanding invoices," once they reached a magic number.  Unfortunately, a few years later, they went bankrupt and left me with a write-off.  I had just done about 4 jobs for them the 3 days prior to their filing.  :( :-(

[MinUph]

  I too require a 50% deposit on residential work if its more than a couple hundred dollars. But if your going to do work for a large company it is customary to bill 30 days. I generally would discount 2%10 net 30. I have had to wait 45 days for some payments but that is business. Expecting a large company with a AP department to change the way they do business is, in my opinion, not reasonable.
  In todays economy it is understandable to be a little leery of businesses going under. If they are solid I would take the work. It may lead to more.

[scarab29]

At least a purchase order listing the work to be done and the cost signed by someone of purchasing authority. I do some work here nad there for the local towns. You know you won't get a check for a while like after the borough meeting. When doing business to business I require a purchase order before any work will be started. Retail , cash talks , deposit only !!!!!!!

[west coast]

I do repairs for a number of manufactuers and my policy is a faxed or emailed work order with a work order number which is referred to on the invoice, no paper work no work done. Its tough to get deposits out of the manufactuers but having told them your policy before hand I say screw em let them get somebody else. If you are busy enough why even condsider it, it took me a long time to weed out the bad payers 45 90 days etc. and keep the good ones. Oh and if you wind up doing the work remember to add an agravation tax.