Need some advice

maridunn

... husband has asked me to delete, thanks for the advice

maridunn

Deleted as per above

Sarastro

I'm not sure I've read this right so I think you're saying that your husband got the job and sub-contracted it to his own sub-contractor. The sub-contractor charged £1120...and this was passed onto the customer but with no margin added??

It depends on what your husband agreed with each of them. If he gave a quote for £1000 to the customer, then I think you will have a hard time passing on the additional cost of the first repair - I think the customer is right to expect that the damage is made good within the price. If no quote or estimate was given, you have a slightly stronger argument for invoicing the whole cost but I doubt it will wash as the customer knows there was repair work undertaken.

What was the relationship with the sub-contractor? If you agreed a fixed price with him for the job, then he shouldn't have charged any more than the price agreed, i.e. fixing the repair within his fixed price. If however, you are paying your sub-contractor on an hourly rate, then I don't think there's anything you can do as he has done as agreed.

Your husband should have agreed either a fixed price or hourly rate with both parties to avoid charging a fixed price but incurring an hourly cost.

It's not for me to say and depends on how much you value this customer going forward. If you try and enforce the £120 payment, you may not get it and will probably lose that customer. The alternative is you write it off as a good will gesture and stand a chance of keeping the customer and getting repeat business....if that's likely. If you are likely to get more work from this customer in the future, I'd be tempted to write it off and chalk it up to experience. If you offer to write it off, I suspect the customer will not be so worried about the other alleged damage.

teneighty

Sounds like the customer is a right prat. Unless they produce fake proof that they repeatedly reported the defects and notified you they were employing a second contractor to undertake remedial work then they haven't got a leg to stand on.

As for recovering the outstanding amount on your invoice, is it worth going to small claims/money claim for £120? It is a hugely time consuming process, I wouldn't bother.

You say they are/were a regular customer so is there any chance of repeat work? If that is the game they are going to play I would be inclined to inflate all future quotes to them by 20% to cover late and short payments.

If you do not intend to work for the customer again I wonder if one of those debt recovery agencies would be worth a try? I have never used one and do not know how much they charge.

maridunn

Deleted as per above

maridunn

Deleted as per above

baldelectrician

The cost of £123 will make court pointless (although I took a plonker to court for £45 as he just refused to pay- it cost him £280 in the end, I did that as a matter of principle)


I specifically exclude works of other trades in my quotes and terms and conditions- I am an electrician (not a plasterer)


If I were you I would email the client a complaint form and ask them to fill it in
Example of NICEIC complaint form
https://www.niceic.com/medialib/www.niceic.com/PDF/Certsure-Complaints-Form-e-Aug-17.pdf


Then you can decide how to deal with it
If you ask for this type of info then if (the landlord) were to take things further it would not look good for her as she delayed 6 months and failed to point out any other items promptly.


I would point out that having other companies in to do works on the install voids the warranty and you will not provide any warranty from this point onwards
I don't get many clients like this as I have weeded out the plonkers over the years.
When I get one I KEEP their number in my phone and add DNA (do not answer) to their name- then I know not to answer them.

maridunn

Deleted s per above

teneighty

One small point, OP keeps referring to the sub-contractor as if they were responsible.

This might be causing confusion. If the customer employed OP's husband then he carries all the contractual responsibility. If he employs sub-contractors that has nothing to do with the contract between him and customer, he is still responsible for all the sub-contractor's work and any damage they cause.

I wonder if the customer was talking directly to the sub-contractor who wasn't passing the information on?

maridunn

Deleted as per above

Debbie_Savard

Sell the unpaid invoice to factor? OK, you may only get 40% of the value, but it removes all the hassle.