Am I being ripped off?

[creamcheeseandlox]

Got recommendation for a local Brickie to come and repoint the exterior if the garage wall and fix some cracked bricks from settlement of old extension. He quoted me £450 for two days work including materials. He turned up about 10 this morning and has just left. The wall looks better than it did and when he left he said make it £400. I haven't paid him yet as am waiting for DH to have a look when he gets home but for the time he was here I'm a bit reluctant to pay him £400. DH said we agreed on a price so can't really not pay him but he was also here less than a day so surely he should have knocked a bit more of the cost off no?

AIBU? and if not what can I say to him for him to accept a lower price?

Of course you have to pay him what you agreed. He might have turned down work on day 2. I dont think people should be paid less just because they are fast workers.

100% of what @JollyJoon said

If he quoted you for two days and only took 4 hours then he is definitely taking the piss. I'm guessing it's around £175 per day plus £100 materials so £200 would be about right.

You need to pay what was agreed.

You have a choice. To ask for a job to be done “on a price” (so no matter how long it takes, it’s fixed) or to pay by the hour.

If you were on a price, that’s what you agreed, that’s what you pay. And the £50 off was a nice gesture.

Pay him what was agreed.

If you agreed on the price then yes.

Whether he did a proper a job is a different question. Did you see him do the work?

Can I just check - he re-pointed around ten or so bricks, and wants to charge you £400 for it????

Did he quote you for two days work, or to complete a specified job? It's more than likely the latter, in which case you need to pay.

@mineofuselessinformation

Can I just check - he re-pointed around ten or so bricks, and wants to charge you £400 for it????

He replaced most of those as they had cracka running through them and then repointed around them but basically yes.

@WhatATimeToBeAlive

Sorry but I'm self employed and work much, much faster than some others I know who spend a lot of time dicking around and who just (whisper it) arent all that good at what we do. Why should people get paid less for the same job? Consider it a win win situation, he got the job done and you got your peace and quiet back much faster than expected.

You pay what was agreed.

[quote JollyJoon]@WhatATimeToBeAlive

Sorry but I'm self employed and work much, much faster than some others I know who spend a lot of time dicking around and who just (whisper it) arent all that good at what we do. Why should people get paid less for the same job? Consider it a win win situation, he got the job done and you got your peace and quiet back much faster than expected.[/quote]
But surely he knew by looking at it that it wasn't a two day job?

Yeah I would ring, explain you felt the price was reasonable on the basis of a 2 day job. But that clearly it was far simpler than expected, so please can you renegotiate based on his usual daily rate.

He should have been able to better predict how big a job it was.

And if he refuses, pay him, but if anyone asks your opinion on him, give an honest review - that he charged a lot for a small job.

What did you pay him to actually do? What was the task? It looks from here that he just repointed the few out of line bricks. That isn't acceptable for two days work and if he quoted two days, it was on the basis the job would take that, near enough. Not 25% of it.

If you agreed the price and you are happy with the work, you have to pay.

What’s his excuse for his massive fuck of the estimation of his time?

I would pay him half - it took him a day - he’s not Ben g penalised for being fast - he’s being penalised for fucking up his quote

You were willing to pay 450 for the job.
You are now paying 50 less.

If he'd faffed about for 2 days you'd be happy to pay the 450.
The job you wanted done has been done and it's costing you less than you were happy to pay. What's the problem?

FYI This is why you should always get several quotes before choosing someone to reassure yourself. You could always try and get a few quotes now and see how his matches up

Actually, thinking about it. It depends how he quoted

Did he say it'll cost 450 for me to fix the wall, I think it should take me two days

Or

It'll be £225 per day and it will take 2 days

If the first then it's the job you're paying for. If the second then it's the day you're paying for

I'd email and say "Thanks for knocking the £50 off the £450 quote. You did say originally though that it would be two days' work and you completed the work in approximately four hours. Should it not be about £125 then?" You may be left in the position of paying £400 and leaving a review saying that you found him expensive. If you have a written estimate saying two days work = £450 that would help.

Just bloody pay him
He did the job you asked him to do for the price you agreed
What diffence does it really make if he did it quicker? Do you not think you got your monies worth?
If you were arguing about the quality that would be different but you're not so just pay them
Skilled brickies are worth their weight

As a lawyer with a firm charging me out for two days work, would have cost you £5,600 plus VAT. Quite different from four hours' work, about £1,600, even when you are sitting on your backside at a desk.

He's a massive piss taker, probably does it all the time