Authorization From The Person Who’s Paying

Hey guys,

So, we have an interesting situation here.

Buddy calls in. He’s organizing services for his family. He doesn’t live there. He’s paying. In this particular situation, he specified we need to speak with him about the price because his family member has issues understanding certain things.

We failed to note it on the job. Dang.

There’s no note for plumber to read, so he doesn’t read it.

But on site, the challenged lad authorizes us to do the work. We get the signature. We’re doing what we’re supposed to do.

Brother who made the appointment calls in refusing to pay, threatening to sue, etc etc yada yada. His point is valid: I booked the service, I specified that I am who needs to authorize, etc etc. I don’t want to pay this gigantic bill. In fact, I refuse. I didn’t authorize it, and I specifically said that I need to be who authorizes it.

Messy situation. Office screwed up, yeah.

However, easily avoidable issue if we use simple solution:

If the reason for not collecting payment on site is that someone else is going to pay, contact the person who is paying and get their authorization beforehand.

If we can’t reach them and you decide to proceed with the work based off the authorization of who is there, be prepared for the invoice to be discounted.

I know that collecting signatures is in part to reduce our liability in situations such as these. And as such, there will be times where we choose to defend the invoice as we deem appropriate. However, let’s do ourselves and the company a favour by eliminating the risk as often as possible and receiving confirmation from the person paying the bill.

“But we don’t know who is paying until it’s time to pay!”

Simple fix!

You: “Blablabla plumbing services blablabla $599 plus taxes upon completion of the job. Shall I get started?”

Them: “Yes, please and thank you.”

You: “Terrific. And just to confirm, you’ll be making the payment today?”

Them: “No, my brother will be.”

You: “Sounds good. It’s company policy to keep the person paying in the loop. Can you give him a call, and introduce me?”

This little fix will probably save at least one person’s commission a month. Let me know if I’m wrong about this procedure.

Thank you.