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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Aibu to not want to pay the full amount?

229 replies

gingerginger2 · 19/06/2019 18:51

We had a quote for some work in our garden, which was £1300. we agreed to it, mainly through inexperience I think.

The Gardner’s came to do the work today and it took 3 of them 4 hours.

Given that materials could be bought for £300, aibu to not want to pay them £300 each for a half day?

I‘ve questioned the invoice and they said they estimated it would take a day, and they only quite by days.

We did agree to the quote. But it feels like a total rip off.

The work they did is ok. Sufficient. No above and beyond, just sufficient.

OP posts:
NoBaggyPants · 19/06/2019 19:06

@gingerginger2 If you quoted to complete a job would you then offer a discount because you were more efficient than you realised?

OKBobble · 19/06/2019 19:06

You had 12 houra of work so if it had been one person that would be a day and a half.

Quotes are fixed amounts.

Estimates are just that - a guesa as to what it might be.

You had a quote and accepted it.

You are paying what you expected to pay for the work you expected to get done.

Jeezoh · 19/06/2019 19:06

How would you feel if you quoted for your clients and they decided after you’d done the work that they don’t like the price they’ve agreed? You sound very naive!

AnAC12UCOinanOCG · 19/06/2019 19:08

They quoted for the job.

You accepted a quote for the job. They did the job. You pay them the amount agreed.

CruellaFeinberg · 19/06/2019 19:08

Yup, you agreed the quote, you need to pay

MadameButterface · 19/06/2019 19:09

I‘m pretty inexperienced when it comes to landscape gardening

Exactly... you’re not just paying for a person’s labour, you’re paying for their skill and years of experience. Otherwise you’d have just done it yourself, no?

ThatsUnusual · 19/06/2019 19:09

1 gardener £1300 1.5days work
2 gardeners £1300 a full day's work
3 gardeners £1300 half a day's work

(Inc £300 materials.)

Sounds about right for each landscaper's experience, skill and time.

Your job is complete. Even if 6 gardeners had turned up and took just 2 hours to finish, it's still worth £1300.

needanappp · 19/06/2019 19:09

My OH works in this sector and a lot of people don't have a clue how much it costs to have this type of work done.

They will have no other work books for the day. A days work for 3 men and materials for £1300 seems fair.

Do you know for sure the cost of materials?

missymayhemsmum · 19/06/2019 19:09

Yes, and if they had quoted for the job and it had taken a day and a half then that would have been their problem, not yours. That's how a quote (rather than an estimate) works.

Of course you could have been canny and said if they finished x early could they do y, but you didn't.

Yeahyeahyeahyeeeeah · 19/06/2019 19:09

You sound pretty inexperienced all round OP. If you don’t pay you might find yourself in court

Beansandcoffee · 19/06/2019 19:10

If you don’t pay expect a letter from the small claims court very soon. They brought an extra man onto the job to finish it quicker - 12 hours is 12 hours - doesn’t matter if they had 12 men working at one hour each that’s what they quoted and you agreed so created a contract.

WeeDangerousSpike · 19/06/2019 19:10

No. That's not how it works. They quoted, you accepted, they did the work, you pay

If you thought the quote was too much you should have got someone else to do it.

It works both ways - if they'd come across something that made it take longer they wouldn't have been able to charge more than the quote.

dementedpixie · 19/06/2019 19:10

That's 12 hours work (3 x 4hrs). You agreed to the quote and they did the job

theworldistoosmall · 19/06/2019 19:11

Don't forget their costs won't just include materials and their wages.
If you only charge for time and materials, well more fool you.

Original poster
gingerginger2 · 19/06/2019 19:11

Well i‘m Amazed!

I honestly as a freelancer would never charge for more hours than I actually worked.

As I said, i‘d Be embarrassed that I quoted so innacurately!

1000 for 3 half days is £660 a day!!! That‘s fucking mental.

But thank you all, I appreciate all the answers and asked because I genuinely didn‘t know if I was being unreasonable or not. If I am then fair enough.

But bloody hell, i‘m In the wrong career!

OP posts:
IamtheDevilsAvocado · 19/06/2019 19:13

I'm going to go against most people here....
If its massively overpriced. Negotiate!

Doesn't matter day rates /whole days/half days....
If they're massively over quoted... Don't let them get away with it..

I don't expect they're all highly qualified gardeners?? That equates to a day rate of 600..
So unless they're worth 75 k pa...

I wouek definitely NOT pay...

PS my dad has been ripped off similarly.

RB68 · 19/06/2019 19:14

Remember tax and NI. PL Insurance, investment in tools and equipment etc I think the price sounds fair sorry

MsMightyTitanAndHerTroubadours · 19/06/2019 19:14

did you get other quotes?

really it's no good nitpicking now you already agreed, it makes no difference how long it took them, they offered to do it for £1300 and you were happy with that so bellyaching now is pretty poor form tbh.

needanappp · 19/06/2019 19:14

Landscapers and the like don't quote hourly though, they quote in days. They estimate how long a job will take them and quote. If you accept the quote as are happy with the work, that's what you have to pay.

NoBaggyPants · 19/06/2019 19:14

But bloody hell, i‘m In the wrong career!

No, you just don't know how business works.

You quote to complete a set task. That quote is accepted. You do the work to the expected standard. You are paid.

Ravingstarfish · 19/06/2019 19:14

£300 each and £300 materials is £1200.
You’re really going to squabble over a hundred quid when they’ve done what you asked and you agreed to it?

category12 · 19/06/2019 19:14

3 half-days adds up to 1 and a half days - what precisely is your problem with that?

LadyMacbethWasMisunderstood · 19/06/2019 19:14

You absolutely have to pay. If the work is satisfactory that is the end of it. You have an enforceable contract - they made an offer to do a job for a fixed fee. You accepted. They did the work. You pay up. There is no way around it.

MadameButterface · 19/06/2019 19:15

1000 / 12 = 83.33 ph

Each man as a self employed person then has to pay tax and NI on that. The business owner has to pay for his insurance, vehicle maintenance and fuel. He either has to spend time putting it through his books and doing all the relevant admin himself or pay a bookkeeper to do it. It’s not a bad hourly rate, don’t get me wrong, but it’s not the pisstake you seem to think it is either.

NoBaggyPants · 19/06/2019 19:16

@IamtheDevilsAvocado And when they issue a small claims action against you? Remember a court is not interested in whether something is good value or not, but simply whether a contract exists and has been fulfilled.