Catering Invoice More than quoted

ricksExpensive

Good evening,

Myself and Fianc!e are due to get married in August.

We are therefore starting to pay off balances for various things and today the invoice for the catering has arrived.

To our amazement it is over £2k more than the price stated on the proforma invoice which we received when making the final adjustments to the menu and numbers to cater for and to give us the idea on pricing so that we could budget accordingly.

Anyone have any advice on what do to? We are both deeply concerned and upset and cannot afford to spring up £2k from no where.

The place we are getting married only deals with this particular catering company so cannot change.

Phoned company but they weren't able to help as the manager isn't in this week.

Advice on how to proceed would be really appreciated.

Thanks in advance

74jax

I would just pay your original invoice. If they query it, explain you're paying your first invoice only.

Does the first invoice state the price may increase.

ricksExpensive

Thanks for replying.

It says this is an estimate only at the bottom.

On closer inspection It's appears they have priced each line correctly e.g 95x Sit down breakfast = £X amount and so on....

But when they have totalled all the items together got the figure is completely wrong. Now compared to the current invoice the total is right and that's why appears so much more expensive.

When contacted the caterers they said they couldn't do anything until the manager is back later this week but went on to explain how they didn't used to use spreadsheets and all calculations were manual. Personally fail to see how that is my fault.

lika_86

When is the deadline for payment? If it's before the manager gets back then drop them an email to say that you have a query regarding the invoice and are waiting to speak to the manager about it.

Speak to the manager when he/she gets back and ask them why there is such a large increase, it may be a simple mistake. In the meantime, read through your contract and quote from them, it may say that prices are subject to change to take into account raw materials, labour costs etc, but it would be difficult to imagine what could cause a £2000 increase. Also, check whether the difference is anything to do with something obvious like the first price being [AMOUNT]+VAT and this being VAT inclusive (although it's difficult to imagine your catering comes to £10k unless you're having a very large or lavish wedding).

ETA - you seem to have found the problem now. I'm sure it can be easily sorted next week.

ricksExpensive

Thank you for your responses.

Is there anything I can do in preparation or should ask when I get to speak to the manager? Or will it be a case of good will as to what the final out come will be or honouring the pricing originally quoted?

Thanks again

lika_86

Just tell them that their maths is wrong, it's added up incorrectly and ask them to correct it (obviously be polite and nice about it).

burnoutbabe

I suppose its a bit of an issue both sides - you agreed to pay £x per person and are still paying that. Just neither side double checked what £x times 95 people was.

Lavendyr

It's not a question of goodwill, it's a question of someone their end not being able to use a calculator properly!

Pay what you owe according to what the invoice should add up to, not what it does add up to, and tell them to reissue the invoice.

ricksExpensive

I fail to see why we should pay the raised amount when the fault was at their end because they couldnt add up.

We entered the contract with a £500 deposit based on the figures received in the proforma invoice.

All well and good saying just pay the new amount but it is an extra £2K just 6 weeks before the wedding and that totals nearly £10K for food and drinks alone, which had we have known in the first instance would not have proceeded.

Surely they have misrepresented themselves and the service/goods on offer?

We find ourselves still chasing them for a conversation about the new invoice, and still they decline to return our phone calls.

lika_86

ricksExpensive wrote: »

I fail to see why we should pay the raised amount when the fault was at their end because they couldnt add up.

We entered the contract with a £500 deposit based on the figures received in the proforma invoice.

All well and good saying just pay the new amount but it is an extra £2K just 6 weeks before the wedding and that totals nearly £10K for food and drinks alone, which had we have known in the first instance would not have proceeded.

Surely they have misrepresented themselves and the service/goods on offer?

We find ourselves still chasing them for a conversation about the new invoice, and still they decline to return our phone calls.

Nobody is telling you to pay the new (wrong) invoice and they haven't misrepresented anything, they just can't add up. You said that the manager isn't back until next week. Wait until then, you've already said that nobody else has authority to deal with it so why are you expecting a phone call back?

Anatidaephobia

lika_86 wrote: »

Nobody is telling you to pay the new (wrong) invoice and they haven't misrepresented anything, they just can't add up.

I thought it was the other way around - the new invoice has the correct figure which is higher because the calculation was wrong on the original invoice? It should've been the higher price all along, if the figures had been added up correctly.

ricksExpensive wrote: »

But when they have totalled all the items together got the figure is completely wrong. Now compared to the current invoice the total is right and that's why appears so much more expensive.