"Supply and Fit" windows- should include labour, yes? (Humour me please)

Rosa_Damascena

GDB2222 said:

Well, someone is going to be genuinely out of pocket. Best if it is the owner of the company and not you. 

How he treats his fitters is his problem, but he won’t be in business long if he makes others pay for his mistakes.

True enough. If this is the case I'd feel very sorry for the company owner but caving means there is a danger that this "mistake" will become standard practice. This is going to be a harsh lesson for the owner but dilute it now and it won't be learned.

TELLIT01

We've recently had work done on our house which was estimated to take approximately 1 week and ended up taking nearly 3 weeks.  Main cause was an assumption made by the contractor which turned out to be wrong and resulted in a lot more material having to be used, and the knock on affect on other trades.  There was no suggestion from the contractor that we should pay more.  In fact he has actually offered to reduce the price because of the extra disruption to us.  We haven't received the final bill but I am inclined to see what reduction he does make and then tell him to bill me the full cost.  He is a small business and was genuinely upset at both his mistake and the inconvenience caused.

Rosa_Damascena

TELLIT01 said:

We've recently had work done on our house which was estimated to take approximately 1 week and ended up taking nearly 3 weeks.  Main cause was an assumption made by the contractor which turned out to be wrong and resulted in a lot more material having to be used, and the knock on affect on other trades.  There was no suggestion from the contractor that we should pay more.  In fact he has actually offered to reduce the price because of the extra disruption to us.  We haven't received the final bill but I am inclined to see what reduction he does make and then tell him to bill me the full cost.  He is a small business and was genuinely upset at both his mistake and the inconvenience caused.

Warning sign re: inflated profit margin as you have suggested, and if it was a large company rather than a small trader I would be looking to trim it to the bone. But a small trader that shows genuine remorse and cares about his reputation: I'd say you chose well.

Jeepers_Creepers

TELLIT01 said:

We've recently had work done on our house which was estimated to take approximately 1 week and ended up taking nearly 3 weeks.  Main cause was an assumption made by the contractor which turned out to be wrong and resulted in a lot more material having to be used, and the knock on affect on other trades.  There was no suggestion from the contractor that we should pay more.  In fact he has actually offered to reduce the price because of the extra disruption to us.  We haven't received the final bill but I am inclined to see what reduction he does make and then tell him to bill me the full cost.  He is a small business and was genuinely upset at both his mistake and the inconvenience caused.

Wow!

I think both parties understand that there could be issues that arise that were unforeseen, and many (most? all?) contracts will include a provision for this. And if this does genuinely involve unanticipated extra work and/or materials that is fair and reasonable, then the customer should be expected to cover this - it's not the builder's fault.

For us, it was an 'known-unknown' to do with an air-raid shelter very close to where our extension founds were going to be dug - no-one could tell whether this would involve extra digging, depth or concrete until the trench was actually dug. As it turned out we managed to avoid it, but the bill for any extra work would have been ours, no question. Ditto if it had been an 'unknown-unknown'*.

You sound as tho' you've found a diamond! (As did we.) I think your approach is great - and will almost certainly serve you well in the future too.

*These expressions were the only valuable contribution Rumsfeld has made to humanity.

TELLIT01

Rosa_Damascena said:

TELLIT01 said:

We've recently had work done on our house which was estimated to take approximately 1 week and ended up taking nearly 3 weeks.  Main cause was an assumption made by the contractor which turned out to be wrong and resulted in a lot more material having to be used, and the knock on affect on other trades.  There was no suggestion from the contractor that we should pay more.  In fact he has actually offered to reduce the price because of the extra disruption to us.  We haven't received the final bill but I am inclined to see what reduction he does make and then tell him to bill me the full cost.  He is a small business and was genuinely upset at both his mistake and the inconvenience caused.

Warning sign re: inflated profit margin as you have suggested, and if it was a large company rather than a small trader I would be looking to trim it to the bone. But a small trader that shows genuine remorse and cares about his reputation: I'd say you chose well.

He definitely doesn't have an inflated profit margin.  The quote for an identical roof from a much larger company was not far short of double the price - and a price I wasn't prepared even to consider.  He had done work for friends of our in-laws a few years ago and they had been very happy with him and his work.  The underlying problem with our work was that our conservatory roof is not symmetrical, the ridge is about 3" offset and he didn't notice when taking the measurements.  As a consequence the custom made roof joists were the wrong length.  Much scratching of heads followed and a mutually agreed solution reached.  He actually said he'd never been so happy to see the back of a job. :-)

Rosa_Damascena

TELLIT01 said:

Rosa_Damascena said:

TELLIT01 said:

We've recently had work done on our house which was estimated to take approximately 1 week and ended up taking nearly 3 weeks.  Main cause was an assumption made by the contractor which turned out to be wrong and resulted in a lot more material having to be used, and the knock on affect on other trades.  There was no suggestion from the contractor that we should pay more.  In fact he has actually offered to reduce the price because of the extra disruption to us.  We haven't received the final bill but I am inclined to see what reduction he does make and then tell him to bill me the full cost.  He is a small business and was genuinely upset at both his mistake and the inconvenience caused.

Warning sign re: inflated profit margin as you have suggested, and if it was a large company rather than a small trader I would be looking to trim it to the bone. But a small trader that shows genuine remorse and cares about his reputation: I'd say you chose well.

He definitely doesn't have an inflated profit margin.  The quote for an identical roof from a much larger company was not far short of double the price - and a price I wasn't prepared even to consider.  He had done work for friends of our in-laws a few years ago and they had been very happy with him and his work.  The underlying problem with our work was that our conservatory roof is not symmetrical, the ridge is about 3" offset and he didn't notice when taking the measurements.  As a consequence the custom made roof joists were the wrong length.  Much scratching of heads followed and a mutually agreed solution reached.  He actually said he'd never been so happy to see the back of a job. :-)

Then do right by him.

twopenny

TELLIT what a lovely guy. You've (and him) have restored my faith in trade.

I don't suppose he's in the West Country is he?

I have a plumber like that. When I found them I couldn't believe it.

Jeepers_Creepers

Ours is in the West Country

He's booked up for over a year...

TELLIT01

twopenny said:

TELLIT what a lovely guy. You've (and him) have restored my faith in trade.

I don't suppose he's in the West Country is he?

I have a plumber like that. When I found them I couldn't believe it.

Gloucestershire.  He was actually back here yesterday to repair a blind he damaged during the work.  He talked about getting all the certification documents for building and electrical work to me, plus the guarantee for the roof.  No mention of the final bill until I mentioned it :-)