Plasterer charged more than quote

Altior

I have a similar tale for some painting, but they didn't actually turn up before I agreed to the work being done. Sorry, longish tale.

In my area it was very hard to even get a quote from a tradie, and when they did the work was being scheduled a long time ahead. So this was early 2021, exterior paintwork. Agreed a quote but it would be late summer, and they would contact me with the actual date later in the year. This was agreed a few weeks before the start date, but literally the day before they were due, he phoned to state his staff member hurt his back and was signed off for two weeks. 

As one could imagine, I was extremely disappointed and there was back and forth on the phone. He told me it would need to be postponed to the following summer! I was obviously stating there were people booked in after me, that would get the work completed this year, however he claimed it would create a domino effect and if he scheduled me in that year he would have to disappoint all of the rest of the clients that year, and they would have arranged their life around the scheduled work. Understandable, but absolutely no help to me. 

This was going nowhere, and as above I was not going to find anyone in 2021 to do the work. So I reluctantly agreed to pushing it back to 2022, this was a year after I wanted the work done originally! He personally agreed to hold the quoted price, and I had this in writing via email.

One might guess what happened next, inflation! In the late spring of 2022 I phoned to ask when they are coming, he said his costs had ramped up, and due to this I would have to pay approximately 20% more than the quote, even though I had a categorical agreement that the quote would be held.

A moral dilemma type question. Even if I could find another tradie to do the work in 2022, it wouldn't be any cheaper due to inflation and demand where I live. So I would only get the tenuous psychological benefit of his firm not having my money, but they were already snowed under with work so no skin off their nose. It would just be me losing out by having the work potentially delayed for another year (which was now very urgent), and the new people might be even more costly than my new quote. In the end I caved in and paid the higher price. It certainly shows who has the power in a sellers' market! 

MalMonroe

They gave you a quote but when they came to actually do the job, they said it would be more? 

At that point I'd have told them that I was no longer interested in hiring them. There must be more plasterers in your area? I'd at least have to have tried a bit of haggling. If that didn't work, they could leave.

What a very unprofessional way to run a business. Professional people don't give a quote and then on the day they turn up to start working, change the price. (In their favour).

Professionals come out to assess, then they (usually) give a no obligation verbal quote and then they send you a written quote, with a breakdown of all charges.

That's the kind of plasterer I'd want to hire.

And NOW they have the cheek to demand full payment! Sorry but I am NOT in agreement with most people here who seem to think it's reasonable for people to treat customers so shabbily.I don't. 

Ask them to accept part payment and the rest in a week. I think they are totally unreasonable after the way you've been treated.. Most invoices, on delivery, are payable within 30 days. 

I hope you won't consider this person again if you ever need similar work carrying out.

MalMonroe

Doozergirl said:

They probably won't cry if you give them £600 now and the rest later.   It's a bit of give and take - they surprised you after all, but you should definitely pay the £600 now and be nice about it because you're now surprising them because you didn't tell them you wouldn't have it all for a week.  

I can't tell you how many people in the building trade live hand to mouth 😞

I have quite a few relatives in the building trade and most of them certainly don't live hand to mouth. But then neither do they quote one price and then hike it up by another 50% when they turn up to actually start a job. That's no way to run a business. 

MrsR1234

There is fault in both sides. They absolutely should have said that the quote was incorrect before the day that they turned up. However you had the opportunity to advise before work commenced that you were no longer willing to go ahead at the rate. 

However you did let them, which meant that you accepted the new price. Did you advise them on the day that you would not have the full amount I til pay day? It is extremely normal for a invoice to be paid in 7-14 days unless otherwise stated. If you knew you wouldn't have the funds to pay, you should have discussed this with them. 

Also regarding the radiators and electrician, a plasterer is not a plumber, or electrician so it's unreasonable to assume they would be removing these unless you asked them. However the lights shouldn't have been an issue to work around. 

benson1980

MrsR1234 said:

There is fault in both sides. They absolutely should have said that the quote was incorrect before the day that they turned up. However you had the opportunity to advise before work commenced that you were no longer willing to go ahead at the rate. 

However you did let them, which meant that you accepted the new price. Did you advise them on the day that you would not have the full amount I til pay day? It is extremely normal for a invoice to be paid in 7-14 days unless otherwise stated. If you knew you wouldn't have the funds to pay, you should have discussed this with them. 

Also regarding the radiators and electrician, a plasterer is not a plumber, or electrician so it's unreasonable to assume they would be removing these unless you asked them. However the lights shouldn't have been an issue to work around. 

Easy to say that but it’s not as if the customer has time to reflect, seek other plasterers to both quote and complete the planned work that day when they’ve waited several months, or even make an informed decision when they rock up on day one of the job and notify that costs have increased. 

removal of radiator should have been specified when quoting.

The plasterer just sounds like an idiot.

prowla

Normally invoices are issued on a 30 days payment basis.

prowla

dil1976 said:

Do you ask shops when you go shopping if you can pay them on payday too, rather than when you acquire your goods?

dil1976 said:

Try that next time you go shopping, offering them some now and the rest later because you was surprised how much it cost even though you knew before you took everything. 

Imagine you picked something up in the shop and it had gone up by 50% by the time you got to the tills...

dil1976

prowla said:

dil1976 said:

Do you ask shops when you go shopping if you can pay them on payday too, rather than when you acquire your goods?

dil1976 said:

Try that next time you go shopping, offering them some now and the rest later because you was surprised how much it cost even though you knew before you took everything. 

Imagine you picked something up in the shop and it had gone up by 50% by the time you got to the tills...

Things do get mispriced in shops occasionally. But they wouldn't say oh don't worry about it pay the rest in a week would they?

SunnyCat

dil1976 said:

prowla said:

dil1976 said:

Do you ask shops when you go shopping if you can pay them on payday too, rather than when you acquire your goods?

dil1976 said:

Try that next time you go shopping, offering them some now and the rest later because you was surprised how much it cost even though you knew before you took everything. 

Imagine you picked something up in the shop and it had gone up by 50% by the time you got to the tills...

Things do get mispriced in shops occasionally. But they wouldn't say oh don't worry about it pay the rest in a week would they?

Last time such a "misprice" happened to me, there was a promo price displayed on the shelf (£9) and when I got to the till, it rang up as full price (£13). I queried it and the shop assistant changed the price to £9. So I'm not sure this is such a good analogy - by this token you could argue that they should have honoured the original quote? 🤷‍♀️

Risteard

SunnyCat said:

dil1976 said:

prowla said:

dil1976 said:

Do you ask shops when you go shopping if you can pay them on payday too, rather than when you acquire your goods?

dil1976 said:

Try that next time you go shopping, offering them some now and the rest later because you was surprised how much it cost even though you knew before you took everything. 

Imagine you picked something up in the shop and it had gone up by 50% by the time you got to the tills...

Things do get mispriced in shops occasionally. But they wouldn't say oh don't worry about it pay the rest in a week would they?

Last time such a "misprice" happened to me, there was a promo price displayed on the shelf (£9) and when I got to the till, it rang up as full price (£13). I queried it and the shop assistant changed the price to £9. So I'm not sure this is such a good analogy - by this token you could argue that they should have honoured the original quote? 🤷‍♀️

Whilst it often might be considered good customer service to do that, there certainly is no obligation on the shop to sell it at the "old" price. They would have been within their rights to tell you that it was a mistake and that it was up to you whether you still wished to purchase it at that price or not.