deposit refund

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30 Mar 2009
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Bradford
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United Kingdom
hi all,
iv worked for a family at various properties for a few years and always had happy clients :)
i recently priced a new mid range bathroom for them at £5700
price accepted happily and i took a £1100 deposit the week after
since then iv ordered most of the materials at a total cost of £3200
all the gear is currently in my house and garage,

they have since cancelled the job due to personal reasons and nothing to do with me, they are very apolojetic and a little bit embarrassed i think.

my problem is iv invested a lot of time in the ordering and collection of all the gear, most of which can be returned but will cost postage/courier/diesel and time. some things arent worth returning, ie small consumables, fixings, sealants, timber etc etc

now i want to give a refund of the deosit but dont want it to cost me in the long run. iv reaaranged the 2 weeks job with another so thats not a problem

i would just like to know any opinions in regards to "what do i do"

it will probably take me a full day just to arrange returns on the items :(

any help would be appreciated people :)
 
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Paper quote, verbal contract. Nothing was said in regards to cancellation :( I agreed to complete the works as they had requested, to their personal specification
 
Explain the situation to them, state you have invested time in purchasing, and returning goods will come at a cost to you. I am sure something can be worked out between both parties!
 
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They said to me that they realise it will cost them for cancellation. If I work out my hourly rate and losses re postage, restocking and consumable non returns. I'm looking at a grand :(
 
Give them £100 back and a break down of what you've charged them for, If it was a holiday they booked , they'd get nothing back, Why should you be out of pocket for their change of circumstance !!
 
Had a similar situation, but the customer had paid for the materials in advance.

Sat with customer and explained how much time had been spent on ordering and returning the goods. Said I would be happy to halve the time cost.

Customer very happy and have since done two more jobs for them and easily recovered my loss.

Keep the customer happy.
 
Iv decided to charge them £200 for my time and fuel plus any postage, return postage and restocking charges at cost. Think that's fair. Any views? :)
 
you said it would cost a grand at your hourly rate, but you don't get paid a tradesmans rate for shifting boxes, still £200 is making a mug of yourself. why take a deposit at all if your not going to keep it on cancellation?

give them a couple of hundred quid back and keep the rest otherwise a repeat will be more likely in the future and you might not be able to recover your costs next time.
 
Looking at it from the other side i.e. as a customer - I would use you for future work if you treated me like this.

I would be happy to loose the full deposit - getting anything back would be a bonus - let alone such a large amount.

I would also tell my family and friends that I've met a flexible contractor that has a human side.

If - like you say - they are repeat customers - they are worth keeping hold of and I am sure they would like to keep hold of you too.

it's a small island we inhabit - we do win some and loose some - lets stay friends!
 
So your out of pocket to the tune of hundreds, through no fault of your own, Hope you don't get many more jobs like this or you'll go bump soon, being so generous
This should not cost you a penny!!!
 
Was there a contract in place,with terms and conditions,also did you give them a cooling off period if order taken in their home or away from your place of buissness .
I ask because from what I understand if a customer is not given a cooling off period then you have broken the law and have no right to keep their deposit.
 
I was invited to their house. Discussed options. Posted them 2 separate quotes. 5 weekslater they booked me in for this month total time from quote deposit job start 9 weeks
 
Crucialy did you give the customer the cooling off period from when they signed contract,and was it in writing?
The paper work is very important and needs to be done correctly if your to remain protected in this type of case,other wise if it went to court you would lose.
Going foreward make sure your paperwork is correct as it we'll save you a lot of problems.
 
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