Plumber won't give breakdown of invoice

Sunflower444

The owner of the company shared their hourly labour price over the phone but none of the labour amounts on my invoice are devisable by the number of hours the plumber was here for (with or without VAT).
I have asked for a clearer break down of the costs & have received a message that the owner will come round to talk through the invoice.

I don't wish to have visitors inside the house currently and think it's more important to have the invoice written out rather than a verbal agreement.

Can I insist that the invoice is sent by e-mail.

Myser

What is the invoice amount and what work was carried out?

Doozergirl

You haven't paid them anything yet so until such time as they start threatening court, you can ask for what you want.  

It's easy enough not to open the door, so that's not a problem.  

FaceHead

What about their travel and any offsite work they might have done to get and prep components? What about sundry materials, which might not be easily itemisable? Even if you provide the materials (e.g. a bathroom suite) the fitter will always end up needing some extra bits of pipe, silicone or something to get the fitting done. I always think of a labour cost as including a provision for bits and bobs.

Did you agree for them to do the work on a time and materials basis, or did you agree to a price for the job? If what they are asking for is in line with the price that you agreed for the job, what's the problem?

Yes you can ask for an invoice or receipt by email - e.g. if you're a landlord you'd definitely want a receipt. You don't need to make a big deal out of it - just politely ask for them to send you an email.

Sunflower444

Myser said:

What is the invoice amount and what work was carried out?

£460 to supply & fit new flushing system, cut out back of cupboard & put in new stopcock, new garden tap, look at dripping shower.
Plumber was here for 3.5 hours of which he left partway for 40 mins 

k3lvc

Sunflower444 said:

Myser said:

What is the invoice amount and what work was carried out?

£460 to supply & fit new flushing system, cut out back of cupboard & put in new stopcock, new garden tap, look at dripping shower.
Plumber was here for 3.5 hours of which he left partway for 40 mins 

And what was the quote/estimate given and are you happy with the work carried out ?

Are you just annoyed that they did it quicker and are still charging the amount you agreed ?

TELLIT01

There will be travel time to add.  What is the labour charge?  You can't deduct the 40 minutes he was off site as he was probably going to get materials required for the job.

Ebe_Scrooge

Sunflower444 said:

Myser said:

What is the invoice amount and what work was carried out?

£460 to supply & fit new flushing system, cut out back of cupboard & put in new stopcock, new garden tap, look at dripping shower.
Plumber was here for 3.5 hours of which he left partway for 40 mins 

"Flushing system" - do you mean the internal bits of a toilet cistern?  If so, it's quite easy to look online and get a rough approximation of materials cost, see if it sounds reasonable.

If the plumber left for 40 minutes, it's not unreasonable to assume he got partway through the job, discovered he needed a part that he didn't carry on his van, and had to go to the plumber's merchant to pick one up.

Overall, I agree with you - it's not unreasonable to expect an itemised invoice.  But is this a firm you trust, a firm you've used before or that have been recommended by neighbours?  If yes, play nice with them - maybe they're just really snowed under and/or have staff off sick.

It's difficult to know without knowing the specifics - but from what you've described, the bill doesn't sound too unrealistic.  As FaceHead says, there are often "bits and bobs" that are needed.  Just be polite, ask them to send an itemised invoice via email - and try to be understanding.  Yes, of course there are cowboys out there - but there's also a lot of very honest tradesmen that are completely snowed under and simply trying to do the best they can to keep all of their customers happy, and sometimes the admin part of things gets overlooked :-)

NSG666

Invoicing and taking payment from customers: Invoices - what they must include - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

DRP

k3lvc said:

Sunflower444 said:

Myser said:

What is the invoice amount and what work was carried out?

£460 to supply & fit new flushing system, cut out back of cupboard & put in new stopcock, new garden tap, look at dripping shower.
Plumber was here for 3.5 hours of which he left partway for 40 mins 

And what was the quote/estimate given and are you happy with the work carried out ?

Are you just annoyed that they did it quicker and are still charging the amount you agreed ?

Yes, is your invoice different to what you were quoted before the job?

if not I don’t see it matters how long it took.

Rosa_Damascena

You can ask for what you like, but IME tradesmen aren't that fond of using computers / the written word. Your plumber may be different, though.