Joiners Restocking Charge Invoice

JetpackVelociraptor

Ignore him, you'll get the chance to make your point in court - and "what kind of joiner doesn't already own a nailgun" is a reasonable point! It's also his responsibility to mitigate his losses, which means if he could reasonably be expected to use the purchased materials on another job then he really should have done.

Jenni_D

As per others, ignore this (but file away the paperwork / save the emails). The chances of him raising court action is remote - even if he does it is likely to be several months before this even sees a court / remote hearing.

Al_Ross

He has now sent a reminder.

Could he pass this as a debt to a debt collector firm who add on their fees,before it went to court?

pinkshoes

Al_Ross said:

He has now sent a reminder.

Could he pass this as a debt to a debt collector firm who add on their fees,before it went to court?

Nope! No debt collector has any right to collect debts unless it has gone through court.

And what sort of joiner doesn't have a nail gun??? And if he is charging you for all these things, then why is there a return cost?? If he is genuinely a joiner, he would already have most of these items and would be able to use them on other jobs. Sounds to me like you have had a VERY lucky escape!

And it is not illegal to work during lockdown. For those not able to work from home, you can work providing you follow safety guidelines e.g. as it was empty there would be no issues.

If YOU had cancelled the contract if he COULD do the work before the required date (which he couldn't), then you would potentially be liable for the return cost of materials and restocking fee.

I would politely reply:

Dear X,
On <date> I accepted your quote of £X to lay flooring which was accepted on the basis that it needed to be completed before <date>. Unfortunately, you notified me that you were unable to get the work done before this date, so I therefore had to employ another joiner to lay the floor.

As you could not fulfil the contract with the required dates, then no charges are due.

Kind regards,

YOU

Al_Ross

pinkshoes said:

Al_Ross said:

He has now sent a reminder.

Could he pass this as a debt to a debt collector firm who add on their fees,before it went to court?

Nope! No debt collector has any right to collect debts unless it has gone through court.

And what sort of joiner doesn't have a nail gun??? And if he is charging you for all these things, then why is there a return cost?? If he is genuinely a joiner, he would already have most of these items and would be able to use them on other jobs. Sounds to me like you have had a VERY lucky escape!

And it is not illegal to work during lockdown. For those not able to work from home, you can work providing you follow safety guidelines e.g. as it was empty there would be no issues.

If YOU had cancelled the contract if he COULD do the work before the required date (which he couldn't), then you would potentially be liable for the return cost of materials and restocking fee.

I would politely reply:

Dear X,
On <date> I accepted your quote of £X to lay flooring which was accepted on the basis that it needed to be completed before <date>. Unfortunately, you notified me that you were unable to get the work done before this date, so I therefore had to employ another joiner to lay the floor.

As you could not fulfil the contract with the required dates, then no charges are due.

Kind regards,

YOU

The problem was he never gave me a date to do the work, he said he couldn't give a date because he didn't know when lockdown would be lifted. I asked for his assurance that he would make this one of his first jobs when lockdown was removed, which he ignored, so two weeks later I found a different joiner who could do it in a weeks’ time and advised the first joiner on this. He wasn't happy and said he would invoice me on any restocking costs. About a month later he did.

See his attached invoice.

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

Did he originally come out to look at the job or was this all by email? 

Manxman_in_exile

Hmmm.  Know nothing about joinery, but is a "Hidden nail gun" a special piece of kit or is it something all competent joiners would be expected to own?  And are the nails special to that gun?

I was in agreement with others that the joiner was trying it on - but now I'm a little less sure...  Looks like a genuine invoice and he's got a VAT number on it.  I'm just wondering if the joiner has got new kit in anticipation of the job in good faith - which is now not needed?

Also, it seems that the OP didn't actually specify a deadline for getting the work done - just as soon as possible?  Without knowing exactly what was originally agreed, I'm wondering whether the joiner might have some justification for believing the OP to be in breach of contract by engaging another joiner?

I don't think consumers can be charged restocking fees but if, for the sake of argument, the OP is in breach, can the joiner reclaim restocking fees he's been charged?

Not saying the OP is in the wrong - just that I think it now seems less straightforward than I originally thought...

Al_Ross

He did come out to provide a free quote, which he posted to me and I emailed back my acceptance. The quote was for approximately £3500, to fit wood flooring which I had already purchased and a few smaller jobs were included.

