Supplier demanding more money

LeeU

A few months ago contracted B&Q to replace the worksurfaces in my kitchen, we had had the kitchen done about 5 years previously but had gone for wooden worksurfaces which were a big mistake.
We paid for a survey (£50) for them to come out, measure up, etc, and then they gave us a price about a week later during a visit to one of their stores.
Their subcontractor came out to do their own survey and it turns out the B&Q have made an error, they acknowledge the error is theirs and not ours but we needed to pay £1500 within 90 minutes or they were going to cancel the project.
Looking at the Consumer Rights Act 2015, my interpretation is that they aren't allowed to do that, am I correct in this?
I have lodged a complaint with B&Q, I have paid the £1500 under protest, not accepting responsibility or liability for any mistakes.
B&Q's Ts & Cs include this:
When we attend the property to carry out the Services, we will verify that the initial price you have paid for your Order is correct. If we determine (in accordance with our list prices) that the total cost of your Order will exceed your initial payment, we reserve the right to charge additional fees for the Services to be provided. If you do not accept the additional fees we will cancel the Order and you will receive a refund of the price paid. If we determine that the total cost of your Order will be less than your initial payment, you will receive a refund of the amount you have paid that exceeds the total cost of your Order.
Is my interpretation of CRA 2015 correct and am I liable to pay any more money?

tonyh66

The devil is in the detail, Im guessing you want a granite/marble type worktop im guessing B&Q screwed up the measurement or something, the best you can hope for is the refund of the initial £50 survey by B&Q. Yes you are probably liable to pay more money, your not going to get the extra £1500 work for free.

GDB2222

Sorry, they gave you 90 minutes to agree? What utter nonsense. You should obviously have called their bluff, but it's a bit late now.

You should insist on cancelling the whole project. Then speak to the sub-contractor and find out what they are charging B&Q. You might be happy to pay that figure, and the subbie might be surprised at the B&Q mark-up on their work.

LeeU

Yes, I've since found out that they were made aware of the issue last Friday but didn't notify us until just before 9 am yesterday with the dead line of 10:30.
I have had several conversations with the store manager and if I said I'm not very impressed that would be an understatement.
He claims not to be aware of their own complaints procedure as he thought the customer service team would resolve all of this and nothing had to be done at the branch.
I know if the company I work for makes a mistake in pricing either services or hardware they cannot go back to the customer and ask for more money, they have to absorb the cost themselves, hence the initial question.
I'm not going to stop pushing for some kind of recompense as B&Q admit this is their issue, I paid for a service, I trusted them as the experienced, skilled people to carry out the survey and provide me we an accurate price for the work we were contracting to have done and that it was a fixed price job with no extras coming my way.
I'd gladly argue this in court if I need to, this is purely their mistake and they admit that.

spadoosh

LeeU wrote: »

Yes, I've since found out that they were made aware of the issue last Friday but didn't notify us until just before 9 am yesterday with the dead line of 10:30.
I have had several conversations with the store manager and if I said I'm not very impressed that would be an understatement.
He claims not to be aware of their own complaints procedure as he thought the customer service team would resolve all of this and nothing had to be done at the branch.
I know if the company I work for makes a mistake in pricing either services or hardware they cannot go back to the customer and ask for more money, they have to absorb the cost themselves, hence the initial question.
I'm not going to stop pushing for some kind of recompense as B&Q admit this is their issue, I paid for a service, I trusted them as the experienced, skilled people to carry out the survey and provide me we an accurate price for the work we were contracting to have done and that it was a fixed price job with no extras coming my way.
I'd gladly argue this in court if I need to, this is purely their mistake and they admit that.

They wont give you £1500 of product/service for nothing so get that idea out of your head.

Ill go out on a limb and say, at best, youll be offered 20% off the additional amount.

I can only assume the deadline things was due to a finance offer, lead/fitting times or time limits on quotations (think its 28 days they last for subject to inspection etc). It would be unusual to push a sale for a monday when thats the second day of the weekly budgets. It seems pushy for no reason.


It is their mistake but one thing you need to understand is that mistake can and do happen. B&Q are accountable for mistakes staff make (as in youre a peed off customer) that doesnt always make them liable (as in having to give you something for free).

Id suggest you put pressure on them to offer a discount that makes them cheaper than you could get the product elsewhere, if theyre already the cheapest (unlikely with fitting) ask about a token discount (no unusual to have 10-20% discount codes to offer under the counter). If youre wanting £1500 of service product for nothing just ask for a refund. Personally i wouldnt bother taking it to court because i wouldnt be able to see a way of proving your out of pocket in any way.

phill99

Why on earth do people go to B & Q?

Clive_Woody

phill99 wrote: »

Why on earth do people go to B & Q?

So that they can be charged £50 to have them come out and give them a quote....then still get it wrong :beer:

LeeU

Following a call wth the store manager again, and after threatening to take them to court and plaster it all over the internet, I have indeed got my money back for their mistake.
The deadline wasn't for any finance, it was their supplier for the granite worksurfaces, the B&Q branch knew about this last Friday but neglected to call us before yesterday morning.

Thanks for all the replies.

phill99

LeeU wrote: »

Following a call wth the store manager again, and after threatening to take them to court and plaster it all over the internet, I have indeed got my money back for their mistake.
The deadline wasn't for any finance, it was their supplier for the granite worksurfaces, the B&Q branch knew about this last Friday but neglected to call us before yesterday morning.

Thanks for all the replies.

I reiterate: Why do people go to B & Q?