Double booked and bored

[Andy Goodtimes]

Well...TBH I did think it was a bit too good to be true but didn't like to be rude and question it and if you were getting that much I wasn't going to admit that I only get £280 for Double Trees which is a Hilton brand. I have never done Christmas for Hilton but do suspect that if they were to give a DJ a run of work and maybe they could leave kit set-up for the next night and so on I bet they would be trying to get the price down. I get £320 for my Hand Picked work regardless of if its an evening Wedding reception, corp or party night and I am happy with that as far as price goes, also the staff are nice and the venue nice and a very easy drop, I shall get paid on 15 December for anything up to that date and then again on 15 Jan for the rest.

Another thing that is interesting is that several of the larger hotels have more than one room working on the same night and I often see agency DJs, its unfair to say they are all bad because some of them are actually very good but most of them have cheap kit that's not really suitable for the 5 star venues and they are often a bit on the scruffy side and not that good entertainers. I know from talking to them that they typically get £150-£180 but I would chance a guess that the agency is prob charging about the same as me. Thing is the ops staff moan like mad about most of them but still they turn up one week after another, when I talk to the staff about this they say its a higher decission and no point them talking to the sales and revenue team as they like to go for the agencies. They like to be able to try me or if not they make one call and get the fax back confirming the booking in a few minutes and its job done, also they can book all kinds of other entertainers from clowns to lounge pianists and a whole hoast of tributes and bands in-between. They will also know that the agent is going to value the work very highly as a busy hotel can put thousands of pounds of work their way each week, don't forget a disco might only be £300 but a decent band can be several times more. All this means that when the DJ gets cancelled and asks the agent for some fee the agent will say they can't risk upsetting the venue and the favourite phrase comes out..."trust me I will make it up to you"...lost count how many times I have heard that over the years.

[Solitaire Events Ltd]

Actually, Hilton have strict 30 days net terms.

I supply two of them and don't imagine too hard Mike.

[Ecstatic Events]

Actually, Hilton have strict 30 days net terms.

I supply two of them and don't imagine too hard Mike.

That surprises me Darren, I covered 2 or 3 gigs in Basingstoke last year (over the christmas period) and remember having a conversation about the company having to chase Hilton for payment etc... I think he said he waited for nearly six weeks once. Always guaranteed mind you.

Perhaps he was trying to put me off going in for the contract myself

[Solitaire Events Ltd]

That surprises me Darren, I covered 2 or 3 gigs in Basingstoke last year (over the christmas period) and remember having a conversation about the company having to chase Hilton for payment etc... I think he said he waited for nearly six weeks once. Always guaranteed mind you.

Perhaps he was trying to put me off going in for the contract myself

Quite possibly.

The only reason I say that is because payments come from head office and they are always 30 days for me.

Perhaps it varies from place to place.

[Shakermaker Promotions]

I did the same thing about 4 years ago. I did 4 Christmas Parties as their resident wasn't able to do them. I was used to the whole 30 days thing as I was working elsewhere too as a resident. I made sure that I put the invoice in as soon as I did the first party so it wasn't delayed too much.

One of my regular venues has an average turnaround time of 14 days regarding payments.

[Charlie Brown]

What do they achieve by paying you later?

Is it down to the accounts department being overwhelmed?

[WWDJ]

What do they achieve by paying you later?

Is it down to the accounts department being overwhelmed?

Cash-flow .....

[Danno13]

What do they achieve by paying you later?

When current accounts actually paid any kind of meaningful interest, then on a large scale they could benefit from keeping hold of the money between then client paying (30 days prior to the event) and paying suppliers (60 days later)

In the current climate there really is no point apart from them getting themseleves a nice free overdraft facility! The problem is that alot of hotels etc. already have these procedures in place.

Unfotunatley, when someone decides to extend their credit period, the only loser is the small business at the end of the chain!

[Excalibur]

What do they achieve by paying you later?

Blimey Charlie, at times you're priceless. The longer the money stays in their account, the more interest they gain/less bank charges they pay.

As a general rule, the bigger they are, the slower they pay.

[spin mobile disco]

Last night I had the reverse as the client had booked me for their wedding but the venue had just changed managers so they booked their own resident for the evening.
I turned up about an hour early and checked in with the staff who didnt say anything. Then about an hour later they came in and asked to check my paperwork which i provided. Then 2 other Dj's came in.
Hmmmm.... very nice guys actually and they understood the situation as I had paperwork first dance and requests and had already been paid it was pretty obvious who had the gig so we sat down for a drink together while we waited for the room to be cleared ready for setup.

Apparently last manager had left in a hurry and had left lots of problems with the venue so they expected the worse and rather than spoil a wedding took a chance and hired a DJ themselves. So no one to blame and at least everyone was amicable.