over charging?

[crunch]

Hi guys, been a long time since my last post hope everyone is doing well, what a year it has been!

I am just curious to see what your thoughts and advice are with an invoice I have received for $31k for some engineering work thats been completed recently.

It seems that the engineering firm has just taken the amount in the flouting/flexable qoute and given that as the invoice.

Obviously I think it is over priced and they might be taking advantage of our naivity. What is our recourse with this issue? I have asked for an itemised invoice which has arrived with a breakdown of the relevant charges which is virtually the same as the qoute in the beginning.

Because we agreed to the qoute are we bound to pay it in full or is there still room for negotiation? We are satisfied with the work and that is not really an arguing point. It's always a difficult situation as i dont want to come across as ungrateful and as of yet we have not verbly discussed the invoice with the engineer.

What are your experiences in these situations?

thanks if you can help. cheers

 

[peteb]

so you got a quote for some work
the quote was for 31K
you accepted the quote
the work was done and done to expectations
now you get the bill
the bill is for the same amount as the quote you accepted
and now you are disputing the amount ...

hmm interesting.
shouldn't you pay it as agreed ?
or am I missing something.

 

[Easymonet]

I have to agree with Pete's inexorable logic. You accepted the quote and the work was done, now you must pay the bill.

 

[crunch]

As the qoute was not fixed i was just expecting the final invoice to reflect a variance in the amounts actually qouted to be up or down as per the real costings. Supposably there was a buffer and when the qoute was given to me it was explained that these costs might fluxuate as the job progressed and that it was not a fixed qoute.

At the time that was the most reasonable qoute given and with other people involved in the project my choices were limited without effecting the project as a whole.

Different ways to look at this is one my engineer is amazing and has calculated the figures so pricely that there was no need for any recalculations. The other is that it did not go over the qoute so be happy that your not paying extra.


I was interested in reading other peoples stories of their experiences with negotitating with trades people and contractors, have they had similar experiences?


I will be paying the bill, but the thought in the back of mind is I will really never know if it is correct for the work completed.



cheers

 

[Jerry Maguire]

Did you get a few quotes from different firms
before you started the project?

Or did you just get one quote and that's it?

You should have done your own due diligence on this

If you were to do your own due diligence
you would know what is being charge and
this post would have never make it to this forum.

Regards
Jerry

 

[abcdiamond]

Crunch

I think you have just had a learning experience.

I've been down that track too. You get a quote, and you get the verbal impression that it won't be any higher than that, and it could be cheaper.

The end result is: The same figure as the quote.

If you get a quote, no matter what they say, expect to pay the quoted figure.

 

[handyandy]

hi crunch

How about another angle to make you feel better.

They quoted you a price when they had done the work they found that the amount came to $1.5k more than quoted but decided to absorb that and stay with the original quote.

Your a winner You actually got the job done for less.

We have done this ourselves when we are only slightly over what we quoted.

Cheers

 

[willair]

Crunch ,There are many definitions and interpretations of payment,you agreed to the original quote,just pay the bill
and put in down to experience ,nobody wins in the courtroom..
good luck
willair..

 

[rday]

Originally posted by handyandy
hi crunch

How about another angle to make you feel better.

They quoted you a price when they had done the work they found that the amount came to $1.5k more than quoted but decided to absorb that and stay with the original quote.

Your a winner You actually got the job done for less.

We have done this ourselves when we are only slightly over what we quoted.

Cheers

i think you are right,as the engineer could of stretched the time taken to do the job ,and then charged u more.

 

[Mondie]

If l get a quote for some work and it is completed on time, to my satisfaction and the final price is as quoted, then l am happy

We all hope we will get a bill less than the original quote, but this is pretty rare, for me anyway!

 

[layer181]

To be fair I agree you accept the quote you pay.But as a flooring contractor I have had instances where I have invoiced less than my quotes.Especially on repairs.Once I looked at a termite damage floor.I explain to the client that the max they will pay is $5000.When we lifted the carpet and the floorboards the joists,bearers and all the piers were fine so I took less time and materials to fix and we only charged half the price.
Some of us tradesman do do the right thing