Home charger installers wanting 50% payment before starting
Discussion
I'm in the process of having a home charger installed. Found a company that do a really nice (compact) charger (SyncEV) and they put me in touch with an approved installer. They did a site assessment with me and are also sorting the OLEV grant.
Today they emailed asking for 50 % of the payment before ordering the charger and going ahead with the install, which by their reckoning should be good to happen towards the end of next week.
Is this normal? I'm used to paying electricians, etc once the work is completed normally.
Can anyone who has had a charger installed confirm this is normal?
I don't want to end up getting scammed or anything like that. Like I said, they are an improved installer working with SyncEV, they have 4.5* on TrustPilot, which gives me confidence, but only 16 reviews, which doesn't. Companies House states their company was incorporated in October last year, which isn't very long either, but then again, this is a new area so I would imagine new companies are cropping up all the time.
Cheers
Today they emailed asking for 50 % of the payment before ordering the charger and going ahead with the install, which by their reckoning should be good to happen towards the end of next week.
Is this normal? I'm used to paying electricians, etc once the work is completed normally.
Can anyone who has had a charger installed confirm this is normal?
I don't want to end up getting scammed or anything like that. Like I said, they are an improved installer working with SyncEV, they have 4.5* on TrustPilot, which gives me confidence, but only 16 reviews, which doesn't. Companies House states their company was incorporated in October last year, which isn't very long either, but then again, this is a new area so I would imagine new companies are cropping up all the time.
Cheers
Haha yeah I had this but them wanting full payment beforehand. I asked why and they stated they needed to order the charger and have it delivered to me. I said I would pay the cost of the charger and balance on install.
They were happy with that and all good in the end.
There are loads of companies out there, all charging the same price. If they get funny choose another.
They were happy with that and all good in the end.
There are loads of companies out there, all charging the same price. If they get funny choose another.
I like the idea of walking away and choosing another company, but then that'll delay me getting the charger by at least another fortnight, maybe longer. Just want to get it installed asap so I can stop running the granny charger out of the conservatory door onto my driveway.
At least I'm not the only one it's happened to, and at least they are only asking for 50 %, rather than the full balance.
At least I'm not the only one it's happened to, and at least they are only asking for 50 %, rather than the full balance.
Sheepshanks said:
Can you pay with a credit card? Or even Visa debit.
Yes - they want me to pay through a Xero page and there is an option to select Visa debit, think I'll do that. Got my money back on Visa debit last year with a holiday that got scuppered by covid, so should be ok. Ok, that, and the other replies, has put my mind at rest a bit. Cheers everyone!
It varies but we get full payment up front. If you don't do this customers can be flaky and change days/their minds and you've ordered kit and booked electricians' time. In 4yrs we've had 2-3 who didn't want to do that and so I allowed them to pay on the day.
The flip side is that one of those customers had a big installation today. I said that if he paid when we arrived that would be ok. He said 'Great, thank you'. So far, no payment....AND 24hrs later still nothing.
Also, we have enough to do and chasing up every customer for payment is just wasted time.
The flip side is that one of those customers had a big installation today. I said that if he paid when we arrived that would be ok. He said 'Great, thank you'. So far, no payment....AND 24hrs later still nothing.
Also, we have enough to do and chasing up every customer for payment is just wasted time.
Edited by Frimley111R on Friday 16th July 11:22
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