Fair price?

[Bingo_UK]

I wonder if anyone would be so kind as to comment on whether I should take this matter further.

We required some minor repairs to our roof. Someone came from a dedicated roofing firm and outlined what needed to be done. The written quotation arrived shortly thereafter. It reads:

Repairs - refix the slates on the rear left side gable [I think there were two], supply and fix 1 slate to rear main roof, check all the main roof for loose or broken slates and repair as necessary, rake out any loose mortar from the main roof ridge caps and patch point with sand and cement mortar, supply and fix one gas cowl, check the flaunching and patch point with sand and cement mortar, clean away all rubbish.

Quotation : £314 plus VAT. We thought this was acceptable so signed it and sent it off.

Well, someone came and did the lot in under two and a half hours.

When the bill arrived I queried it and wrote back asking for the firm's comments. They replied saying sorry but that their operative hadn't informed them the work had been carried out so quickly and resubmitted a bill for £204 plus VAT.

Is this now a fair amount would you say or should I submit this to the Federation of Master Builders for further investigation?

Any thoughts much appreciated.

 

[^woody^]

What is the problem?

You accepted a quote, then queried it, and then when an invoice for a lessor figure arrived (which the firm may not have beed obligated to change), you are querying that too?

An accepted quote is binding, and the speed of the operative is immaterial as long as the agreed work has been done

 

[Bingo_UK]

What is the problem?

You accepted a quote, then queried it, and then when an invoice for a lessor figure arrived (which the firm may not have beed obligated to change), you are querying that too?

An accepted quote is binding, and the speed of the operative is immaterial as long as the agreed work has been done

I agree entirely that the firm was probably not under any obligation to change its bill. In law I'm sure that I have nowhere to go with this. However, the firm is a member of the FMB and I think that this may well be a form of sharp practice. We used a firm which we believed to be reputable because we hoped that this would be less likely. Over £200 for a couple of hours' work? Even with materials, that's pretty expensive I feel.

Thank you for your observations though.

 

[JohnD]

In your couple of hours work, you are of course including the time the first person took to travel out to you and prepare the quote; the time the worker took to drive to you in his van, and return afterwards; the cost of running the van and the office, the 13% Employer's National Insurance, and the overhead cost of running a business, training and equipment, and contributing to sick pay, holiday pay and pension contributions?

 

[Bingo_UK]

In your couple of hours work, you are of course including the time the first person took to travel out to you and prepare the quote; the time the worker took to drive to you in his van, and return afterwards; the cost of running the van and the office, the 13% Employer's National Insurance, and the overhead cost of running a business, training and equipment, and contributing to sick pay, holiday pay and pension contributions?

Fair comment. I hadn't considered that. Thanks. That makes the price easier to comprehend.

 

[^woody^]

Even so, you accepted the £314 quote!

Did you get other quotes to compare?

From a builders point of view, it is so annoying when a customer accepts a quote and then tries to haggle over the price.

You did well to get the price reduced, and for that alone I would contact the FMB and the company to pay a compliment and not complain

 

[js.roofing]

i totally agree with that woody!

What the hell is wrong with you people, a few hundred quid (which your words were "acceptable") to have your roof overhauled including materials is nothing, and then moan about the reduction in price afterwards FFS! What part of this matter exactly are you planning on taking further!!!! If £200 is still too much for you to pay why don't you by some ladders, materials and do the job yourself. I hope you appreciate my thoughts on this.

 

[Sylvan Tieger]

I wonder if anyone would be so kind as to comment on whether I should take this matter further.

We required some minor repairs to our roof. Someone came from a dedicated roofing firm and outlined what needed to be done. The written quotation arrived shortly thereafter. It reads:

Repairs - refix the slates on the rear left side gable [I think there were two], supply and fix 1 slate to rear main roof, check all the main roof for loose or broken slates and repair as necessary, rake out any loose mortar from the main roof ridge caps and patch point with sand and cement mortar, supply and fix one gas cowl, check the flaunching and patch point with sand and cement mortar, clean away all rubbish.

Quotation : £314 plus VAT. We thought this was acceptable so signed it and sent it off.

Well, someone came and did the lot in under two and a half hours.

When the bill arrived I queried it and wrote back asking for the firm's comments. They replied saying sorry but that their operative hadn't informed them the work had been carried out so quickly and resubmitted a bill for £204 plus VAT.

Is this now a fair amount would you say or should I submit this to the Federation of Master Builders for further investigation?

Any thoughts much appreciated.

Suppose it took the roofer 4 days would you pay the difference?

I know when I charge law firms $2,000 per day they are paying for knowledge not how long a task takes.

In plumbing I like time and material pricing as it takes the guess work out of figuring what possibly can go wrong on a job.

The clients only pay for the actual time and materials used rather then pricing the job by a book that takes an "average" as the good jobs (that go fast) pay for the ones that take more time

 

[datarebal]

Agree with all, Price accepted, Guy visits to quote you accept price, Guy gets job done quickly, supplies sand cement, slates, Gas cowl..gains access uses own ladders etc pays insurance etc etc etc
The original price was ok.. and as said previously if it had taken 4 days would you of been Happy to pay more.. a price is a price.
When was the last time you put your car in a garage for repair or had your washing machine repairded?

Dont see what FMB has got to do with it???

 

[Sylvan Tieger]

I guess the client would have liked the rooferr to quote $500 THEN say we found more problems so you will have to pay $15,000 .

I wonder if this same person would ask a dentist how much do you charge by the hour after having their teeth cleaned

 

[vinty]

I think you got a bargain, it isn't just about one bloke on your roof for a couple of hours, there are lots of overheads in the building game(if your legit)public liability insurance to name one, personal insurance for another what happens if the bloke falls off your roof, are you going to pay his compensation and medical bills or even his funeral. As i have said overheads in building are very high.

 

[corrie]

Yeah ....300 quid to scramble about the roof of a house(in winter) which is worth .........how much? People pay that to service a car worth 10 grand. Bear in mind when you get a Clutch done on a car and there is a book time of 3 hrs..some good mechanics can do the job in half that time. You do however pay the 3hrs as quoted. That`s life!!

Fair comment guys RE. the time for estimating. visiting. etc... Of course the cowl. slates and cement etc were all in the van anyway........not as if you had to stand in a queue at builders merchants to buy any of that stuff . Any rubbish to dump? No probs .........I was going past the dump anyway on my way home..

Alex

 

[corrie]

I guess the client would have liked the rooferr to quote $500 THEN say we found more problems so you will have to pay $15,000 .

I wonder if this same person would ask a dentist how much do you charge by the hour after having their teeth cleaned

Yes and look how much Dentist charges for cement and it`s only £3.50 a bag in B&Q

Alex