We live in a rural Catalan village and were out riding the other day with a young freind whose bike was in dire need of replacement gear cables, she could barely change gear. I offered to fix it and she brought it round a few days later. Job done I qas debating whether to charge her but the issue was resolved when she turned up with a 1kg jar of delicious honey from her grandmother's hives. Set me wondering what odd things the
hive (sic) mind has either recieved or given as payment for doing little jobs where cash payment/request may have seemed churlish.
Prototype bike frame, some Hayes brakes, bar & stem and some tyres for a website I built years and years and years ago. Still got the frame hanging in the garage.
Honey is good. I did get an Addidas cycling top from a neighbour as I did a few jobs for her - it was a top that a relative had bought, but never wore. Also been given a pair of bib tights for some jobs I'd done for a friend - again unused. Usually it's a bottle of wine, or the apple pie tree ? Apple pie tree.... the same neighbour that gave me the top, used to ask if she could take apples from our tree - we were more than happy for her to do so as we struggled to use them. In return we had a steady supply of apple pies for weeks.
The lady passed a few years ago, and the tree hasn't fruited as well since, until this year !
Original cinema posters for a PC setup back in the early 2000's.
Still got the posters...i wonder if the PC is still around.
SH Dyson hoover for part payment for a fencing job
Really nice piece of art for building a bike for an artist mate. That was special.
Crate of alcopops for jump starting one of their reps cars.
Quite often drugs.
More recently my Raaw Madonna. Worked off the books for a mate (closed my business the years ago and didn't want the hassle of dealing with the German tax office again) and he bought the bike as a business expense.... Win-win. I "saved"myself the 19% VAT and the hassle of German bureaucracy.
I saw a film once about a plumber who turned up to a lady's house to fix her washing machine and she said she had no money...
Honey is very good.
In the fast east, my mum used to "pay" with (depending on our garden harvest) okra, bird eye chilli, fermented prawn paste (season from the sea) and some other greens veg like Bok choy or Choy sum. Payment can be a combination. We pay by sugar (1kg) if we are getting a kitten or puppy from nearby neighbours.
I saw a film once about a plumber who turned up to a lady's house to fix her washing machine and she said she had no money...
I think you are misremembering. I'm sure the guy was there to fix the pool
That reminds of a readers letter in Viz complaining that pornography has created a completely unrealistic expectation of how quickly a tradesman will arrive at your house
I did a logo design job for someone recently who sent me a large delivery containing a variety of very nice cheese as payment
Did a bit of work on the 2012 Olympics fan zone.
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I did get paid in cold hard cash, but I did a few extra bits on the days before opening to get it over the line and was paid in buttons.
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K gets odd 'extras'/tips from furniture restoration clients. A couple of repeat customers have given bottles of wine, we had a Christmas cake last year. But strangest was a Chinese lady who was leaving the country and obviously having a bit of a clearcut - green tea, (we assume fake) Tiffany bracelet and a few other bits. She offered more including "you want cat poop poop tray" which is how we've referred to them ever since (must be said in slightly racist accent).
I sorted the brakes out on a mate's bike in return for a risotto recipe.
As he is a professional chef trained by Gary Rhodes it is a very good risotto recipe.
I saw a film once about a plumber who turned up to a lady's house to fix her washing machine and she said she had no money...
I think you are misremembering. I'm sure the guy was there to fix the pool
Was only a matter of time before someone posted it
There was a brief period in my life where I felt valued by my salary. That was strange.
A long weekend of absolutely-everything-goes with a lady...
Fortunately I wasn't in the same country and didn't think the 2 hours work justified such a payment offer!
Reverse of that: I paid my electrician with a car a couple of years ago. I'd just put it up for sale and was having a "do you know anyone that would like to buy this?" kind of conversation and it was worth about the same as the bill he'd just handed me so - deal done.
Had a site visit to a factory unit in the East End. Way before SatNav and in my brand new company car. Parked up in a very small car park, was directed to a dirty/smelly portacabin where I spent the next couple of hours crawling around the floor, replacing cables, installing some new comms kit and wiring up some disgustingly filthy terminals. In a suit if I remember correctly.
The staff were lovely tho. One asked if they could move my car and I had dark thoughts about it being repurposed as a getaway vehicle in a local bank heist 😉 Anyway, finished job, car was parked right up against a wall so chucked kit in back seat and drove home.
