Rare event

New customer called for a one off local job this morning. Told them £50. After an initial silence and no doubt picking themselves up off the floor, [after no doubt expecting a quote of I imagine £15] they said 'wow, if we want it done we will call back' After about half hour, they called back and asked us to do it. I did it myself, collected, then delivered to a nice lady who again asked how much, I said £60 inc the VAT, she moaned and said 'I have only got £50, just hang on' She went back inside and came back out and gave me £60 plus a £5 tip!

Such a rare event to be paid immediately instead of 90 days, like from most we work for. Also, to get a tip, :) a once in 20 year happening.

Cash in hand? Don't tell the taxman

Nope all through the books.

They have asked to be invoiced!

Leave the cash in hand stuff to the E bay wallers

Most cash paying jobs require a receipt (invoice marked paid) as invariably someone always claims it back, I got a £10 tip this week from a scrap metal merchant (needed a part for one of their machines), probably had so much money he didn't know what to do with it

Used to often get tips when doing forgotten passport work as the alternative of not getting it their is usually very costly, often just offsets the extra fuel used from doing stupid speeds.

RAPID LIGHT TRANSPORT LTD. said:

Such a rare event to be paid immediately instead of 90 days, like from most we work for.

Is 90 days really the norm out there?

It is for me with some customers.

MY choice,

some of mine are 60 day a few 30 day

Poor old lady, bet she gave you her last fiver.

RAPID LIGHT TRANSPORT LTD. said:

It is for me with some customers.

MY choice,

some of mine are 60 day a few 30 day

It's not official yet, but we will be moving from 30 day to 7 day payment sometime in June.

AJM. Glad you got back to the point of the thread. Rapid. Can't believe you'd take a fiver off an old lady after charging her so much. That's despicable. Hope you're pleased with yourself.

I don't believe anyone said anything about being old did they?

She was a nice lady, that does not make her old... Or does it?

DJ Specialist Couriers said:

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She was a nice lady, that does not make her old... Or does it?

Does it really matter, Admin can you please take my comment off this thread when you have time, there are too many people on here capable of taking a tongue in cheek comment and making it into something far worse thanks

AJM sameday Couriers said:

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DJ Specialist Couriers said:

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She was a nice lady, that does not make her old... Or does it?

Does it really matter, Admin can you please take my comment off this thread when you have time, there are too many people on here capable of taking a tongue in cheek comment and making it into something far worse thanks

Sorry AJM, it was an observation not a criticism. Did not mean to offend!

Courier Expert said:

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RAPID LIGHT TRANSPORT LTD. said:

It is for me with some customers.

MY choice,

some of mine are 60 day a few 30 day

It's not official yet, but we will be moving from 30 day to 7 day payment sometime in June.

What do you want... a medal?

If you are offering :o) lol

RGM Courier Services said:

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AJM. Glad you got back to the point of the thread. Rapid. Can't believe you'd take a fiver off an old lady after charging her so much. That's despicable. Hope you're pleased with yourself.

Did I say Old?

Nope,

And why is it so much as you put it?

If you want to turn out for peanuts that is your prerogative, but who are you to judge what is too much?

AJM sameday Couriers said:

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DJ Specialist Couriers said:

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She was a nice lady, that does not make her old... Or does it?

Does it really matter, Admin can you please take my comment off this thread when you have time, there are too many people on here capable of taking a tongue in cheek comment and making it into something far worse thanks

No probs Gary. I know your comment was a bit if fun. However I do agree about too many on here getting things out of context.

Courier Expert said:

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RAPID LIGHT TRANSPORT LTD. said:

It is for me with some customers.

MY choice,

some of mine are 60 day a few 30 day

It's not official yet, but we will be moving from 30 day to 7 day payment sometime in June.

Oh well, at least you will attract the desperate to work for you.

You obviously have not studied business management as you would have been advised NOT to pay before 30 days

Alan I would rise to it mate.. You will still be here a long time from now.. let em get on with it..

Wow, if you all drove your vehicles in a confined space it would be like fairground dodgems everyone having a go... Play nice!

Rapid. I must admit i assumed she was old because ' nice lady' implies one of the older generation. Not that it matters how old she is the main point is that I think it's unprofessional to accept tips off anyone. And who are you to assume I work for peanuts? I can assure you I don't, but I do chsrge a fair price.

Some people give tips because they appreciate the driver/riders additional effort that was put into the part that they played in achieving sometimes what seems impossible, if they've never been offered a tip its probably due more to their service levels

RGM Courier Services said:

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Rapid. I must admit i assumed she was old because ' nice lady' implies one of the older generation. Not that it matters how old she is the main point is that I think it's unprofessional to accept tips off anyone. And who are you to assume I work for peanuts? I can assure you I don't, but I do chsrge a fair price.

Well you should not assume. I couldn't care less how you run your business and I did not say that YOU work for peanuts! You stated that my charging her so much is dispicable. It is naff all to do with you, and what I charged was ok with the customer, if they did not want to pay what I wanted they wouldn't have done. As for not accepting a tip, I wholeheartedly commend you.

