Kitchen fitter charging 3 times original quote - help!

teneighty

It strikes me that the plumber has been very foolish here.

As it stands the plumber has submitted an invoice for the final payment of £6200 with absolutely no paperwork or written instructions to back up his "contract". All the OP needs to do is dispute the amount of the invoice and refuse to pay.

Either the OP and plumber will have to negotiate a mutually agreeable figure or the plumber will have to take the OP to court. With the lack of written evidence the plumber will have a tough job convincing the court. A civil claim is judged on balance of probability so the court will look at the quote from Wickes for £2200 and compare it with plumbers costs of £9200 (or £6200 if interim payment not included) which even though it includes an extra bathroom is extortionate in comparison. I would say the balance of probability is that the OP's suggestion that the plumber verbally quoted £3000 is credible.

teneighty

scumboss wrote: »

It is no surprise he is coming back for more. 3k to fit a kitchen and a bathroom. That sounds incredibly cheap. To give you an example I've had my kitchen just done and that was 9k - labour only. It is a large kitchen mind which involved a knock through. I'm currently having my bathroom done and that's 3.2k, again labour only.

Do you have legal cover with your home insurance? It might be worth giving them a ring.

But the OP has a quote from Wickes of £2200 to install the kitchen so your cost of £9k is rather misleading. For all we know the OP has a tiny kitchen and you might live in Buckingham Palace.

keith969

I had a kitchen fitted recently (about 4x3.5m) by Wickes subcontractors. The fitting charge was £3600 which included knocking down a non-loadbearing wall, making good the ceiling and walls, tiling the floor, fitting the units etc. It was about 7 days work for 2 guys.

Not knowing what you had done in the bathroom it's hard to say, but a figure of around £5-6k to fit both is not wildly unrealistic.

I wonder if it's a case of misunderstanding - which is why you should always get quotes in writing.

Fire_Fox

Holly_148 wrote: »

That is really helpful advice thank you - will make sure to take that on board!

We made it very clear we wanted a quote for the job, never did we ask for an estimate. And we spoke at length about the quote Wickes had given us of £2,200 so we felt he was trying to help us out by offering to plumb the bathroom and do the kitchen for £3,000 inclusive.

As we’ve never paid for such work before (this is our first home) neither of us knew that quotes couldn’t be round numbers, nor did we think about getting this quote in writing... he had done work for us before on our boiler so naively felt we trusted him.

My partner called him last night and he was incredibly aggressive and actually threatened to come round and rip the kitchen out!!

My partner is calling citizens advice today to try and get some more advice so we’ll see what they say.

Thanks everyone for your replies, you’ve made me feel a lot better!

Sorry to read that the tradesman has become abusive/ threatening. Keep careful written notes of what was said (word-for-word if possible) and when (date and time). Consider involving the Police, certainly if threats or abuse occurs again. The dispute itself is a civil (private) matter but threats against people or property is a criminal (police and CPS) matter.

If you are formally disputing the final invoice deal with the tradesman in writing (e-mail or letter sent Signed For, not by telephone or text).

You want to form a paper trail in case of legal action: this is your proof of trying to resolve the situation fairly and amicably, your proof that you are not trying to duck out of anything. In addition communicating in writing gives you the breathing space to carefully consider your wording or phraseology or to get a draft letter checked by the CAB.

HTH.

Holly_148

Below are the list of extras he has invoiced us for, totally £6,395.00

We are not disputing that he did do some extra work, such as the drilling the hole for the fan in the bathroom and work on the toilet. However, we believe everything else he should have foreseen when providing us a quote for fitting our kitchen and plumbing the bathroom. For example, I don’t understand how fitting the dishwasher would be an extra.

When he spoke to us about the fact there would be extra costs, he never stated any figures, simply said ‘there will be a few more costs which I will need to invoice you for’ - he was never transparent about the amount these would likely be. If he had been, we would have asked him to stop the work.

If anyone is able to advise whether these costs are reasonable that would be most helpful.

KITCHEN WORKS
Kitchen Water Main
Supply & Installation of Lead to copper converter
Supply & Installation of Stop !!!!
£ 360.00

Kitchen Hot & Cold Services
New Cold supply for Kitchen sink
New Hot service for kitchen sink
New cold service for dish washer
New cold service for W/M
New cold service for outside tap
£620.00

Kitchen Electrical Services
Renew all electrical services in kitchen and add new points as per customers request. Rectify historic botched works to current BS Safety Standards
Back fill all chased walls with one coat
£ 1,200.00

Kitchen Flat Pack
Assembly of flat pack units for kitchen
£ 1,200.00

Kitchen Intergraded Appliances
Supply Kitchen integrated door bracket Fit Integrated Fridge freezer
Fit integrated Dish Washer
£260.00

Kitchen Gas Hob
Fit Gas Hob – Adjustment to gas line and fit isolation valve
Gas Test Commission gas Hob
£230.00

Kitchen Solid Hardwood Work Tops
Cut and fit Hard wood Worktops – Belfast Sink with drains, Gas Hob.
Danish Oil
Application Brushes X 2
£460.00

Gas Line for Boiler
Due to integrated appliance the Gas line for the boiler had to be re-directed externally.
£420.00

