Can you be charged more than quoted?

BHanna

We were quoted a price of £5,500 for some interior design work and have an invoice slip for all the items and work and £3,000 deposit was paid on 2 September. A further £1,000 was paid leaving a balance of £1,5000. This included the price for a sofa and 4 cushions that we didn’t end up getting as they took so long and told quite a few lies about it being ‘almost finished’ when in fact it wasn’t even started. We had to get one made elsewhere. We were also quoted for paint which we paid separately and a rug Which we didn’t take. The employee who gave us this quote has since left and the shop have now come back to us that her calculations had previously been wrong and despite not getting the main item (sofa), 4 cushions, paint and a rug we actually hve a balance of £1,572.50. 

Do we have to pay this as I feel there was misrepresentation and we would not have entered into the contract (I.e paid the deposit) had we been given the price they have now calculated. Would appreciate your help! Thank you 

tacpot12

I suggest you ask what the correct price should have been and deduct the cost of the sofa/cushions/paint and rug, and ask for a reduction on the overall cost as the mistake was not made by you - it would be better to compromise rather than fall out over it. 

To answer your question, you can be charged more than you were quoted if the contract allows for it, and if a genuine mistake has been made. Mistakes can and do happen, but most of the cost of underestimating a job really should be borne by the supplier as they should have better processes in place to estimate jobs and verify that they are correct. 

unholyangel

Was it a quote or estimate? How did you enter into a contract with them, what information were you given before entering the contract and what medium was it on (paper, email, website etc).

In a nutshell, even if they have made a mistake, unless it was an obvious one or unless they only provided you with an estimate or pricing of X for materials + labour @ £x per hour and it took more hours due to a unforeseen problem then no.....they can't vary it after the fact. 

kirtondm

I don't think the price would obviously be a mistake. its not as if they quoted £550.

ThumbRemote

tacpot12 said:

I suggest you ask what the correct price should have been and deduct the cost of the sofa/cushions/paint and rug, and ask for a reduction on the overall cost as the mistake was not made by you - it would be better to compromise rather than fall out over it. 

To answer your question, you can be charged more than you were quoted if the contract allows for it, and if a genuine mistake has been made. Mistakes can and do happen, but most of the cost of underestimating a job really should be borne by the supplier as they should have better processes in place to estimate jobs and verify that they are correct. 

I disagree. I don't see why the customer should be left out of pocket for the retailers mistake. They have entered into a contract, and begun the work. They can't now start demanding more money. 

Mistakes certainly do happen, but the consumers shouldn't be paying a single penny for them. 

BHanna

Thanks for your comments. We were quoted back in September. The quote not estimate was written out on the company’s headed notebook with all items and with ‘deposit £3,000 paid, balance remaining £2,500’. I believe paying a deposit is accepting and entering into a contract. Had we known the items actually cost more we would not have entered into contract. We are now in February and we have only just got the last piece of work done. Since then the employee who quoted us this price has not turned in to work and essentially left and so her colleagues are trying to re write her errors, however I don’t see how we should have to pay for her errors in quoting. They are charging us £1572.50 even with removing sofa cushions etc so they aren’t wanting to compromise but rather just make us pay up. 

eddddy

BHanna said:

They are charging us £1572.50 even with removing sofa cushions etc so they aren’t wanting to compromise but rather just make us pay up. 

To clarify...
It sounds like you've paid £4,000 so far - but you haven't received the sofa, cushions, paint and rug that were specified in the contract.

You say that the supplier believes you owe another £1572 - but what do you believe you owe?

i.e based on the contract you agreed to, do you believe that...
a) £4,000 is the correct amount for the item's you've actually received?
b) £4,000 isn't enough for the items you've actually received?
c) £4,000 is too much for the items you've actually received?

If you think it's the correct amount, tell the supplier and refuse to pay any more.
If  you think it isn't enough, pay the amount you think you owe, and tell the supplier why you won't pay any more.
If you think it's too much, consider options for claiming some of it back

If the supplier still disagrees with you and thinks you haven't paid enough, they might make a court claim against you - so you'd have to present your arguments to the court, and the court would decide.

washingclip5

BHanna said:

We were quoted a price of £5,500 for some interior design work and have an invoice slip for all the items and work and £3,000 deposit was paid on 2 September. A further £1,000 was paid leaving a balance of £1,5000. This included the price for a sofa and 4 cushions that we didn’t end up getting as they took so long and told quite a few lies about it being ‘almost finished’ when in fact it wasn’t even started. We had to get one made elsewhere. We were also quoted for paint which we paid separately and a rug Which we didn’t take. The employee who gave us this quote has since left and the shop have now come back to us that her calculations had previously been wrong and despite not getting the main item (sofa), 4 cushions, paint and a rug we actually hve a balance of £1,572.50. 

Do we have to pay this as I feel there was misrepresentation and we would not have entered into the contract (I.e paid the deposit) had we been given the price they have now calculated. Would appreciate your help! Thank you 

The short and accurate answer is, yes. 

pinkshoes

The short and accurate answer is, yes. 

I disagree! 

The OP had an itemized quote (not estimate) to do some interior design work including supply of agreed items.

The company now want to increase the balance owed without supplying some of the items.

Yes... the original employee may have made a mistake, but the mistake should not be to the detriment of the OP.

The OP has said that they would not have agreed to the new higher price with fewer items. So the company need to either accept the mistake and honour the price or put the OP back to the starting position and issue a full refund which I imagine they cannot do as it with work done would probably cost them more than their original mistake!

Jenni_D

washingclip5 said:

BHanna said:

We were quoted a price of £5,500 for some interior design work and have an invoice slip for all the items and work and £3,000 deposit was paid on 2 September. A further £1,000 was paid leaving a balance of £1,5000. This included the price for a sofa and 4 cushions that we didn’t end up getting as they took so long and told quite a few lies about it being ‘almost finished’ when in fact it wasn’t even started. We had to get one made elsewhere. We were also quoted for paint which we paid separately and a rug Which we didn’t take. The employee who gave us this quote has since left and the shop have now come back to us that her calculations had previously been wrong and despite not getting the main item (sofa), 4 cushions, paint and a rug we actually hve a balance of £1,572.50. 

Do we have to pay this as I feel there was misrepresentation and we would not have entered into the contract (I.e paid the deposit) had we been given the price they have now calculated. Would appreciate your help! Thank you 

The short and accurate answer is, yes. 

At least one part of that post was correct - it was short.

washingclip5

pinkshoes said:

The short and accurate answer is, yes. 

I disagree! 

The OP had an itemized quote (not estimate) to do some interior design work including supply of agreed items.

The company now want to increase the balance owed without supplying some of the items.

Yes... the original employee may have made a mistake, but the mistake should not be to the detriment of the OP.

The OP has said that they would not have agreed to the new higher price with fewer items. So the company need to either accept the mistake and honour the price or put the OP back to the starting position and issue a full refund which I imagine they cannot do as it with work done would probably cost them more than their original mistake!

One for the courts then.

it will be interesting to see if they force the company to swallow the mistake.