MK Bikes said:

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Some people give tips because they appreciate the driver/riders additional effort that was put into the part that they played in achieving sometimes what seems impossible, if they've never been offered a tip its probably due more to their service levels

Spot on Tony

RAPID LIGHT TRANSPORT LTD. said:

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Courier Expert said:

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RAPID LIGHT TRANSPORT LTD. said:

It is for me with some customers.

MY choice,

some of mine are 60 day a few 30 day

It's not official yet, but we will be moving from 30 day to 7 day payment sometime in June.

Oh well, at least you will attract the desperate to work for you.

You obviously have not studied business management as you would have been advised NOT to pay before 30 days

You think paying sub-contractors this quickly is a bad idea then? What does anyone else think?

Am all for seven days

Courier Expert said:

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You think paying sub-contractors this quickly is a bad idea then? What does anyone else think?

I did not say that I think it is a bad idea!

I said that in Business studies you are told not to pay early. In my DMS studies we were told that money is best kept for as long as possible in ones own account!

surely that makes sense? You wont find many organisations that will not hold on to their money for as long as possible.

30 days is the accepted terms in this country.

I fail to see what Alan saying he has customers on 90 days has got to do with you paying drivers after 7 days Andrew

He wasn't referring to his payment terms to subbies so why even introduce it

It's just another lame attempt for you to "advertise" yourself which is in breach of mtvan forum rules

No doubt you will get away with it as there seem to be 2 different rules on here.

One for you, and another for everyone else

Whooppeedoo Andrew is thinkin of paying you after 7 days... Lets all dance round the Maypole

I'll try and source him an appropriate medal Rob, that he indicated he thought would be nice

Didn't I say somewhere before that paying early is a ruse to get prices lowered? Or did that comment get pulled?

Its a cheap publicity stunt to get the naive to work at lower rates than they would normally do

I'll see you lot in 2 days after my suspension... lol

Get on Shed5 Rob, we can participate in forums without the fear of being banned there!

Been thinking about it Alan

Do it :)

Correct me if I am wrong Andrew but with the amount of Google Ad words you seem to have I would guess a lot of your custom is one off? If this is the case, you have the money before the job starts.

Admin must be watching Eurovison

Speed Couriers (Stansted) said:

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Admin must be watching Eurovison

They will be furious when they realise they have missed this to watch that riveting television

Blimey, I pop out to get some fish and chips and come back to all this fuss!

Speed Couriers (Stansted) said:

Its a cheap publicity stunt to get the naive to work at lower rates than they would normally do

I'll see you lot in 2 days after my suspension... Lol

It's hardly cheap, it's actually going to remove thousands of pounds from Courier Expert's bank account and put it into our suppliers accounts. I could think of less painful ways, if publicity is all I wanted!

Courier Expert said:

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Speed Couriers (Stansted) said:

Its a cheap publicity stunt to get the naive to work at lower rates than they would normally do

I'll see you lot in 2 days after my suspension... Lol

It's hardly cheap, it's actually going to remove thousands of pounds from Courier Expert's bank account and put it into our suppliers accounts. I could think of less painful ways, if publicity is all I wanted!

Good business sense that :)

RAPID LIGHT TRANSPORT LTD. said:

It's hardly cheap, it's actually going to remove thousands of pounds from Courier Expert's bank account and put it into our suppliers accounts. I could think of less painful ways, if publicity is all I wanted!

Good business sense that :)

I'm thinking outside the box :o)

MK Bikes said:

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Correct me if I am wrong Andrew but with the amount of Google Ad words you seem to have I would guess a lot of your custom is one off? If this is the case, you have the money before the job starts.

We do have a lot of account customers on 30 day terms, but in reality end up paying nearer 60, even with a few gentle reminders, but there is some truth in what you say. I've done my sum's and overall, it's workable to pay sub-contractors 7 days.

Speed Couriers (Stansted) said:

It's just another lame attempt for you to "advertise" yourself which is in breach of mtvan forum rules

I think it is relevant to put our payments terms up for debate on here, it's relevant to any mtvan supplier who carries out works for us and some may well have an opinion on it.

Courier Expert said:

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Speed Couriers (Stansted) said:

It's just another lame attempt for you to "advertise" yourself which is in breach of mtvan forum rules

I think it is relevant to put our payments terms up for debate on here, it's relevant to any mtvan supplier who carries out works for us and some may well have an opinion on it.

Pointless really, as those that would consider taking work off you are obviously going to be on board with your revolutionary 'out of the box ' thinking.

RAPID LIGHT TRANSPORT LTD. said:

I think it is relevant to put our payments terms up for debate on here, it's relevant to any mtvan supplier who carries out works for us and some may well have an opinion on it.

Pointless really, as those that would consider taking work off you are obviously going to be on board with your revolutionary 'out of the box ' thinking.

I just think couriers will appreciate getting paid quickly and will not have to waste time chasing for their money. It's simple really!

Courier Expert said:

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RAPID LIGHT TRANSPORT LTD. said:

I think it is relevant to put our payments terms up for debate on here, it's relevant to any mtvan supplier who carries out works for us and some may well have an opinion on it.