Kitchen Drainage & Trap
Supply & fit Drainage and trap for kitchen sink including new waste exit hole for kitchen sink
£180.00

Kitchen Radiator decommission
Drain down heating system
Cap pipe work for kitchen radiator Add central heating inhibitor Refill and test
£220.00

Bespoke cutting of X 2 Units to specific size
Kitchen Ladder unit – cut from 600mm to 500mm Kitchen Base unit – cut from 600 to 500mm
£280.00

BATHROOM WORKS
WC - Toilet
Supply & installation of inlet fill valve
Supply & installation of Flush mechanism with handle Supply & fit of doughnut cistern washer
£185.00

Bathroom Radiator
Remove old Bathroom radiator
Fit new bathroom radiator
Adjustment to pipe work for new radiator
*Replace radiator valves with traditional radiator valves
Bath
£360.00

Supply & fit popup waste for bath Supply & fit trap for bath
Supply & fit new drainage for bath Fit Traditional Shower
Fit Shower Screen Drill Hole for new Fan
£420.00

Total: £6,395.00

andygb

"Half way through the work he asked for £3,000 in cash as he needed to pay the carpenter who was fitting the oak worktops. Which we paid him."

Kitchen Solid Hardwood Work Tops
Cut and fit Hard wood Worktops – Belfast Sink with drains, Gas Hob.
Danish Oil
Application Brushes X 2
£460.00"

Well that seems to be £2540 difference for a start!
We have a 15' x 12' kitchen with 12 units, 20' of worktop with 2 mitred joints, we had a bit of plumbing done for the sink, 5 extra/new sockets and a brand new consumer unit - £2K to the kitchen fitter and £400 to the sparks. That was around 8 years ago.

JimmyChanga

Kitchen Water Main
Supply & Installation of Lead to copper converter
Supply & Installation of Stop !!!!
£ 360.00

Just this first job is ridiculously expensive. A lead to copper converter is less than a tenner and a stop also. And a very simple job to install.

The rest is mostly standard work for an install and also overpriced. When he capped off the redundant radiator did he install a bleed valve?

Fire_Fox

Holly_148 wrote: »

My partner and I bought a kitchen from Wickes and bath suite. Wickes had quoted us£2,200 to fit the kitchen.
We spoke to our plumber about fitting the bathroom suite and he mentioned he could also do the kitchen as well for £3,000 - regrettably we didn’t get this quote in writing (which I’m now kicking myself for!)

We showed him the kitchen plans and advised him of what bathroom suite we’d purchased ready for him to start the work.

He did keep mentioning that it would likely cost a bit more as he was having to carefully fit the units as the walls weren’t straight. But never at any point did he mention a price.

What was included in the Wickes detailed quote/ estimate and how is that broken down? How does that compare to the detailed invoice from the plumber?

Holly_148 wrote: »

We made it very clear we wanted a quote for the job, never did we ask for an estimate. And we spoke at length about the quote Wickes had given us of £2,200 so we felt he was trying to help us out by offering to plumb the bathroom and do the kitchen for £3,000 inclusive.

We are not disputing that he did do some extra work, such as the drilling the hole for the fan in the bathroom and work on the toilet. However, we believe everything else he should have foreseen when providing us a quote for fitting our kitchen and plumbing the bathroom. For example, I don’t understand how fitting the dishwasher would be an extra.

When he spoke to us about the fact there would be extra costs, he never stated any figures, simply said ‘there will be a few more costs which I will need to invoice you for’ - he was never transparent about the amount these would likely be. If he had been, we would have asked him to stop the work.

I still have reservations about the terminology and phraseology. Again I am being picky about this now, to prevent it being used against you by a rogue tradesman or their legal advisor.

A quote for "fitting a kitchen" is not necessarily the same as "doing a kitchen" or "for the [whole] job". Fitting a kitchen might reasonably be limited to assembling and fitting the units and worktops. That could include bespoke cutting down two units if he was aware of that when giving you the price.

Having said that it is greatly in your favour that you "spoke at length" with the plumber, and that conversation was based upon a quote or estimate from Wickes. Whatever you can remember about the wording you used, or the plumber used could be helpful to your case.

Might sound like overkill, but .... You and your partner might sit down separately with A4 paper and note every detail about the conversation. Where you were stood, what you wore, if you had tea/ coffee, what the weather was like, anything and everything. Then swap pieces of paper. One of your notes could jog the memory of the other: something unimportant reminding you of something important.

How much do Wickes charge for fitting appliances? This can be eyewatering even with no electrical work and no plumbing to do. With retailers there can be separate charges for unwrap/ site/ level up/ connect to existing services, for changing how the appliance door is hung, for fitting the integrated door, and for removing the old appliance. This can be in addition to delivery and can double the price of a basic appliance! Not saying that is fair or reasonable, but it is not uncommon.

HTH.

beduth

If your kitchen is fitted and the bathroom is finished,tell him to go and do one.
If he comes round being aggressive phone the police.
Also tell him if he comes round you will contact the tax office and tell them he is insisting on cash to do work.

need_an_answer

Assembly of flat pack units £1200 !!!!

that's extortionate...


If hes a trained fitter that would have taken minimal time,instead it looks like hes charged you for a weeks work.