Buiilder overcharged

drsonurajini

Hello,

I am in need of great help. I have just installed new kitchen through a local builder bought from B and Q. He gave a detailed quote for £1000 for installation (for 6.5 days) and £500 for materials. He mentioned if he has to do more work because he unexpectedly meets up with difficulties, it would be more for the installation. After going through like 10 quotes, I agreed for him.

All he has to do extra was Moving stop !!!!, additional worktop to be cut and fixed on the wall to be used as a breakfast table. He was pretty slow like any other builder and took 12 days to complete the work. He says the tiles were different colour, so he took more time, etc. Now he gave the bill for 1500£ only for his labour,... 50% more than what he initially quoted. I am not sure what I can do. Can I take him to court, but he has mentioned it might take more... , still 50% more is too much. I guess, the builder with around 20 years of experience should be knowing better than us. Though, we had many cheaper quotes, we took this man, as he had done some work for one of our friends.
The lowest quote that I have is 1600£ for full installation including materials. Is there any firm / organisation that I can complain about the builder. I am not sure what to do.

Please let me know.

Thank you very much.

sorry for the long letter. I am really frustrated with this dishonesty of the builders.

phill99

I think you are over reacting slightly by talking about court and discussing complaints to random bodies.

The thing you need to do first is discuss it with the builder. You need to get him round and have a cup of tea with him and say you need clarification on issues and his pricing.

Did he ever say to you during the installation that he felt it would take more time than originally thought?

He has mentioned to you that the price may go up subject to unexpected problems. That to me rings alarm bells as it suggests he may find 'extra' work. Therefore, it could be suggested that you may be partially at fault by agreeing to such a contract. It may have been better for you to go with the guy at £1600 as thsi was a guaranteed fixed price.

However, 12 days does seem a long time on an expected time of 6 days.

Leif

I would write a letter pointing out that the original quote for labour was £1000, and as £1500 is significantly higher, you would like him to provide a written explanation of the reason for the extra £500, with the work itemised so you can see exactly what he has charged you for. By all means include for £1000. If he replies with vague sentences such as "it took a lot more work" tell him that is unsatisfactory and request a detailed explanation.

I echo the previous post, that it sounds iffy, as if he knew he would charge more.

keystone

In essence I do agree with both Phil and Leif. There are nearly always some unforseen circumstances. Some people will load their price to cover an element of it in the first instance so if they don't arise they still pocket the dosh and you are none the wiser - thats even more "iffy" IMHO. "Extras" should always be agreed at the time they arise. You are partially at fault for allowing him to proceed without agreeing a price for the extras. To be critical of him though:

1. It should have been obvious that the stop c o c k needed moving so he should have included that in his original pricing stucture.

2. Tiles being different colours is BS. Tiles are always different colours which is why you mix and match when tiling from a number of different boxes to spread the differences around.

If he was slow thats his problem but I am unsure if he gave you a quote or an estimate in the first instance - they are quite different animals.

The breakfast bar costs are entirely down to you as an extra.

So, as Phil says you must sit down with him and chat calmly and sensibly about it. Ranting about court and complaining to someone won't solve it apart from generating more bad feeling. After all if he had pro-rata'd his labour out to 12 days from 6½ your bill would have been £1800 so you need to take that into context.

Now bearing in mind I have not seen the job my "back of fag packet" guesstimate would be ½ day to shift the stop c o c k and 1 day for the breakfast bar. Put together that looks like about £250 based on a derived day rate from £1k over 6½ days.

Would you be happy with that amount? Helpfully thats exactly halfway between his original £ 1k and the billed £ 1½k.

As you've said you are prepared to pay for these extras then if I were you I'd be negotiating for £ 1,250 which seems a sensible compromise. Oh and don't go into the discussion with an "attitude". The formal letter approach should, IMHO, be kept until and if the informal discussion fails to reach an agreement.

And I'm not convinced he's being dishonest either. Just not a very good businessman - particularly with his customer relations.

Just my 2c.

Cheers

DVardysShadow

keystone wrote: »

1. It should have been obvious that the stop c o c k needed moving so he should have included that in his original pricing stucture.

stop c o c k -> stopcock

All one word and quite rightly it does not get censored

rach-vitendi

Am I immature if I enjoy the fact that stopcock is not censored?

Meepster

rach-vitendi wrote: »

Am I immature if I enjoy the fact that stopcock is not censored?

Quite...

keystone

DVardysShadow wrote: »

stop c o c k -> stopcock

All one word and quite rightly it does not get censored

You missed that I missed an "r" out of structure.

Cheers

drsonurajini

Thank you very much Phil99, Leif and Keystone. It was probably a knee jerk reaction of mine to talk about the court and things, as I was very much frustrated looking at the bill. Keystone... Thank you for your very clear picture. I will speak to him over the week end and let you guys know what he says. Thanks for your advice. I think I would go for extra £250 as Keystone says.

Cheers

robert2011

Pay not a penny more than the agreed contract sum, this guy is what i call a cowboy ! yes some cowboys are good tradesman but lawless ! the £1000 labour quote is more than fair to fit a kitchen inc extras. Get another fitter ! good luck

keystone

So Robert. A client asks yoiu to quote for a kitchen job. You go and look at it and find it comprises n wall units and n base units plus the usual paraphnalia. You give your price on that basis and get the job with an agreed contract price having haggled a bit. Work starts and then an extra wall unit plus base unit creeps in in the utility area plus a sink that had not previously been mentioned. Client supplies extra bits. Do you negotiate a VCO or do you swallow the associated additional labour costs?

In this case job is finished. Whats the point of getting another fitter?

Cheers