I've helped out... so here's my bill!

[IndianInlaw]

They don't owe him a thing, because they never offered to pay him.

No offer and acceptance, no deal.

Wonder what he did the rest of the day?

[miranova]

That's insane. 

They don't owe him a dime and if I were them I would ignore the invoice.  No deal was made.  Without a contract (verbal or written), this guy could not reasonably expect to be paid.  I wonder if this has ever worked for him in the past?

[123bees]

When I read this, I wondered if perhaps, even if not meaning to, the person receiving the help seemed demanding of the man who sent the bill, causing ill feelings.

[FoxPaws]

Are we absolutely certain this wasn't some kind of joke? How well do the moving couple and the billing volunteer know each other?

I like the monopoly money idea in either case.  

If BV is serious, I would question his participation in any future church activites. Whenever his name shows up on the sign up sheet, the pastor or a senior member of the congregation should take him aside before the event and make sure he understands what is meant by "volunteering".

And another thing - if he was only helping out for an hour, couldn't he have gone back to his job and finished out his shift. Something is fishy.

[ZipTheWonder]

i]).  I also wonder what sort of trouble that would bring up the next time that person tries to help someone.  

I'm probably not quite big enough that I wouldn't let it slip that I'd been billed for his service.     

Word has obviously gotten around (to at least the OP)....and I doubt his help would be requested again (would it?!?)  If he offers help again, I hope whoever organizes this kind of assistance would clarify that he is volunteering, which is to say he is working for free. 

[Evil Duckie]

I would not pay.

One does not pay volunteers. People who volunteer are donating their time and labor.

I would let the pastor know about this. He needs to know that things like this are being done by one who is volunteering in the church's name.

Makes you wondering if he pulled this before and people did pay him not to cause any troubles.

[kingsrings]

As far as letting the pastor know, I feel that this would only be necessary if the guy was a member of the church staff. Then obviously he would need to be counseled about this behavior as he is a representative of the church on a staff level, and he is not representing well. But if not, then he needs to be counseled by the people in charge of the volunteer group that did the move. I don't know how big this church is, but if the pastor paid attention to the improprieties of every single congregant, he would never get anything else done, hence my suggestion that the pastor only be brought into this if the guy is an actual staff member.

[Suze]

wow - just wow - the nerve of some people.

NO - you should not pay extortion money. NO - NO - NO

evil Suze just might take the bill to church meeting and ask if anyone wants to "volunteer" to pay the bill.  or post it on a bulletin board.

Of course the Suze with not much backbone would just throw it away, and reserve evil Suze if she got another bill.

[Tabris]

I disagree--I would actually write to the pastor of the church and say that the volunteer accidentally submitted the bill for help to me rather than to the church where he ought to have--in total innocence that such a thing was not common practice in the church.  

Think how much fun you could have with this, though. Imagine for a moment sending back a letter saying that a donation in that amount has been donated to The Fund For Sick Adorable Puppies And Kittens, and may God bless him for his generosity.

[ShadesOfGrey]

I think you have gotten good advice otherwise, but I have mixed feelings about contacting the pastor.  This guy didnt do this 'in the name of the church' - it was a just a group of people who went to help (not like a 'mothers group' or other defined group), so what does the paster even have to do with it? Nothing, really. 

I wonder if this guy thought it was mandatory somehow, and later found out it wasnt, or was strongarmed into volunterring (still his own fault), and got really PO'd and then decided to send a bill...

please do let us know how the couple handles it!

[auntmeegs]

I don't think a day's lost wages is a reasonable demand from anyone who had volunteered to help out. What if this person was a lawyer or plastic surgeon? You're supposed to pay them how many hundreds or thousands they normally get paid?

If this person thought they were "working" to help with the move, then they should have provided a quote and agreed terms beforehand. That's what a moving company would have done.

I'd treat the demand as a joke.

First of all, where do you live, because I want to come and live there!  How nice that people got together to help this family move!  Except, of course, the jerk who presented a bill.  I agree with VeryFluffy, I would treat the bill as joke. 

[JudiAU]

I would ignore it. If the person mentions it again I would bring it up with a pastor and ask for their advice on how to handle the situation. I imagine the pastor would follow up.

My assumpution is that the young couple received help because they couldn't afford to hire professionals. Sending a bill is shameless.

[hellgirl]

So ignoring for a moment the ridiculousness of billing at all - he worked an hour but billed for the day?

1st thing then is to request that he comes back to work the other 7 or so hours before the bill could possibly be settled - yardwork maybe? Some really sweaty, difficult, yardwork. All part of the moving/settling in process of course... 

I wonder how keen he'd be to receive payment if it becomes a matter of payment for services that havent' yet been rendered in full?

Of course this does carry the risk that he'd actually do it and they'd then have to pay him the day's wage!

Some people do have some really strange ideas of how life should be conducted 

[IndianInlaw]

How about giving him an hour's worth of minimum wage?

[Clara Bow]

*putting on cleats, stretching and running in place*
Let's get ready to boot another one over the goalposts into the big endzone of e-hell!
I'm not going to even point out that no one forced this zitbrain to come, no one would have thought ill if he didn't blahblah.
I'd notify the pastor...someone needs a little sermon on giving...