quote was provided but i am billed hourly what can i do

gumball2211

Hi
I contacted a tradesperson to refurb 2 standard rooms in my house

they provided a quote of time 120hrs and cost 4000

since starting the work i have been billed weekly for hourly rates of time

the invoice total to-date is now double the quoted price and over 200hrs spent and 
no sign of completetion, maybe 75% complete so far

i feel like they are milking like a cow

any advice appreciated I dont know what my options are - have dealt with trades before and never experienced this before

Desmond_Hume

Can you post/detail what the quote was. £4K @ 120hrs is c.£33 per hour.  That’s very cheap. 

Was the £4K for materials plus 120hrs at a rate detailed on the quote?

gumball2211

this is the email i had - i have also paid 1000 for materials to date

hi sorry for delay its has been tricky to do accurate estimate the work due to multiple skills 
 Based on our discussion I would expect the labour to be at least 120 hours which equates to £4200.00, it may work out at less but it could also work out more expensive. Materials are charged as required

user1977

That not a quote, it's an estimate of what the minimum cost would be. Obviously correct in saying "it could also work out more expensive".

km1500

google 'what is the difference between a quote and an estimate?'

pinkshoes

I would argue that if they estimated 120 hours and it has so far taken 200 hours then either something was drastically different from when they did the estimate or they are incompetent! 

I would want them to say why it is taking them far longer than their estimate and to justify their extra hours. 

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

Estimate should reflect some kind of reality, an extra £2640 on top of a £4000 estimate is significantly far off. 

Is there any reason for the increase OP? If they find something unknown and hidden during work that has required extra works that could be reasonable.

If they missed something they should have seen or the job has simply dragged on that sounds less reasonable to me.

As an aside, always best to get the job finished before creating any friction.  

comeandgo

pinkshoes said:

I would argue that if they estimated 120 hours and it has so far taken 200 hours then either something was drastically different from when they did the estimate or they are incompetent! 

I would want them to say why it is taking them far longer than their estimate and to justify their extra hours. 

But they did not estimate anything, just said a minimum of 120 then stated it could be less or it could be more, well they are correct, it is more.

Tucosalamanca

As is often the case, good communication between the two parties appears to be absent.
This has clearly led to misunderstandings on both sides. You both need to talk to each other.

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

comeandgo said:

pinkshoes said:

I would argue that if they estimated 120 hours and it has so far taken 200 hours then either something was drastically different from when they did the estimate or they are incompetent! 

I would want them to say why it is taking them far longer than their estimate and to justify their extra hours. 

But they did not estimate anything, just said a minimum of 120 then stated it could be less or it could be more, well they are correct, it is more.

Still has to be grounded in reality, even if factually correct statements can still be considered as misleading.