Giving your customer your suppliers invoice

[wadge]

I gave a customer a quote to replace various bits and pieces.

He's accepting the quote on the basis that I supply him a copy of MY suppliers invoice for the parts used.

This is the first time I've been asked for this. How can I tell him to F Off in polite terms?

[kirkgas]

tell the customer the price you pay for material is only a part of the whole invoice and as such is not open to discussion, also you priced for his material in with another few quotes and it isnt broken down and you cannot discuss other peoples work with him unless he also wants to see your PIL van , contents insurance etc etc, it is all in the package of getting in a contractor.
Unless his contract with you stipulates a maximum add on % on material cost, (usual on large maintenance contracts etc)

[^woody^]

Give him a copy of the "customer copy" or delivery note which shows the items supplied but does not show the costs.

Most merchants have these

[wadge]

Thanks for the replies. He want's to see prices.

If he does insist, I'll direct him to a website which sells the materials (albeit at retail prices) and tell him that's where I got the lock from.

[WoodYouLike]

Say no to him. He's asking you for a quotation for the complete works, you give him your best quote in good faith.
If he insists: walk away and big alarms should be ringing: rogue customer, never satisfied and never willing to pay the full price no matter how you quote.

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[wadge]

All's well that ends well...I think.

Just done the works for him. It turns out that I didn't need parts (new door lock) as the problem was that it wasn't fitted properly in the first place. Just got to bill him for labour to open jammed door (dodgy lock) refit lock etc.

[dextrous]

If you used a drill or a chisel or a screw or anything - send him a copy of what it cost to get these replaced or sharpened

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[Paul Barker]

Tell him to get the materials himself.

Put on small print part of your invoice. "any return visits due to customers own materials performance chargeable at £20 / hr."

You win.

But actually a relative of mine who was in building game years ago, as a way to get money out of customers for materials before you start work. So you are not out of pocket. Tell customer you have a firm who will do a special cod price but customer has to pay them on delivery. Set it up with your merchant to deliver and wait for payment before dropping goods.

i.e. if customer wants to know the price, they can buy the goods and be responsible for them. If we control the purchasing we are entightled to a markup for handling and financing and providing backup for them.

[jefoss]

i had same problem recently, when i asked for ££ up front for some tiles, customer wanted the receipt and actually counted the tiles when id finsihed and tried to charge ME as they wernt ALL on the walls and floor

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[Goldspoon]

I am very upfront with this. I add 20% to all material costs and I state this on my Terms and Conditions (supplied with larger jobs).

If a customer asks me about it I tell them what it is to cover:

My time listing, researching, ordering, fetching materials.
My time spent keeping the van fully stocked so time saved on jobs when unexpected part/s required.
My guarantee of everything I supply (if it fails or is faulty out of the packaging I deal with problem at my expense).
My knowledge of what and where to buy (worth a little bonus to me

Customers rarely ask but also are happy generally with a rational answer.

[wadge]

It's fine to show receipts etc + your 10-20% for things like timber/bricks etc. But I buy material/parts from the manufacturer at pre-retail prices and giving that invoice is a no-no.

In relation to the original post, the jobs done but nevertheless it's still in interesting topic and good to hear what other people do.

[feva]

not a chance! you know what customers are like they wont factor in the hours driving and diesel into the materials.

i had a customer do this sort of thing a couple of months ago, id quoted £200 labour and materials to paint a bedroom and one wall in a different room, turned out the different room needed all doing, but seeing how id done work for her for ages, i didnt charge extra.

two weeks before i started i took on a labour.

went to the job and the both of us cracked on stayed till about 6pm, getting it all done, she didnt want the coving doing so we left it.

8pm that night her friend who recommended me to her, who give and gets me loads of work phoned me wanting to know how i can charge £200 for a days work, so because ive done loads of work for her friend i explained, £60 for the labour, £60 for materials and diesel, and the rest for me, she wouldnt have, i had to tell her 5 times that ive paid a labour out of it and in the end i said to her when i gave the quote id quoted for two days labour so with two of us there, that equals two days labour and that i hadnt charged for the extras, and when i asked what would of happened if the job had loads of problems and i ended up there for 4 days would she of paid me double? to which so didnt have a answer!!! then complainded about the coving not being done! which id asked the customer if she wanted it doing! so i went back the next day to do the coving, when i went to explain to the customer about the prices so stopped me, she wasnt @rsed about it just her mate with a big nose!!!

[BingoBongo]

if you give a price and they accept it who cares if they want to know how much materials cost.

do they want to know what my acs/public liability /accountant/van insurance/road tax/diesel/parking tickets cost too

at the end of the day they accepted a wuote for the work to be done

and ffs dont give them the recipt for mats,thats for the accounts

[Nige F]

They have all been watching Rogue Traders

[WoodYouLike]

Nige F wrote:

They have all been watching Rogue Traders

Still waiting for the launch of the follow up program: Rogue Customers

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You buy quality, we'll advise. You buy rubbish, we won't!
We're proud members of the BwfA.