VAT not mentioned on telephone quote, but added to final invoice! What are my rights?

DoaM

32Battalion said:

Any contractor will quote ex VAT, just common sense to check.

Oh dear ... yet another new poster whose advice is questionable. 🙄

32Battalion

DoaM said:

32Battalion said:

Any contractor will quote ex VAT, just common sense to check.

Oh dear ... yet another new poster whose advice is questionable. 🙄

Are you arguing it is not common sense to check?

shaun_from_Africa

32Battalion said:

DoaM said:

32Battalion said:

Any contractor will quote ex VAT, just common sense to check.

Oh dear ... yet another new poster whose advice is questionable. 🙄

Are you arguing it is not common sense to check?

It doesn't matter if it's common sense or not.
The OP was asking a question about their consumer rights and there is only one 100% correct answer and that is that when a business is selling to a consumer, any price quoted must be inclusive of all taxes that will be payable.

giraffe69

How about paying £150 instead of £180? They are unlikely to take you to the small claims court for £30. It does mean you can't really use them again but probably you don't want to.

32Battalion said:

Any contractor will quote ex VAT, just common sense to check.

As a contractor why wouldn't you say £150+VAT unless you wished to deceive?

32Battalion

giraffe69 said:

As a contractor why wouldn't you say £150+VAT unless you wished to deceive?

Most of the contractors from fencing, building, lorry repairs tend to deal with VAT registered organisations so it wouldn't cross their mind.  Perhaps living in a rural area we march to the beat of a different drum.  On small jobs I find cash is still king.

bap98189

ThumbRemote said: You are both completely wrong. In the UK prices are to be quoted to consumers including VAT, not as an add-on. 

You are correct but there is no evidence that they didn't say the price was exclusive of VAT. If taken further they will say they made this clear and the OP will say they didn't. 

Mickey666

bap98189 said:

ThumbRemote said: You are both completely wrong. In the UK prices are to be quoted to consumers including VAT, not as an add-on. 

You are correct but there is no evidence that they didn't say the price was exclusive of VAT. If taken further they will say they made this clear and the OP will say they didn't. 

True, so it’ll be an unresolvable, one word against another argument if taken to court.  Do you think the Contractor would bother going to all that trouble for £30?  

32Battalion is probably right in saying that cash is king

Jumblebumble

32Battalion said:

giraffe69 said:

As a contractor why wouldn't you say £150+VAT unless you wished to deceive?

Most of the contractors from fencing, building, lorry repairs tend to deal with VAT registered organisations so it wouldn't cross their mind.  Perhaps living in a rural area we march to the beat of a different drum.  On small jobs I find cash is still king.

Well if the OP does not pay the loss of £25 they have to pay HMRC will hopefully concentrate their minds on obeying the law in future 
I  suspect that someone cleaning domestic oil tanks knows perfectly well what they are doing to appear cheaper than the competition

George_Michael

Why not get someone else to phone them up (or you do it from a different phone) and ask for a quote for cleaning out an oil tank of about the same size and in the same area.
Record this call (perfectly legal to do and provided that you don't allow a third party to listen to the recording without the permission of everyone that's been recorded) and see if they mention VAT.
If they don't, mention this when you come to pay the invoice and ask if they want to listen to the recording.

unholyangel

bap98189 said:

ThumbRemote said: You are both completely wrong. In the UK prices are to be quoted to consumers including VAT, not as an add-on. 

You are correct but there is no evidence that they didn't say the price was exclusive of VAT. If taken further they will say they made this clear and the OP will say they didn't. 

Thankfully the CCRs place an obligation on the trader to provide the necessary information by durable medium. It is also up to the trader to prove they complied with this obligation. 

Plus again, the requirement is they must tell them the total price inclusive of taxes. It's only if thats not possible that they can use the how it will be calculated method