Roosters
Silver Member
Hello, I'm having a bit of a dilema regarding a customer disputing the price of a job..
Here's a bit of background! ..
My partner and I run a Joinery Buisness, he's the joiner and I do the paper work etc. He went to see a couple a few weeks ago and agreed to take on a job of matchboarding walls and building a wardrobe.
He was due to start last Monday but couldn't as we were waiting on a cheque clearing from the previous job, (unfortunatly we are still in the position that the previous job seems to always have to fund the next) So the couple, lets call them Mr and Mrs X decided to purchase the majority of the materials themselves and have my OH just fit them. So we agreed to this..
(I forgot to mention that Mr X phoned up after OH's visit for a price, we gave him an ESTIMATE, which Mr X was happy with. )
So OH started work at their house on Wednesday, and worked 8 hours Wed, Thu, Fri, The job hadn't progressed as quickly as OH had hoped and suggested working Sat morning, which he did, then finaly completed the job yesterday. The overall price of the Job came £200 over estimate. OH said that in his estimate he had forgotten to account for the 'trimmings' which came to around £85, so i suggested to him to cut the price of hourly labour rate by 22% as a gesture to compensate for this, bringing the total bill to £80 over the estimate. (taking into account the price Mr and mrs X had already paid for materials)
Mr X is refusing to pay for the extra, although Mr and Mrs X say they are extreemly happy with the work done and would like OH to come back and do some more work elsewhere. (they have even recommended to friends.)
So I'm at a loss as to what to do, I've already knocked £100 off the final bill, which in the financial postition we're currently in, as a small buisness and having a baby to look after is an awful lot of money. to lose nearly another £100 will cause problems. Mr X specifically asked to not bother with written estimate as he was happy with what was proposed over the phone. I think he had an idea he would be 'trying it on' once the job was done.
so confused!
any ideas?
Here's a bit of background! ..
My partner and I run a Joinery Buisness, he's the joiner and I do the paper work etc. He went to see a couple a few weeks ago and agreed to take on a job of matchboarding walls and building a wardrobe.
He was due to start last Monday but couldn't as we were waiting on a cheque clearing from the previous job, (unfortunatly we are still in the position that the previous job seems to always have to fund the next) So the couple, lets call them Mr and Mrs X decided to purchase the majority of the materials themselves and have my OH just fit them. So we agreed to this..
(I forgot to mention that Mr X phoned up after OH's visit for a price, we gave him an ESTIMATE, which Mr X was happy with. )
So OH started work at their house on Wednesday, and worked 8 hours Wed, Thu, Fri, The job hadn't progressed as quickly as OH had hoped and suggested working Sat morning, which he did, then finaly completed the job yesterday. The overall price of the Job came £200 over estimate. OH said that in his estimate he had forgotten to account for the 'trimmings' which came to around £85, so i suggested to him to cut the price of hourly labour rate by 22% as a gesture to compensate for this, bringing the total bill to £80 over the estimate. (taking into account the price Mr and mrs X had already paid for materials)
Mr X is refusing to pay for the extra, although Mr and Mrs X say they are extreemly happy with the work done and would like OH to come back and do some more work elsewhere. (they have even recommended to friends.)
So I'm at a loss as to what to do, I've already knocked £100 off the final bill, which in the financial postition we're currently in, as a small buisness and having a baby to look after is an awful lot of money. to lose nearly another £100 will cause problems. Mr X specifically asked to not bother with written estimate as he was happy with what was proposed over the phone. I think he had an idea he would be 'trying it on' once the job was done.
so confused!
any ideas?