Pointless really, as those that would consider taking work off you are obviously going to be on board with your revolutionary 'out of the box ' thinking.

I just think couriers will appreciate getting paid quickly and will not have to waste time chasing for their money. It's simple really!

That simple, you want a debate in it :) lol

It's not me making all the fuss, lol

RAPID LIGHT TRANSPORT LTD. said:

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MK Bikes said:

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Some people give tips because they appreciate the driver/riders additional effort that was put into the part that they played in achieving sometimes what seems impossible, if they've never been offered a tip its probably due more to their service levels

Spot on Tony

I agree with that MK. Ive had plenty of offers of tips and always politely refused. Rapid has had one in 20 years! Plus Rapid. I said taking a tip was despicable, not your charge. That is extortion not despicable!

Have I missed something here?

Whats wrong with taking a tip?

Speed Couriers (Stansted) said:

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Have I missed something here?

Whats wrong with taking a tip?

I agree, but i doubt you would listen to any of mine :o)

Finally we agree on something :oP

Speed Couriers (Stansted) said:

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Have I missed something here?

Whats wrong with taking a tip?

If i turned away tips i'd be many many £s down! About 30% of my cash customers pay tips ranging from £10 to £30 - and i've never even hinted they do so. They're showing appreciation. I don't see what's unprofessional about gratefully accepting.

Bloody ell, wots going on in these forums lately? I've seen less bitchiness among the girls touting for 'busines' in a cheap brothel in West Africa!!!!

Couldn't agree more Moray. Im afraid It's like being in a school playground with 'cliquey' playmates. Just saying I don't agree with accepting tips. Im trying to get away from the Thatcher Mentality based on greed and "screw everyone for what you can get" attitude. The sad thing is that some here have that attitude and don't realise it. I think people feel obliged to tip these days and it must come as a breath of fresh air when someone actually refuses to take one.

RGM Courier Services said:

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Couldn't agree more Moray. Im afraid It's like being in a school playground with 'cliquey' playmates. Just saying I don't agree with accepting tips. Im trying to get away from the Thatcher Mentality based on greed and "screw everyone for what you can get" attitude. The sad thing is that some here have that attitude and don't realise it. I think people feel obliged to tip these days and it must come as a breath of fresh air when someone actually refuses to take one.

Well I disagree As someone else stated, being offered a tip possibly means that they were impressed with the service offered! I often tip people who have been friendly and offered a great service, I thought that was what decent folk did!

RGM, you would find things very difficult if you were to visit New York, for example, where it is almost mandatory to tip!

Why bring Mrs Thatcher into this?

I for one am in business to make money, not line every others pockets, especially the ones who do not put any effort into their business. That is Capitalism, not having to make ends meet by relying on others! Saying that, anyone who helps and does a good service I have no problem in giving them a share of profits!

Sorry for going off thread, but ..............................

I fail to see how on earth anyone offering a tip can be associated with Thatchers mentality of greed or screw everyone for what they can get?

How you can go from one to the other astounds me, it's not as if anyone is forcing anyone elses hand and demanding a tip so i'm a bit confused as to how you can make such a bizzare connection.

If someone offers a tip, then surely it's because they feel the courier has done a job above and beyond

I was given a bottle of wine for delivering something on xmas eve, and to associate me with Thatcher is way beyond the mark as Alan can testify... lol

Surely if someone offers a courier a tip, a business where tipping is not as common as taxis, restaurants etc then surely it must be because the customer is very happy and grateful for the service they have been given. I think it would mean more to be tipped as a courier whereas the other industries it has become expected to give a tip. I think you can sometimes offend a person if you decline. Also does the mention of Thatcher mean that every hairdresser, waiter. waitress, taxi driver, porter, is a Thatcherite?

I used to get tips as a postman and I got the impression people just like to show their appreciation for providing a good service. I don't see the Thatcher connection, apart from that was the era when I was a postman!

I didn't think postmen were allowed to accept tips?

MK Bikes said:

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I didn't think postmen were allowed to accept tips?

No idea what the rules are now but we all got them (some got more than just money if you know what I mean), and it was no secret, especially at christmas.

Anyway that was nearly 20 years ago, where we were allowed to smoke while sorting mail. That would be unimaginable these days!

Speed Couriers (Stansted) said:

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Been thinking about it Alan

As Alans says.. Dont think just do it..

I see no reason why not to tip the Postie, dustman & milkman I have done so to all of them in the past, the dustmen are a good bunch and even go into the front garden now if I haven't put the rubbish out by the time they come, I suppose continued good service is another by product of gratuities.

I did leave a 15 pence tip in Costa coffee in Ambleside this afternoon.

Don't tell me, you had a hole in your pocket?

No hole in my pockets, bill came to £ 4.85 nice friendly service so left my change, if change would of been a pound I would have that, I tip when I get good service, I have been to USA 7 times the tipping Capital of the world, but I still only tip when the service is good, tipping is up to the individual, I only tip if I'm satisfied.