Opened boot next day and found a whole set of bed linen and pillows stamped "Hilton". Really nice stuff that they'd obviously nicked out of stores and chucked in my car as a thank you. Well I assume so as no note or anything!
My daughters boyfriend is a big Man U fan and last week was his birthday. Now this is significant because the week before his dad had been given 2 tickets to one of the directors boxes for the FA cup match yesterday, and opted to take his mum instead, who is definitely football ambivalent.
Even had the cheek to ask the lad for a lift to Altrincham tram station to get there! (to which the melt agreed).
Opened boot next day and found a whole set of bed linen and pillows stamped "Hilton". Really nice stuff that they'd obviously nicked out of stores and chucked in my car as a thank you. Well I assume so as no note or anything!
Maybe they were operating a laundering racket.
fermented prawn paste
Is that what she said it was 😉
About 25 years ago, my friend and I were paid for editorial work on a motorcycle-related website with bottles of absinthe. These days I'd ask for cold, hard cash.
49 tabs of acid (green alien heads) back in 1998ish for changing a clutch in a rover 216, very nice acid and it went down extremely well at a mates party the following week - brilliant fun
Not really that “strange” for myself, something to do with the company and friends i keep/kept at the time I guess
Wow you were cheap as I was buying black microdots for 50p each back then.
I got a car for working as a deck hand on a boat for 2 days. It was a junker of a car but lasted me two years.
Wow you were cheap as I was buying black microdots for 50p each back then.
I got a car for working as a deck hand on a boat for 2 days. It was a junker of a car but lasted me two years.
At the time “aliens” were selling for £5 each and were quite a full on trip for 5-6 hours before they started to tail off
Called my LBS one Friday lunchtime and asked if he could swap the rims over on my wheelset for some new ones I'd bought. It happened he was on the lookout for a bike rack at the time and I was selling some Yakima racks. He said he'd do it in exchange for one rack... before he closed that afternoon. So I raced down and loosened off all the spokes while he rebuilt them in good time. I'm still riding the wheels and he's recently put the racks for sale on marketplace.
Woodlathe.
Guy wanted an XL long bed(he was 6'9") Designer designed the bed, it had turny bits.
I said i would make the bed in exchange for a lathe long enough to do the turny bits.
Customer got his bed. Designer got his money. I got the lathe.
I can name quite a few:
Selection of brand new bike brand T shirts and Sweatshirts
Literal box of chocolate, containing over 240 lindt bunnies, kids got very excited, I explained they were payment for work hence mine 🤣
Bars of chocolate, lots of them from a nice boutique chocolate company
Sainsburys shopping voucher, enough to keep me fed for a month.
I am pretty easy going obviously.
Woodlathe.
Guy wanted an XL long bed(he was 6'9") Designer designed the bed, it had turny bits.
I said i would make the bed in exchange for a lathe long enough to do the turny bits.
Customer got his bed. Designer got his money. I got the lathe.
I'm curious as to what size matress he used on his extra long bed... another custom made artisan job? 😉
Emperor and super kings are 2 meters long, so why not just buy an emperor or super king bed frame?
My dad got given a spaceship as part payment for some patterns that his factory built.
Genuinely not making this up. Will find a photo.
No strange but .Bloke I worked with bought a" full suss " bike from a catalogue 🤔could I " check it over " 🤔after making an excuse about time he said I'll make it worth your while .
An hour and a half later when I couldn't make it resemble anything more than a BSO he presented me with a can of Strongbow, not even proper cider 🙄🙄🙄🙄
My dad got given a spaceship as part payment for some patterns that his factory built.
What did he do with it?
That reminds of a readers letter in Viz complaining that pornography has created a completely unrealistic expectation of how quickly a tradesman will arrive at your houseDoesn't that sort of tradesman sort of arrive at the back door, or, if you prefer. The tradesmans entrance?
Single bag of chips for helping my BIL dig out basement spoil for a whole week. He was notoriously tight with money.
A fiver! 2:50 tops for Aliens. Anyway got a border to cross so must concentrate. Great days but glad they're gone and I never got my collar felt!Wow you were cheap as I was buying black microdots for 50p each back then.
I got a car for working as a deck hand on a boat for 2 days. It was a junker of a car but lasted me two years.
At the time “aliens” were selling for £5 each and were quite a full on trip for 5-6 hours before they started to tail off
The can of cider story reminded me of a friend who worked as an installation engineer for bt at the time.
