Quoted 3 days for a job that only took 1

superavram

Hi all, wondering if I can get an opinion regarding drainage work I had carried out today.

I bought a house a couple of months back, and after completing a homebuyers drain survey was notified there were 3 fairly large jobs that needed doing.

• Excavate and remove inspection chamber FW1 including the interceptor. Supply and fit a new 450 Ø Inspection chamber bedded and surrounded in 10mm shingle. Reinstate the block paved inspection cover. TOTAL £786.00+VAT
  
  
• Remove roots @ 0.97 mtrs supply and fit a structural patch liner to prevent further root ingress. TOTAL £328.00+VAT
  
• Lift paving slabs and set aside excavate and remove all drainage including gully from 10.0 mtrs up to 12.0 mtrs. Supply and fit new pipework and fittings bedded and surrounded in 10mm shingle. Backfill reinstate paving slabs and remove excess spoil from site. TOTAL £830.00+VAT

In total, I was quoted £2332.80 for 3 the jobs. I was told this was a 3-day job. (I'm based in Dorset).

2 men arrived at 08:15, I again asked if we were looking at 3 days work, they nodded... 15:20 and I get a knock to say they had finished. I was guided through what had been done and they admitted it was "not as bad as they had first thought". Their mouths dropped to the floor when I had told them how much I was quoted.

I've rung the office and got what I expect "we gave you the quote, you agree to the price - quote is for the job and not a daily rate", which is true, I can't help feeling like I've been over-quoted for a job that was clearly not as big as originally thought. Do I have a leg to stand on here?

elsien

How did your other quotes compare?

superavram

The only quote. Foolish I know. Blinded by the 100+ 5star google reviews.

phill99

The quote was for a fixed price. You accepted that price. The time they take is irrelevant. If the job had taken 5 days would you have been offering them more money?

B_G_B

Quoted 3 days for a job that only took 1

2 guys on site for 8 hours each = 2 man/days. Plus picking up new materials plus disposal of old materials plus travelling.

3 man/days sounds right in the ball park to me.

ComicGeek

superavram wrote:

I was guided through what had been done and they admitted it was "not as bad as they had first thought". Their mouths dropped to the floor when I had told them how much I was quoted.

But have they actually done the work quoted for, the comment about it not being as bad as they first thought would make me question it. Surely it's only the root ingress part which this could apply to - the inspection chamber, drainage runs and gully were being replaced anyway so irrelevant.

dunroving

There are two basic ways to be quoted a price for the job: (a) a cost per day/half-day/hour, and (b) a cost for the job as specified. It sounds like you were in situation (b), although you were given some indication of how long the job would take.

It may well be that the tradesman was meaning 3 "person days", as described, and that time was also needed for picking up materials, and other prep work.

Generally, I don't think you have cause for complaint, unless the job was considerably different than was described. Occasionally jobs are a bit easier than expected and occasionally the opposite is true. I do think that if the job spec changes, there is wiggle-room in most contracts for the price changing - some jobs are not completely clear until you start it, when you may find additional (or less) work is needed because of obstacles, discovery of pipes or electrics, etc.

Communication is key. Perhaps the tradesperson could have communicated better what he/she meant by 3 days, perhaps you could communicate better now, by calling and talking to the tradesperson in a non-confrontational way to say you don't quite understand why a 3-day job was completed in less than 1 day.

ian103

My initial question is did they do everything on the quote? A day seems very quick to do all that! Perhaps check that you have a new chamber, the parch is done and a new gully etc

Mistral001

If he householder were required to be available during the job, then doing the job in one day instead of the three day estimate, would have been a bonus for many, say if they had to take time off work to be at home. In that case, instead of complaints the workers might have expected a few tenners in their top pocket.

markin

Most likely per job, if it had rained on/off for 3 days it would have been a lot slower.