Builder wants to start work without giving us a price

rebekahw82

Sorry in advance for the long explanation! 

So we had a company quote us for replacing our existing kitchen units with new. We were happy with the quote so agreed to them doing the work.
They also mentioned that they did UVCP work so we asked them to measure the kitchen window and give us a price for that separately (I didn’t think it was essential work but hubby wanted it replacing!)
They never came back with a price for the window (we did ask for it more than once)

The kitchen fitting was carried out before Christmas and we received the invoice. It was £300 more than the original quote - an additional cost for sanding our existing oak worktops (I wanted to keep these and not get new as they just needed a good sand and oil!) this surprised us as that part of the job had been discussed when the company originally came out to quote and it was not an add-on by us, so we assumed it had been included in the quote we were given. 

But we didn’t query it (more fool us) and paid the bill promptly.
Then midway into January I got a text message saying that someone from the company would be at our house within a couple of days to fit the window. I replied stating that we had not received a quote for the window work and did not want it fitting on the day they said. 

When they came back with the price it was way higher than we expected and so my husband made contact to say that we did not want to go ahead with this work. 

Now they are bombarding is with phone calls and messages saying we agreed to this work and it has to be fitted - we did not, we asked for a price. 

Any advice on what we should do?

eskbanker

What makes them believe that you agreed to the work?

Assuming you wouldn't want them to do the job even if they dropped their price to match your expectations, all you can do is to reiterate that you didn't accept the (belated) quotation and therefore won't be authorising the work.  Any company should be familiar with the concept of not winning all the jobs they bid for!

Debbie9009

I would take one final call and repeat that you did not agree to the window being fitted and will not be going ahead with the work, and then block their number, so they can’t contact you again.  You clearly didn’t agree the work so you have nothing to fear from them, they can’t just make you have work done, 

They sound like a company best avoided. 

Alderbank

rebekahw82 said:

Sorry in advance for the long explanation! 

So we had a company quote us for replacing our existing kitchen units with new. We were happy with the quote so agreed to them doing the work.
They also mentioned that they did UVCP work so we asked them to measure the kitchen window and give us a price for that separately (I didn’t think it was essential work but hubby wanted it replacing!)
They never came back with a price for the window (we did ask for it more than once)

The kitchen fitting was carried out before Christmas and we received the invoice. It was £300 more than the original quote - an additional cost for sanding our existing oak worktops (I wanted to keep these and not get new as they just needed a good sand and oil!) this surprised us as that part of the job had been discussed when the company originally came out to quote and it was not an add-on by us, so we assumed it had been included in the quote we were given. 

But we didn’t query it (more fool us) and paid the bill promptly.
Then midway into January I got a text message saying that someone from the company would be at our house within a couple of days to fit the window. I replied stating that we had not received a quote for the window work and did not want it fitting on the day they said. 

When they came back with the price it was way higher than we expected and so my husband made contact to say that we did not want to go ahead with this work. 

Now they are bombarding is with phone calls and messages saying we agreed to this work and it has to be fitted - we did not, we asked for a price. 

Any advice on what we should do?

Welcome to the forum.

Keep the two jobs separate.

In case you might need it, make a memorandum for yourselves listing what was done and when, such as:

1. [date] We asked [company] to quote for kitchen refit.
2. [date] We asked them to quote for replacing a window.
3. [date December] We accepted kitchen quote and agreed start date. Kitchen work carried out and paid for in full.
4. [date January] I reminded them we had not yet received a quote for the window.
5. [date January] Quote for window replacement received from [company]. The price was higher than we expected so we told them we did not accept the quote and would not be going ahead with the work.

That's it, really. I don't think you need to do anything else.

retiredbanker1

Is your window - standard size or would they have to make them to fit?

If a standard window I do not believe they would have any claim for work done on it as they could use it on another project for someone. No doubt this may be their claim against you but otherwise as others have said ignore them.

RefluentBeans

retiredbanker1 said:

Is your window - standard size or would they have to make them to fit?

If a standard window I do not believe they would have any claim for work done on it as they could use it on another project for someone. No doubt this may be their claim against you but otherwise as others have said ignore them.

To add, I think they’d have a hard time pursuing you for the ‘debt’ if they made up the window and needed to recoup their ‘losses’. Unless you signed something I think it’s going to be hard for them claim you signed off on the job. 

I would double check the info if you got given for the previous kitchen fit job. See if they tacked on a deposit somewhere, and if they had, then I think you could potentially claim that it’s deceptive and you were lied to, and didn’t agree to this job. £300 is a round number and seems like a deposit-like amount for one window replacement (had our windows done and it was about £1k for each window - so £300 would be about 30% deposit). 

It depends if you want them to do the job or someone else - if them then you’ll need to keep the discourse cordial. If them, then cut the conversation off as soon as you’ve explained why you shall not be paying. If they want the money, let them do the leg work to recover it (they’ll find it’s a steep hill to climb). 

rebekahw82

Thank you all for your comments. We definitely haven’t paid a deposit- the description next to the £300 payment says that it is for sanding of existing oak worktops. Interestingly that work was carried out by someone who is related to the joiner and doesn’t work for the company and they charged VAT for it, which I wasn’t sure about! 

My husband suffers terribly with poor mental health and this situation has got him very worried.