Catering Bill... 8 Years Later, What Would You Do?
Lounge By alicegop Updated 1 Aug 2007 , 6:25pm by cakeatopia
I use to work at this little hole in the wall. Food is awesome but the owner is a bit... crazy. I had him cater my wedding (food was great but late, but I worked there I know that he is always late with his catering orders) and he also ordered all the rental stuff (plates and whatnot) since he got a discount since he is a caterer. I asked him for a price many many times before the wedding and he kept putting it off and didn't give me one. Grrr. Then after the wedding he told me "come in on Wed and we'll go over all the receipts..." so I came at the time he told me and then he looked at me like I was crazy for coming in during the lunch hour (seriously that is when he said to come) and told me he was too busy that I should eat and come back another time. This same story played out a few more times.....
Everyone told me that he wasn't going to charge me that he was making it my gift, but I know him, I told them I would be getting the bill and....
So anyway I got married in January of 1999 (you didn't read that wrong) and about 2 years ago he tells me he has the bill ready 
. I told him my dad was willing and ready to pay for the bill in 1999 and he would have to contact my dad for payment. So I gave him my dad's info... he never called or anything.
So last week (this is 8 and a half years later) he again is telling me he has the bill and actually gives me an amount this time. It is a reasonable amount ($4000 which includes the rentals) but my dad isn't willing to pay this 8 years later. First he doesn't have 4 grand just lying around and second he thinks it is too late for this guy to give us a bill. (to demo how crazy the owner is, he told me he was waiting for me to have my first baby to give me the bill.... HUH? How does it make sense to wait until I have a baby to give me a large bill... besides he had wanted to give me the bill right away he just didn't do it....arrgggh. OH and FYI I just had my THIRD baby 2 weeks ago!)
I am the sole breadwinner, my husband is a stay at home dad and I have 3 kids so it really is unreasonable for the owner to think that I am going to pay the bill, especially when my dad was totally willing and ready to pay for the bill EIGHT AND A HALF YEARS AGO! The owner is my friend though, even though he is crazy.......
What would you do??
would he be willing to work out payment plans???
it seems very unfair and very unreasonable for him to be doing this right now...but whatever...
wow, yeah that does sound crazy! If he weren't your friend, I'd say tell him he's too late and be on with your life...but since he's your friend, you can't just not pay him for something he did for you. The payment plan idea sounds good to me. He can't really expect you to somehow come up with $4000 when you have three kids now. That's pretty ridiculous. This is just weird really...8 years. That's a LONG time! I think that if he were to take you to court or something, it would never hold up.
Good luck with that!
This is absurd. You made several good faith efforts to pay this bill. I would tell him that since he was not able to produce the bill in a reasonable amount of time, you are not able to pay it now.
I guess what you do depends on how badly you want to keep this friendship.
Personally, I wouldn't pay it. If he were that good a friend, he would not have put you in this position, IMHO.
This sounds just too screwy. Technically, you owe it, but how much effort are you suppose to put into trying to get someone to TAKE your money?
I'd contact a lawyer to see what the deal is. A $100 consultation fee is nothing next to a $4000 eight year old invoice.
If you tried to pay the bill on time and he never got to you with a bill until now I personally wouldn't pay it. From what I understand if people want paid they have to get you the bill in a set amount of time, I'm pretty sure the maximum is 7 years to get to you with it.
It sounds like you did your part in asking for the bill several times.
Ha!Ha! Eme 926! Very true! Yes, as a former paralegal, I have to agree with you. If you are friends with this caterer and want to pay him, work something out. Otherwise, confirm with a lawyer that you are past the statute of limitations with the bill.
I think that's crazy! As a SAHM with 3 kids (my husbands the sole breadwinner), I know there's no way we could come up with $4,000 out of the blue like that! I just don't understand it. After all this time he had reciepts and such to prove what you owe him?! I don't know...I know technically you owe, but give me a break! It's a little too late in my opinion!
Hmmm...doesn't seem fair that he should pay for your wedding. Sounds like I'm in the minority w/ this one. He could have honestly forgotten about it...you said he was a little kooky. But, kooky or not, he provided the service in good faith. In my opinion, it isn't a legal issue, but rather a moral one. Do what allows you to look at yourself in the mirror with pride.
Tell him you will review the bill and get back to him in 2015.
Tell him you will review the bill and get back to him in 2015
YES!! I almost wet myself laughing over this! It is the absolute PERFECT reply to him! 
Since he is a friend you have to go with your heart and do what would make you feel is fair. You may just want to tell him that you will have to pay it out and when and if you have any extra that you feel you can pay him you will. Keep an accounting of how much you send. It could possibly take you 8 years!
Can you talk to your Dad about partially paying the bill? Yes, I agree it is a moral issue at this point. I doubt he could legally charge you this late in the game. But he did pay for it initially. And I get you don't have the money, and even a payment plan would probably be tough. But if you could scrape up $42 a month, it would be paid off in the 8 years that it took him to get you the bill. Just a thought.
If possible, I would work on your Dad. One question, if there was a contract, who was on it. You or your Dad? You could always make your Dad the "bad guy" and say he is responsible for the bill.
It really depends on how you feel about the situation and the friendship.
Good luck!
