"Payable on receipt"- is this a record

This is a true story. I have just taken a call from one of our suppliers chasing payment for an overdue invoice.

I looked on the supplier account on SAGE and saw that we had nothing outstanding, so I asked for the date and reference number of the invoice. The guy on the 'phone gave me todays date and an invoice reference I didn't have.

I asked him to repeat himself. He did, and added that he had sent the invoice by fax at 3:00pm this afternoon, and wanted to know if payment had been sent yet. By this point it was not quite 3:30pm.

I told him that I had received the invoice by fax, but not yet processed it for payment. He asked again if payment would be sent by same-day transfer this afternoon, as it was payable on receipt and so overdue. I laughed incredulously, but he was serious.

Is this usual practice? I have encountered zealous credit controllers before, but to expect payment half an hour after the invoice was sent?

I should point out that this is a supplier we use regularly, pay by BACS within a week of the invoice, and have done since before I started. This invoice was not of an exceptional value, I think they just felt like applying some extra pressure.