Contractor now wants to charge for quote

rainbow12

I was selling my house and the survey the buyers survey stated there was evidence of damp. I contacted a company recommended by a friend and asked for a quote. The man came and inspected the property and sent me a quote.

The buyers did not want to go ahead with this and so I let him know. He is now saying that he is charging me for the quote. At no time during my initial call or his face to face contact at my property did he say he was charging for a quote. There is also nothing on his website which says he charges for a quote or doesnt charge (in fairness I didnt even know his website or company name when he attended my property, because he had been recommended by a friend). He is now saying that he did tell me because he sent it in the written quote (after he had been out and completed his piece of work).

I would also like to add that my friend who recommended him did not pay for a quote and I have found four business websites that he is advertising on in which he states "free no obligation quote". This man was initially phoning me constantly and now it is emails. I have made it very clear that we did not have a contract and I never expected anyone to charge just simply for giving a quote. I have also stated that a contract can not be made retrospectively. I have dealt with lots of contractors personally, in my previous job as a housing manager and have family members who are contractors and I have never come across this sort of thing before.

He is now saying he will pass this apparent debt onto a collection agency which will incur further costs and cause me to have adverse credit.

I would like to make it clear to everyone that I dont try and pull fast ones on people, I do stick to my obligations and I would never have agreed to pay for a quote (I have never ever had anyone even try to charge for giving me a quote for work).

Any suggestions / advice? I would like this sorted before it gets very nasty - he seems unstable so this concerns me and if he is going to try to affect my credit I will be forced to take legal action to sue him.

Thanks

neilmcl

Tell him to do one, simple as.

And this is nonsense.

rainbow12 wrote: »

He is now saying he will pass this apparent debt onto a collection agency which will incur further costs and cause me to have adverse credit.

You have nothing to worry about.

rainbow12

Thanks neilmd, I have been trying to tell him very firmly that there was and is no agreement but he doesnt seem to want to stop trying (hence me thinking he is a bit unstable).

Is there anything I can do to try and stop him contacting me? In my last response I said I was not going to answer any more correspondence from him as I am considering him to be harassing and intimidating, I am awaiting a response which I wont respond to (I will simply keep a record now of all the contact he makes). Its quite worrying as a single woman when this sort of thing happens.

As I was typing I have received another email stating that I should contact the police as it is deformation to ask someone to attend my house free of charge.
Should I consider reporting this to the police? Should I block his emails? Im really not sure what to do with this man as he seems to be spiraling a bit out of control.

spacey2012

The Clue is in the name "Contractor" no contract = no payment.
He came to propose a contract which was not signed or formed.

As long as you did not sign anything, he is talking out of his bottom.

rainbow12

Thanks Spacey.

My difficulty is that I think the head attached to the bottom has a few marbles missing!

neilmcl

Do not enter into any further correspondence with this guy, keep a copy of all emails and block his email address. If he continues to hassle you then seek legal advice regarding harassment and/or contact the police should he make any threats.

rainbow12

Okay thanks neilmd

bris

spacey2012 wrote: »

The Clue is in the name "Contractor" no contract = no payment.
He came to propose a contract which was not signed or formed.

As long as you did not sign anything, he is talking out of his bottom.

Well no, contracts can be formed in different ways, mainly written and signed, written it doesn't need to be signed, verbal or by actions, such as putting down a deposit.

Not the point though, he still has no right to bill you now if he didn't make it clear at the time, so ignore him and if he is persistent, seek advice from the police.

rainbow12

Thanks for the advice

shaun_from_Africa

At no time during my initial call or his face to face contact at my property did he say he was charging for a quote. There is also nothing on his website which says he charges for a quote or doesnt charge

When you called him to arrange to visit your house to give you a quote, did you tell him that you wouldn't be charging him for the time spent inside your property or did he just assume that the visit would be free, and if you made him a cup of tea or coffee, did you specifically tell him that this was also free of charge before he drank it?
There may also be a parking charge to add to your invoice if he left his vehicle on your property whilst he was there.

If he can retrospectively charge for something that you were neither aware of or agreed to, why shouldn't you be able to do the same?

rainbow12

Not a bad idea Shaun and if it goes to court I will certainly be claiming for my timr amd inconvenience. At the moment I am trying not to antagonise this clearly unstable fool.