Dispute with builder's invoice - please advise

grumbler

Mickey666 said:

They would if they had any sense.  They usually don't because it's disruptive to retrofit so they rely on wifi and crossed fingers.  But this forum is testament to all the problems that wifi can cause - it's by no means a panacea. 

Well, I am happy with WiFi and am no expert,  but there are powerline adapters. That said, I hate any wires.

Risteard

grumbler said:

Doozergirl said:

The builder is VAT registered.  If they thought £30k included the VAT then £800 of the wiring estimate would be VAT and that sort of price is more towards a basic spec of wiring, not one with smart gadgets and network cabling.

We don't discuss here whether the quote was fair or realistic, do we?

If he said £5K, then for a private customer it's £5K, not £5K+VAT.

It seems abundantly clear that this was always stated as being ex. VAT so therefore private customer or not - if it is clear that VAT isn't included then it's their responsibility to add it on.

There is nothing illegal about me telling someone that something will cost whatever plus VAT.

grumbler

OK, it's not clear to me. Can you, please, explain why it "seems abundantly clear "?

And yes, there is no anything illegal, I think, but if this happened I'd think that this was done on purpose - for the price to appear smaller than it actually was.

Adverts, catalogues and price lists, if aimed at general public only, must show prices including VAT.

In this case, it's none from the above, but definitely a representative of 'general public'.  The only  reason for quoting the price without VAT is to mislead the customer.

Doozergirl

grumbler said:

OK, it's not clear to me. Can you, please, explain why it "seems abundantly clear "?

And yes, there is no anything illegal, I think, but if this happened I'd think that this was done on purpose - for the price to appear smaller than it actually was.

Adverts, catalogues and price lists, if aimed at general public only, must show prices including VAT.

In this case, it's none from the above, but definitely a representative of 'general public'.  The only  reason for quoting the price without VAT is to mislead the customer.

There's no point in doing that if it just ends in a dispute.  Nobody wins.  

It's a moot point anyway.  If it was written down somewhere, then there would be a clue as to what the *estimate* was.  People are actually supposed to get something in writing.  Anything in writing, even if they give the builder that something in writing! 

I'm slightly amazed that there wasn't a single invoice until the very end, though it just confirms that this builder definitely isn't the paperwork type.  No solace, but he probably didn't have a clue how much it cost either!