In German, we have the saying Wer bestellt, bezahlt, which translates literally into Who(ever) orders, pays in English. Is there a corresponding English idiomatic expression or proverbial refrain for this concept where the person who orders something is the one who has to pay for it?
The context that made me wonder is the situation here. Person A is upset by person B who has wrongly parked their car in person A’s way (on private ground). An answer suggested that A could call a towing service to remove B’s car. Because it was person A who ordered the towing service to remove the car, over here the towing service’s bill would go to person A under the principle of Wer bestellt, bezahlt, so A pays it. It’s then up to person A, bill in hand, to go after person B for the money which A has already paid.
The idea here is that placing responsibility for payment on whoever calls the towing company will safeguard against unnecessary towing or expensive practical jokes because in such frivolous cases, person A will not be able to later recover the money they’ve already paid the towing company from person B.
Another situation where I’d to apply this idiom is the following. Consider ordering some custom part, say at a 3D printing service. You receive the print, but don’t like it after all. It’s not defective, damaged, or badly printed; you simply find that it just doesn’t fulfil your needs. We’d say, Wer bestellt, bezahlt: even though you cannot use it, you have to pay for it.
(As opposed to, say, ordering some off-the-shelf part in the internet and after physically receiving it, finding it doesn’t suit your needs: that one you’d return for refund [except for delivery costs]).
Sayings like He who pays the piper calls the tune do not apply in the situation I’m after. In particular, if person B comes along when the towing service is there and shows that they own the car, the towing service will not tow the car even if person A turns around and pays cash on the barrel. With proof in hand that it’s really B’s car not A’s, the towing company will no longer do A’s bidding regarding the towing of a car that’s not A’s. (The towing company would still charge A for having had to show up unnecessarily, though.)
