Imagine being asked by a friend to help out with a home renovation project on the weekend. If you agreed to go and help out, would you expect to be paid, or would you assume you might be paid in something like beer, pizza or help in the future when you have a home renovation project?

In this story, one man asked some friends to help redo his mom’s driveway. One of them ended up assuming he would be paid. That led to an awkward situation.

Keep reading to see how the story plays out.

You want that invoice paid?

So for starters, I live in a small village where pretty much everyone knows who’s who.

I like it a lot. It gives me a sense of security that I feel is underrated in todays society.

Friends and neighbors help each other with moving, remodelling etc.

He sounds like a good son and a good friend.

My mother in law wanted to have her driveway redone.

Being the good son that I am, I ordered supplies and got some friends and family members to come and help out on a saturday, after which there would be some nice cold beers. This is before corona obviously.

One of my friends – let’s call him John – is more of an outlier and doesn’t get around too much. He’s a bit timid, but otherwise a very nice guy. I thought it would be a nice idea to include John in the working party, so he would get to know some more folks from the village.

With the work done and the driveway finished we thanked everyone that helped for the much appreciated effort.

It turns out that John didn’t realize he was volunteering his time.

Not too soon afterwards, I receive a letter. It was an invoice sent by John for the hours he worked, multiplied by a not too shabby hourly rate.

To say I was dumbfounded would be an understatement.

It is well known that this kind of work is for free; you scratch my back, I scratch yours.

Or so I thought.

He confronted John.

I come by John’s a few days later to ask him what the invoice is all about.

He says it’s no big deal and that he has done it before. He can’t be expected to give up his saturday to work on somebody else’s driveway. He says he thinks this is fair and that he wants to be open about it.

I soon understand that John isn’t going to change his mind and I don’t want to get into an argument with him.

I pay John myself because I am rather embarrassed to tell my MIL.

The perfect opportunity to point out John’s invoice came up in casual conversation.

A few weeks later we are at a get together where John happens to be too. A friend who had also helped says he is thinking of redoing his driveway as well and asks what the costs were.

My mother in law sums up the different supplies and their costs, as well as the beers of course.

John is within hearing distance and I see him glance over. Now is my time.

I raise my voice a little and I say: “Aren’t you forgetting the labor costs?”

He made sure everyone knew what John charged.

She looks at me surprised and I add: “Yeah, you know. John’s invoice of X amount, that racks up the bill.”

An uncomfortable silence descends upon the party as people frown and look at me and John, whose stature shrivels under the weight of those looks.

Suffice to say John had some explaining to do, but he didn’t look so sure anymore. He wanted to be open about it right?

Under the circumstances I must say the invoice was money well spent, although I lost a friend that day.

It sounds like John doesn’t like to volunteer his time to help. He should’ve been up front about that instead of showing up to help and then sending an invoice. It’s probably better that everyone knows so they don’t ask him to help and end up with an invoice and an awkward conversation.

Let’s see how Reddit responded to this story.

This person had a similar situation.

Expectations need to be clear before the work is started.

He’ll probably know better than to ask for help.

This person doesn’t think he should’ve paid the invoice.

He didn’t ruin the friendship; his friend did.

If you liked that post, check out this story about a customer who insists that their credit card works, and finds out that isn’t the case.