HELP! Huge Bill 4 Tank Replacement, Invoice Nonsensical, Need Help 4 My Mum! :(

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Not even a date, never mind a name,!

And, he is adding VAT without showing a VAT number, I thought that was illegal,? :C

Is he offering finance,?

Seems very very suspect tbh, 

Tell him to take you to court, 

 
Don't think he's adding vat just indicating net price of tank +vat? 

But certainly wouldn't entertain him nor worry about his threats when they come and they will. The guys a chancer. 

 
I think the whole tenet of the thread is that there was no prior quoting.

having officially been in the trade for 40 plus years i  "imagine, assume and presume nothing".  Also the job is not finished until the Cheque has cleared
Most of us will be guilty if that.

Ho many times are you asked to look at a job. you turn up. Discuss what's to be done with the customer. Give them a verbal estimate of the cost. Customers says okay, when can you start.

So you do the job with nothing more than a verbal agrreement and in most cases you get paid, and everyone is happy.

I guess strictly speaking we should all follow up such a visit with a written estimate before starting the job.

Be honest, how many of us do a lot of jobs with nothing more than a verbal agreement?

 
Unless it's something incredibly simple and stupid then never, why give someone an opportunity to not pay? Always provide a written quotation even if price agreed verbally before hand, even if it means taking the quotation with me on the day, also give a separate invoice for when I complete the job, then once payment is received/banked I send a thankyou letter. 

Only had one customer sting me and for a silly small amount and that was a councillor but then I should've known in the first place to double the price knowing how they all follow austerity! 

 
For quite a while now we always raise a quote or estimate including the door stop selling act mentioned. I even keep blank copies in the van  saying "i waive my rights" ect  as i want the job done now , not after 14  days.
depends on the customer and what the job is. most of my domestic work is either repeat customers or recommendations, so often its just verbal, sometimes give a written estimate. occasionally go all out with contract etc.

 
FYI there was no verbal agreement on the quote in advance, either...

But yes, this is probably the worst invoice I've ever seen!

 
Here's a slightly alternate view..

Send the guy a letter by recorded delivery asking him to return and refit the cylinder (without charge) that he removed without contract or that you will have to obtain the services of a local plumber to do these works, the charges for which you will take him to the small claims court to recoup.

If there was no contract then he had no right to do any work,, never mind to expect to be paid for it

 
Like your thinking there Noz, it'll definitely provoke a response! 

Would've scoobed you for that but I'm only allowed 3 and apparently I've used them all already ??

 
I remember something a while back,I,m one of those people who watches all kinds of documentaries,anyway this guy from trading standards was discussing the law and the difference between a quote and an estimate.Legally if you QUOTE say £100 for a job then the job costs more,unless you have discussed this with the customer AND issued a new quote that has been accepted by customer then you must take the hit,however if you only give an estimate then this is not legally binding and can be increased,or decreased at any time,however it is good practice to inform the customer immediately it becomes apparent that the cost will rise,and before any further work is carried out.

I had an experience of this some years ago,I'd heard that a warehouse needed some lights moving and they'd had a quote of around £30,000,I went down and asked if I could quote for the job and they said I could.Now the lights were in the aisles between racking and the racking was being replaced,the location of the new racking meant the lights would have been over the racks rather than in the aisles.The lights had 1/2 a metre of flex on them and were plugged into sockets on trunking,the other firm wanted to replace all the trunking with new and move it over by half a metre.I plannedto remove the flex on each fitting and replace it with a piece a metre long.I'd quoted £5000 for the job and got it,as I was leaving the office I heard 2 managers discussing my quote,they hadn't read it fully,merely the bottom line,on said "there's no way he can do it at that price,let's give it him and he'll have to do it at that price as he's given us a written quote".

A week later the job was done,everyone happy and I went in with my invoice,well almost everyone was happy,that particular manager was convinced I was going to take a major hit on the job.It had a happy ending though,they paid up no problem and gave me a load more work for being "honest" and not making a job bigger than it needed to be.

 
I remember something a while back,I,m one of those people who watches all kinds of documentaries,anyway this guy from trading standards was discussing the law and the difference between a quote and an estimate.Legally if you QUOTE say £100 for a job then the job costs more,unless you have discussed this with the customer AND issued a new quote that has been accepted by customer then you must take the hit,however if you only give an estimate then this is not legally binding and can be increased,or decreased at any time,however it is good practice to inform the customer immediately it becomes apparent that the cost will rise,and before any further work is carried out.

I had an experience of this some years ago,I'd heard that a warehouse needed some lights moving and they'd had a quote of around £30,000,I went down and asked if I could quote for the job and they said I could.Now the lights were in the aisles between racking and the racking was being replaced,the location of the new racking meant the lights would have been over the racks rather than in the aisles.The lights had 1/2 a metre of flex on them and were plugged into sockets on trunking,the other firm wanted to replace all the trunking with new and move it over by half a metre.I plannedto remove the flex on each fitting and replace it with a piece a metre long.I'd quoted £5000 for the job and got it,as I was leaving the office I heard 2 managers discussing my quote,they hadn't read it fully,merely the bottom line,on said "there's no way he can do it at that price,let's give it him and he'll have to do it at that price as he's given us a written quote".

A week later the job was done,everyone happy and I went in with my invoice,well almost everyone was happy,that particular manager was convinced I was going to take a major hit on the job.It had a happy ending though,they paid up no problem and gave me a load more work for being "honest" and not making a job bigger than it needed to be.


one reason i never give quotes, always estimates. but just like you, in that case i would have done the same thing of the easy way. done similar before and ended up with a lot more work for companies like that

 
I was asked to give a fixed quote on a machine fault

machine was worth 200k

my quote.....200k

reasoning......could take ten miutes to,find fault and parts cost ten grand

could take a week,to find fault and parts cost 5p

worst case is it would cost no more than a new machine

they agreed to time and materials in the end.....prannocks

 
I was asked to give a fixed quote on a machine fault

machine was worth 200k

my quote.....200k

reasoning......could take ten miutes to,find fault and parts cost ten grand

could take a week,to find fault and parts cost 5p

worst case is it would cost no more than a new machine

they agreed to time and materials in the end.....prannocks




What was the fault then???

:)

 
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