Worktop man wants 1/3 upfront to avoid price hike

all_greek_to_me

I've had a quote of £3600 from an independent worktop company for Staron (almost identical to Corian) counters for our new (as yet unordered) kitchen. There's lots of work (new windows, plumbing, plastering) to be done in our kitchen before we can have new units fitted, so I explained to the worktop man that we wouldn't be able to go ahead for a while (8-9 weeks, probably).

He called me this morning to say that Staron were putting their prices up by 11% as of July, so he'd need a deposit now if we wanted to go ahead at the price quoted. I said I'd think about it (I hate being pressurised), double checked with Staron that they are increasing their prices (they are), then emailed worktop man to say that we'd be happy to pay for the materials upfront, as long as we could do so by credit card. It's a small company, and doesn't appear to be inundated with business, so I'm concerned that it might go belly up before our worktops are delivered. I figured that, if the worst happened, I'd have a better chance of recouping the money if I paid by credit card.

I've since had a reply from him saying that the company no longer takes card payments (bank charges are too high, apparently) and that we'll need to pay £1200 (the first stage of payment, as detailed in the quotation) by cash or cheque.

I don't know what to do now. I can't afford to risk £1200. (It is a risk, isn't it?)

All advice gratefully received.

Thanks,
all_greek

robpw2

it sounds like a bit of a scam .. i would always be wary of paying out before jobs done especially as he wants cash or cheque as you have no recourse when he does a runner ..

ormus

i would tell him its 1200 quid via a CC, or nowt.

CKdesigner

Agree with Ormus £1,200 on a credit card. A deposit is completely right and understandable for this type of product/service.

Why aren't you getting the worksurface from the company that will be supplying you with the rest of the kitchen? I assume you will have to pay a deposit for this. It just seems all a bit messy and you obviously have concerns otherwise you wouldn't be posting on here for opinions.

CK

Tom_Jones

Sounds to me he's about to go tits up, and he's getting as much dosh in as possible before he goes under. DO NOT PAY HIM !!!! if he's reputable he would have just informed you that he would have to requote due to price increases.

all_greek_to_me

CKdesigner wrote: »

Agree with Ormus £1,200 on a credit card. A deposit is completely right and understandable for this type of product/service.

Why aren't you getting the worksurface from the company supplying you with the rest of the kitchen? I assume you had to pay a deposit for this. It just seems all a bit messy and you obviously have concerns otherwise you wouldn't be posting on here for opinions.

CK

Thanks.

It's cheaper to get the worksurface from this specialist company rather than have the kitchen company contract out the job. They only offer Corian, which is more expensive than Staron. We're shopping around for lots of individual elements, because we need to economise. We haven't paid a deposit to the kitchen company yet, because we haven't placed an order. But when we do, I intend to do so by credit card and will have the reassurance of knowing that they're a much larger company, backed by an industry-wide financial guarantee.

I didn't have concerns about the worktop company until they started hassling me for money. But I'm aware that they're a small outfit and, in the current climate, it makes sense to be concerned about their viability.

all_greek

CKdesigner

all_greek_to_me wrote: »

Thanks.

It's cheaper to get the worksurface from this specialist company rather than have the kitchen company contract out the job. They only offer Corian, which is more expensive than Staron. We're shopping around for lots of individual elements, because we need to economise. We haven't paid a deposit to the kitchen company yet, because we haven't placed an order. But when we do, I intend to do so by credit card and will have the reassurance of knowing that they're a much larger company, backed by an industry-wide financial guarantee.

I didn't have concerns about the worktop company until they started hassling me for money. But I'm aware that they're a small outfit and, in the current climate, it makes sense to be concerned about their viability.

all_greek

Hi all_greek

I don't think you are going to the right specialists. I have only once in 10 years had a customer purchase their worksurface else where, because they thought it was cheaper from someone else. I looked at it after the install and the quality of the work was a long way short of our suppliers. Then I had a phone call from the customer after a few months saying their sink had fallen off! We use a specialist acrylic worksuface fabricator that only goes through kitchen specialists, as they feel this is the professional route to market. We get excellent prices from them and yes are probably a bit more than your typical internet specialist but I think you definately get what you pay for.

If the kitchen specialist looks after it all then you have less work to do. Also think of it like this, you will be spending £3,600 with this company and probably never return. We spend 10's of thousands each year with our supplier so to keep this business they know they have to do a good job for us and all of our customers everytime!

CK

all_greek_to_me

CKdesigner wrote: »

Hi all_greek

I don't think you are going to the right specialists. I have only once in 10 years had a customer purchase their worksurface else where, because they thought it was cheaper from someone else. I looked at it after the install and the quality of the work was a long way short of our suppliers. Then I had a phone call from the customer after a few months saying their sink had fallen off! We use a specialist acrylic worksuface fabricator that only goes through kitchen specialists, as they feel this is the professional route to market. We get excellent prices from them and yes are probably a bit more than your typical internet specialist but I think you definately get what you pay for.

If the kitchen specialist looks after it all then you have less work to do. Also think of it like this, you will be spending £3,600 with this company and probably never return. We spend 10's of thousands each year with our supplier so to keep this business they know they have to do a good job for us and all of our customers everytime!

CK

Thanks for your advice.

I have done everything I can to check this guy out. He's an authorised Staron supplier and I've seen examples of his work. But his approach is making me nervous now.

all_greek

CKdesigner

all_greek_to_me wrote: »

Thanks for your advice.

I have done everything I can to check this guy out. He's an authorised Staron supplier and I've seen examples of his work. But his approach is making me nervous now.

all_greek

Good luck. If I were you I would try and get the cabinetry and worksurface from the one kitchen specialist or really get the cabinetry sorted out first.

CK

phill99

I think you are all being a tad unrealistic. I run a maintenance company and don't take debit or credit cards. I looked into it and the banks just want to stripe business customers up. It was going to cost me £40/month for the mobile machine plus 2.5% on CC payments and 50p per debit card. That adds to my overheads which makes me less competitive. In 6 years I've only been asked to be paid by card about half a dozen times so I can't justify the expense.

Just because I don't accept cards doesn't mean I'm less reputable than some one that does. I take cheques, bankers drafts, BACS payments and cash.

Also, posts suggesting that the installer is getting loads of cash in and then is going to go bust is absolute rubbish. After 6 years of trading, up to 6 months ago I only asked for a deposit 2 or 3 times and that was when I was ordering specific products for a specific job which couldn't be returned if the customer pulled out. Plus I had positive cash flow. In the last few months I have had to ask for a deposit on numerous occasions. Simply because I don't have the cash flow to pay for goods, especially if I am buying goods from a company that I don't have an account with. Most people are happy with this, particularly if you provide a written receipt etc.

So stop bashing small businessmen and traders who are simply trying to make a living in very
difficult times.

In terms of the OP, I would suggest going to the Starton Supplier and buying it diectly from them, have it delivered to you. Therefore the contract is between you and the Staron Supplier. Then just employ the fitter to install it.

Tom_Jones

The simple question I would ask is they originally quoted £3600 and didn't ask for a deposit, they then have a supplier price hike approx £400, and they ask for between £1200/1400 as a deposit. Why ?