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

Al_Ross said:

He did come out to provide a free quote, which he posted to me and I emailed back my acceptance. The quote was for approximately £3500, to fit wood flooring which I had already purchased and a few smaller jobs were included.

Did that quote, or any follow up letters or emails, contain all of the following?

(a)the main characteristics of the goods or services, to the extent appropriate to the medium of communication and to the goods or services;

(b)the identity of the trader (such as the trader’s trading name), the geographical address at which the trader is established and the trader’s telephone number;

(c)the total price of the goods or services inclusive of taxes, or where the nature of the goods or services is such that the price cannot reasonably be calculated in advance, the manner in which the price is to be calculated;

(d)where applicable, all additional delivery charges or, where those charges cannot reasonably be calculated in advance, the fact that such additional charges may be payable;

(e)where applicable, the arrangements for payment, delivery, performance, and the time by which the trader undertakes to deliver the goods or to perform the service;

(f)where applicable, the trader’s complaint handling policy;

(g)in the case of a sales contract, a reminder that the trader is under a legal duty to supply goods that are in conformity with the contract;

(h)where applicable, the existence and the conditions of after-sales services and commercial guarantees;

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

Sorry ignore the above as I believe a trader visiting your home is an off premises contract unless you went to their place of business to begin with in which case they need to give you the following by durable means (email, letter, text) and without the below the consumer isn't bound to the contract:

(a)the main characteristics of the goods or services, to the extent appropriate to the medium of communication and to the goods or services;

(b)the identity of the trader (such as the trader’s trading name);

(c)the geographical address at which the trader is established and, where available, the trader’s telephone number, fax number and e-mail address, to enable the consumer to contact the trader quickly and communicate efficiently;

(d)where the trader is acting on behalf of another trader, the geographical address and identity of that other trader;

(e)if different from the address provided in accordance with paragraph (c), the geographical address of the place of business of the trader, and, where the trader acts on behalf of another trader, the geographical address of the place of business of that other trader, where the consumer can address any complaints;

(f)the total price of the goods or services inclusive of taxes, or where the nature of the goods or services is such that the price cannot reasonably be calculated in advance, the manner in which the price is to be calculated,

(g)where applicable, all additional delivery charges and any other costs or, where those charges cannot reasonably be calculated in advance, the fact that such additional charges may be payable;

(h)in the case of a contract of indeterminate duration or a contract containing a subscription, the total costs per billing period or (where such contracts are charged at a fixed rate) the total monthly costs;

(i)the cost of using the means of distance communication for the conclusion of the contract where that cost is calculated other than at the basic rate;

(j)the arrangements for payment, delivery, performance, and the time by which the trader undertakes to deliver the goods or to perform the services;

(k)where applicable, the trader’s complaint handling policy;

(l)where a right to cancel exists, the conditions, time limit and procedures for exercising that right in accordance with regulations 27 to 38;

(m)where applicable, that the consumer will have to bear the cost of returning the goods in case of cancellation and, for distance contracts, if the goods, by their nature, cannot normally be returned by post, the cost of returning the goods;

(n)that, if the consumer exercises the right to cancel after having made a request in accordance with regulation 36(1), the consumer is to be liable to pay the trader reasonable costs in accordance with regulation 36(4);

(o)where under regulation 28, 36 or 37 there is no right to cancel or the right to cancel may be lost, the information that the consumer will not benefit from a right to cancel, or the circumstances under which the consumer loses the right to cancel;

(p)in the case of a sales contract, a reminder that the trader is under a legal duty to supply goods that are in conformity with the contract;

(q)where applicable, the existence and the conditions of after-sale customer assistance, after-sales services and commercial guarantees;

(r)the existence of relevant codes of conduct, as defined in regulation 5(3)(b) of the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008, and how copies of them can be obtained, where applicable;

(s)the duration of the contract, where applicable, or, if the contract is of indeterminate duration or is to be extended automatically, the conditions for terminating the contract;

(t)where applicable, the minimum duration of the consumer’s obligations under the contract;

(u)where applicable, the existence and the conditions of deposits or other financial guarantees to be paid or provided by the consumer at the request of the trader;

(v)where applicable, the functionality, including applicable technical protection measures, of digital content;

(w)where applicable, any relevant compatibility of digital content with hardware and software that the trader is aware of or can reasonably be expected to have been aware of;

(x)where applicable, the possibility of having recourse to an out-of-court complaint and redress mechanism, to which the trader is subject, and the methods for having access to it.