Its not my fault it wasn't included in the original quote... I refuse to pay £1,400!

[Winniethepooer]

I'm having a conservatory fitted at the end of the month.

Architect came round on Friday.
We are having a window removed & double doors fitted.
Apparently the sales women and the surveyor missed that a lintel hadn't been included in the price. They want £1,400 to fit this lintel.

I'm really annoyed. Its not my fault. Its going to push us to the edge of our budget.

AIBU to refuse to pay?
I could end up losing the £500 deposit if i pull out now ...

Sorry I didn't read your op properly I thought you said national company!

I don't get why you thought you were safe choosing a big national company

Because its probably got lots of good reviews and was at a price she could afford. Are you always this insufferably bloody smug when someone gets treated badly?!

The local company who goes on reputation and word of mouth references wouldn't try to rip you off.

:o and the OP is naive?!

It is really hard to say what is going on or why this had not come up before.

There are 2 possible reasons you need a new lintel and the old one would not be suitable

1. The opening is getting bigger

2. The load on the wall is getting bigger (is the conservatory going to have a house type roof, not glass on it) that will be spanning into the wall above the new lintel.

Both of these would have been obvious at the outset. However even still it depends on what basis the work was priced

Was it from architect's drawings or from a site visit?

If it was from architects drawing then the onus is on the architect to identify the new structure required. If this company offer some kind of all in package then they should have picked it up on the site visit.

The £1400 will of course be more than the price of the lintel, propping the wall will be required etc etc Get the surveyor to negotiate if they are independent and the architect if they are not. You will have to pay if it is extra, the question is how much.

Steve, they are the ones who gave her the wrong quote. Why would she pay for them being stupid? They are probably making thousands of profit off her anyway. The quote and contract I'd for the whole job and is binding. If I was feeling extra generous I might offer to pay for half he cost of the actual lintel. also 300 seems a lot for a lintel - we've had a few fitted recently and the most expensive one was 100. If they are trying to charge you 1400 they are nasty people trying to fleece you.

Is it one of the big double glazing companies? If so tbh I would try to get at least some of your deposit back and find someone local.

Jojo quotations are limited in the scope of work they are offering and details of the limitations are given in the quote. The point is if the lintel is required and this is something that should have been picked up by someone else (like an architect for example) then the company is in the clear to claim it is an extra. Don't get me wrong I am not saying that is by any means a given but it might be which is why I am asking.

DH and I are both structural engineers and we are having a lot of work done on our house and we have had a fair bit of tooing and froing with contractors in spite of our experience so I understand the frustration.

We have just had new windows and doors (from well-known national window company). The sales guy quoted a price that we accepted. When the surveyor came he spotted we needed a new lintel above the front door. They didn't add any further costs on at all.

You would bu to expect the extra work for free, however the quote wasn't correct and so there should be no issue with your deposit being returned if you don't wish to go ahead after the change in price.

Was it a quote or an estimate? if it was a quote they should stick to it. Why does it need a lintel surly there is one above the window they are removing? If not just ask for your deposit back as you gave them the deposit on the strength of the quote which they are now changing.

Cone on name and shame the company so the rest of us don't get stung by them

Isn't lintel a funny word? Lintel, lintel, lintel.