The cheque is in the post has a whole new ring to it given the industrial relations at Royal Mail. Where has all the money gone?  It is certainly not circulating in the Construction Industry and I don鈥檛 think it is just in a sorting office in London.

Given that cash is 鈥渒ing鈥� it is not surprising that at every level of the supply chain it is being held on to for so long.  We all know that practices such as 鈥淧ay when Paid鈥� and 鈥淧ay if Paid鈥� are no longer legal. We also know that they are rife. What this latest recession has created is a whole new set of excuses. They cannot say that they haven鈥檛 been paid so they come up with another excuse. So in a light hearted way I open up my blog today for others to provide the best excuses they have heard recently. To start the ball rolling let me offer a few from my recent experience in no particular order.

1.    鈥淵ou did not get paid this month because the payment date fell on a Saturday鈥�

2.    鈥淵our cheque was the biggest 鈥� so it didn鈥檛 get signed.  You will have to wait another week!鈥�

3.    鈥淚 know I owe you some money but you haven鈥檛 been chasing me hard enough for it.鈥�

4.    鈥� I lost the copy of your insurance so I couldn鈥檛 put a valuation in last month鈥�

5.    鈥淵ou didn鈥檛 backdate your invoice so the accounts took another 30 days credit鈥�

6.    鈥淵ou won鈥檛 be paid until you have completed the defect liability period works鈥� (This is one month away from the end of the period and a year after the work was completed.  We still have not got any money on this small project.)

7.    鈥淭he QS is off sick with stress!鈥� (I鈥檒l give him STRESS!鈥�)

So readers 鈥� what are your best or worst excuses? I could offer a prize for the best excuse 鈥� but I would then just tell the winner that 鈥淭he cheque is in the post鈥�.