Retention money - Am i in the wrong?

[dig dug dan]

did a job early jan for people i worked for before (blocked drive), this time they wanted their side path blocked and a patio extended.
Job all done, except the kiln dried sand and final wack.
client emails to say happy, and can he pay bacs.
I email an invoice, but i knock off £100 +vat as a retainer. I explained why i did this, as it was a goodwill thing to let him know that i would be back to finish when the weather was drier and the blocks were dry, and he could pay the remainder then.
so many people i know get all the money and then don't go back, but i want to be fair.
Two weeks later, i email to say i will be back in the morning to finish.
Email comes back, saying its ok, we finished it ourselves(i left the kds there) as we needed to tidy things back round the side.
I then email the £100 retainer invoice
He quibbled this as he said he finished it himself so why should he pay?
What has annoyed me is that you do these things for people to show them you are honest, and this happens.
I explained that at no time did they say they were finishing it themselves, or tell me until i went to complete.
(they did not have a wacker)
He has agreed £80, as "he had to buy an extra bag of kiln dried"
I am happy with that as its a few miles away so it would have cost me that in fuel/time.
Just wondered what others thought??

[Pablo]

Tw#t I suppose he felt that the retainer was the same as the value of the work to be completed. I do similar things when snags can't be completed straight away but have never had that happen at least you got most of it.

[dig dug dan]

thats what i thought. I am not alone!

[parishpaver]

What about liability issues?

I know you will have wacked bedding layer beforehand, but would lack of final wack lead to consolidation problems later on?

[Carberry]

Not worth ruining your reputation over £100 but I would have said you can't guarantee the work that you did if any issues show up.

[dig dug dan]

I know you will have wacked bedding layer beforehand, but would lack of final wack lead to consolidation problems later on?

true, but since they did this themselves, its their problem? i cannot guarantee other peoples work after all!

[parishpaver]

I'd keep any correspondence to that effect!

[lutonlagerlout]

so if he can do this why didnt he do the lot himself?
either he pays the lot or its a CCJ
then the dark arts come forth
LLL

[rab1]

this bloke is a complete fanny at best.

[Dave_L]

I wouldn't bother chasing the £20 or so lost, simply not worth my time or effort! £80 is a result anyway in my books!

[lutonlagerlout]

i used to be of the opinion that take no monies till job done
but i am getting more and more of the ilk of if its in my bank then we can negotiate
too many folk use money owed as a bargaining tool
personally i have never been knocked and never will be
its nearly happened but i found him and we came to a happy outcome
if someone tries to knock you for quality work done as quoted then to me they are trying to take the food out of your kids mouth
easy to work out the results
LLL

[Dave_L]

I'm seeing myself asking for monies up front on some of the bigger jobs these days. I simply cannot afford to put us at any risk these days. £XXXX in the bank via BACS on our first day.

When you can easily spunk £10k in a day on materials, it gets pretty serious.

95% of our work is payment within 14 days of practical completion. Have to chase the odd one or two but not too bad, generally.

Most people have no problem although I find it is all about how you ask for it. Never do it over the phone - always face-to-face.

[dig dug dan]

thats a good point tony, and dave, the way i see it , why shouldn't you get money on day one. they are effectively asking you to lend them money as soon as materials turn up
can you go into tesco, get the groceries and ask them to send a bill?

this bloke is a complete fanny at best.

thats a good one. he does bat for the other team!

[Carberry]

Every job I do I ask for 30% up front. I give them a contract signed by both parties and a receipt printed on carbon paper. Never been stung on the landscaping, only for the gas (twice) kerosene (once) red diesel (once).

Got my money back for the diesel, found the workplace of the woman who did a runner with kerosene money and found the new home address of the two people that did a runner with gas bottle money.

I sell gas to a corner shop, the asian owner didn't pay my driver and tried to give himself an account so when I went up there and he didn't have any cash or his cheque book I started grabbing arm fulls of booze and told him I would pay in a couple of weeks (I don't even drink :p) The cheque book magically appeared.

[Dave_L]

We were thinking during the week, oil delivery companies must attract a fair few non-payers/difficult payers....unless it is all up front.