He had an appointment at a corner store, he did the prescribed work and was packing up...
Could you just...
Nah, sorry. Ive done the job on the ticket... If it was just a five minute thing, i would, but that will take just as long again.
I will give you a drink.
Game on he thought, and cracked on.
On completion he was presented with a coke and a lilt.
Thank you. Which would you like?
It took about ten years for the anger to subside, but eventuslly he was able to recount the story AND see the humour.
Got the job details just in case they need anymore work doing?
Anne Widdecombe is looking for someone to tie a flag halfway up a lamp post.
I paid for some wallpapering with a fridge. Also, one of my friends bought my fridge by doing some wallpapering.
A guy I briefly shared a flat with had a brother who was a plumber and also dabbled in a bit of illegality on the side.
He did some plumbing work for a well known Scottish singer and got offered the choice of cash or a big bag of coke as payment. Having the knowledge to realise that the coke was the better deal and the connections to shift it he took the coke and turned up at our flat with it shortly after.
As they started weighing it out in the kitchen, I realised that it was probably time to look for some alternative accommodation.
Got the job details just in case they need anymore work doing?
Anne Widdecombe is looking for someone to tie a flag halfway up a lamp post.
Even I have limits.
I do lots of things for 'free' if they amuse me or flatter my sense of social worth. The result of this is that I seem to get given 'free' stuff randomly.
I have been given a nice big wood lathe with a couple of dozen chisels, a bike, a box full of bullets, big lumps of wood for scultptures etc. These often just appear leant against the garage at the bottom of the drive and it can take weeks to find out who actually left them there and why.
I have been given a nice big wood lathe with a couple of dozen chisels, a bike, a box full of bullets, big lumps of wood for scultptures etc
Wait, what? "A box full of bullets"? Is that really what you said (realising who the quote comes from, it doesn't entirely surprise me, tbh) Did you find a good use for them?
I got a free vasectomy from a customer who I’d supported. He was a GP who had a vasectomy side business (as opposed to a plumber or something)
Plumbing as a side business for a GP would be slightly unusual... but then I suppose plumbing kind of was his side business.
I had a vasectomy from a GP who, if i hadn't already paid, would have accepted payment in butterflies. It's difficult to explain...
I saw a film once about a plumber who turned up to a lady's house to fix her washing machine and she said she had no money...
That happened to a mate of mine once (boiler rather than washing machine though)... He's been married to her for 10yrs now, with kids, a house, the lot! 🤣
To be fair... Wasn't the first time it happened to him... Not by a long shot! He had a bit of a reputation for putting the Carry On style cliches into household boiler repairs amongst his peers by all accounts! Strangely he seemed to have a few regular customers too! 😉
Quite often drugs.
Happened to me once too... Never so much as smoked a spliff in my life, but was wandering along at uni one day about 25yrs ago, and saw the guy 50yds in front of me reach into his back pocket and something fell out... When I got to it, I realised it was a £20 note, so picked it up, had the brief "should I, shouldn't I" conversation with myself, before running after him to say "excuse me mate, you just dropped this"... He thanked me profusely, then gave me a funny knowing handshake with a little present in said hand... 🤣
I didn't know what to do with it... Needless to say one of my mates was more than happy to relieve me of it...
Been paid in beer more times than I can remember for things... Despite NEVER having drunk beer! 😩
Not sure a vasectomy from a GP is a great form of payment. I got mine for free from a GP, because NHS.
Not me but Mrs FD was gifted half a cow as a thank you for dealing with someone in her job
We had to use other people’s freezer space to put parts of it in.
Anyway got a border to cross so must concentrate.
Great days but glad they're gone and I never got my collar felt!
Are you absolutely certain about that?
Absolutely just crossing back from Argentina into Chile after finishing Careterra Austral. Great trip but a long way from an airport at the end!
Another time...I used to do firework shows and ended up in the middle of nowhere in southern Scotland to do a show for a 21st birthday.
Show went well and after I'd stripped the site and cleared up, I headed up the party just to let them.know.i was heading off.
The parents had ordered an extra lamb carcass and had been cooking it for me to eat when I'd finished. Took me about 1 hour before I couldn't eat any more of it...it was soooo good.
Drive back home wasn't the best as I'd eaten so much I was wanting to have a sleep!
My better half once got paid 2 Watermelons for going on a visit to a donkey with Colic. TBF it was in The Gambia where we were doing some vet work for a Charity. V tasty watermelon too!