My old boss told me to always get 30% up front and I thought he was paranoid

When I started my landscaping company back in 2017, my old boss Bill from Albuquerque told me to never start a job without 30% down. I figured he was just being a grumpy old guy. Then I took a $1,200 patio job for someone off Nextdoor with zero deposit, and after I finished the grading and bought the pavers, they ghosted me completely. Bill was right, and now I don't touch a shovel until I see that upfront payment hit my account. Has anyone else had to learn this lesson the hard way?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_drew4d agoMost Upvoted

Did you at least get to keep the pavers? I learned the same exact lesson doing drywall in 2018. Some dude in a big house had me do his entire basement, like 4 rooms. I was so pumped about the job I didn't ask for a dime up front. Bought all the mud and tape and rental tools. Finished the whole thing and he hit me with "the check is in the mail" for three weeks. Finally just showed up at his house at 7am on a Saturday and he paid me half in cash to get me to leave. Now I just tell people the 30% is for materials and they usually get it.

alext524d ago

And it's ALWAYS the people who can most afford to pay who pull that stuff too, right? I swear there's some kind of unspoken rule where the bigger the house, the more they try to nickel and dime you. It's like they see a guy doing manual labor and just assume we don't know how contracts work or something. The whole "check's in the mail" routine is just the oldest trick in the book, it's amazing how many people still try it.

sandra_moore304d ago

Honestly, rich people get burned just as often by contractors who take the money and ghost, so it's not like they're always the ones in the wrong here. Tbh, if you don't ask for anything upfront, you're basically telling them you trust them with zero skin in the game, and then you're shocked they take advantage. Ngl, the 30% rule works fine if you're firm about it from the start, but showing up at 7am on a Saturday just makes you look desperate.