Eight years is absolutely ridiculous. I wouldn't pay it. Not a dime. You tried on numerous occasions to get the amount from him. If he wanted the money that bad, he would have found the time to get a bill put together. A few months is reasonable, eight years is not.
Eight years is absolutely ridiculous. I wouldn't pay it. Not a dime. You tried on numerous occasions to get the amount from him. If he wanted the money that bad, he would have found the time to get a bill put together. A few months is reasonable, eight years is not.
ABSOLUTELY!
He's an ass to ask you to pay this now, after 3 kids and 8 years. What kind of a friend is that, to bill you now??? I'll tell you ~ no friend. You have every right to blow him off.
Although I did crack up at the reply to review the bill and get back to him in 2015. Hilarious!!!
Hmmm...doesn't seem fair that he should pay for your wedding. Sounds like I'm in the minority w/ this one. He could have honestly forgotten about it...you said he was a little kooky. But, kooky or not, he provided the service in good faith. In my opinion, it isn't a legal issue, but rather a moral one. Do what allows you to look at yourself in the mirror with pride.
My issue is why is it ME that has to pay the bill. It was perfectly clear when I got married that my parents were paying for the wedding. I told him multiple times MY DAD wants to know how much it will cost and after the wedding MY DAD HAS THE MONEY NOW, HOW MUCH DO WE OWE YOU? I guarantee he did not forget.
I am very moral and do think that he should get paid... but oddly I don't feel guilty. I don't have any inkling of wanting to make payment plans to him since I really feel that it is not my debt, especially when I tried to pay him. I'm more bothered that my dad doesn't think he should pay him anything, I feel my dad should at least pay the bill for the rental equipment. He knew he would need to pay for it so he should have just written him a check at the time and said if you won't give me a bill then this is all I am paying or at least put some money aside for when the bill would come.... of course who would be expected to hang onto money for a bill for eight years....... to me, asking for money 8 years later is what makes me not feel guilty at all.
I am a teacher and a club advisor and I have to turn in receipts for me to be reimbursed for expenses... I am very bad at keeping receipts and most likely misplace them. When I lose receipts I just eat the cost... If this were me I don't think I personally would have the nerve to ask anyone eight years later for anything.
There was NO contract or anything written down. He does have the receipt for the rental equipment. He would not sue me... not only would he not have a leg to stand on, he just wouldn't.
Is does make one wonder what kind of friend would ask you to pay a bill 8 years later when you are the sole breadwinner (my husband is a stay at home dad) and just had a new baby (#3 no less). But since I know him and that he is a bit odd, I don't take it personally. I also don't think he wants me to pay it, I really think that if I tell him my dad won't pay it and if I were to offer to make him payments he wouldn't take it from me, but he would keep trying to get ME to collect it from my dad...... which puts me in a really awkward situation. I think this is what I hate the most, the awkward situation that I am in. I see both parties points. My dad shouldn't have to pay a bill 8 years later and my friend should be compensated for his expenses. I don't think the $4k is much more than the actual costs.
Is does make one wonder what kind of friend would ask you to pay a bill 8 years later when you are the sole breadwinner (my husband is a stay at home dad) and just had a new baby (#3 no less).
It sounds to me as if the guy is having $$$ trouble and his accountant is going through his books with a fine tooth comb...
I was glad to hear that you think he should be paid, because I do, too. Eight years or eight days....it's still a debt. OK...it is an major inconvenience when you are not ready for it, but the money is still owed.
Make dad perfectly aware that you are paying this guy back...I'm sure he'll come around.....at least I hope so...
Refuse to get in the middle of it, give this guy your father's phone number and if he tries to bring it up again tell him to contact your father.
In a way your father is right on a moral standpoint as well as a legal standpoint. If this guy wanted to get paid he was obligated to get the bill to you or your father in a timely manner and that means before the statute of limitations was up. No matter how strange/unorganized/odd we are there are rules about it. It's all in how you look at it.
Statute of limitations has run out on this guy.
Tell him you will review the bill and get back to him in 2015.
You beat me to it ~ exactly what I was thinking.
How is this man still in business? Is this the way he handles all of his customers?
I agree the debt should be paid but I'm a little confused as to why you think you should have no part of it. I understand that your family paid for the wedding eight years ago and all the but it was YOUR wedding and he is YOUR friend.
I think it's a fine line between moral and legal obligation ..... the contract was between Caterer and Dad. If Dad didn't pay (for whatever reason .... in this case because no bill was presented), caterer has no legal standing to just call someone else to get the money.
If I lived at home when my parents had their house painted, and didn't pay the painter, 8 years later the painter could not try to collect from me because I happened to live there and "benefited" from the paint job. I didnt' hire them .... I didn't contract with them ...... I have no legal obligation to pay the contract unless I co-signed the agreement.
I can appreciate the moral issue .... I can appreciate the "he's a friend" angle .... but business is business and it needs to be run like a business. And in business, the issue is between the people it was contracted with, subject to laws of limitations and contract law.
(I am not a lawyer .... I do not play one on TV ..... but I DO watch a lot of Law and Order!) 
I go with get back to him in 2015, LOL
He must have been made of money to forget about $4000.
Maybe his business was doing good at the time so he did it as a gift and thats why he didnt let you pay. And now business isnt so good so his looking for easy money.
He cant asked for money 8 years on, not that much. Especially if its going to make your family struggle, is that moral.
Let us know what happens.
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