Unreasonable cost of tool hire…! What to do about this

[Zzzexhaustedzzz]

So, I don’t have a sander. I borrowed one from a hire company I used before. They were ok last time just a bit disorganised. So they have my details. I went in and the older guy in there was friendly but very flakey, said I could take it, when he’d found it, was vague about the price, said It’d be ok as I was a previous customer. I don’t think I signed anything.
Stuff came up and I ended up keeping it for 2 weeks. Half way through I checked the website and it said £20 per hire plus 12.50/ week. Then add 20% vat. So it should cost 45 , 54 with vat.
I got my son to return it as I was really busy, then a man (not the nice one) rang with the price. He said it would be 77!! Now I could’ve bought a sander for that! I said I’d have to call him back when I’d checked. He was insistent on the price though it must be wrong.
Since then he has called me twice and now emailed with the same price.
I haven’t felt able to answer! There’s no way I would have hired it for this price. I’m really stressed about money at the moment anyway!
Can they get nasty? I got the impression that they’ve a few bills they’re chasing due to the way they run it!

Should I
A. Pay up. B. Pay by transfer what I thought it would be. And write an email stating why I think that’s all I should pay.

There's often an additional fee if you don't return it after a set time.

We can't really advise without seeing the website and what you agreed to.

Show the chap his own website and ask him how he came up with a higher cost.

Well, did they tell you how they came up with the cost?

What kind of sander are you meaning - an orbital sander, a floor sander? Have you had a written invoice detailing the charges? Did you sign a hire agreement before you took the item?

The problem is you took the sander without checking the costs first. It all sounds highly unprofessional and dodgy.

What did you sign?

If you could have bought a sander for £77, hiring one for £54 probably wasn't a sensible idea in the first place.

Wow, that's extortionate. Can you read any Ts and C's about what you've agreed to? Anything else in writing about the cost anywhere?

In London and Edinburgh and the Netherlands there is a "Tool Library" to borrow things from and I'm sure it's not as expensive.

He may well have the price wrong but you do have to answer his calls and explain, you can't just not pay and ignore him.

Yes, I can’t remember whether I signed something actually. Slight problem that! It was all so slapdash.I know it’s a crazy price isn’t it? I only have a bike and returning it was an issue as I just found I had too much on. What an idiot! I’m talking about the smallest size sander!!

Ask him to send you a copy of the hire contract you signed as you seem to have misplaced your copy

Also point out to him you have worked it out by the figures given on his website at a different amount

Did you inform them you would be keeping it for 2 weeks or did you hire it for a few days and then just not return it?

Ask for a breakdown of cost and find out why it's different to your expected price.

No need for drama

Are you sure your 2 weeks isn’t actually 2 weeks and a day as that might put you in to the third week category and explain the extra cost?

Did it go into the third week? Or was it exactly 14 days?

They seem a bit unorganised, but so do you. You thought it would be £55 and it’s more like £75? It’s expensive but not extortionate. It’s not like it’s 2/3 times what you thought you’d pay.

I’m afraid it’s an expensive lesson to you to get a quote next time.

You might be able to buy a budget DIY sander for under £50 but a decent sander does cost more. The price actually seems normal for tool hire. They are expensive but that is how they make their money.

* Stuff came up and I ended up keeping it for 2 weeks.*

^Your fault isn’t it.

@MasterBeth

They seem a bit unorganised, but so do you. You thought it would be £55 and it’s more like £75? It’s expensive but not extortionate. It’s not like it’s 2/3 times what you thought you’d pay.

I’m afraid it’s an expensive lesson to you to get a quote next time.

This. You had a responsibility to check the price when in store. What do you think they'll do if you just keep ignoring their call??

@drpet49

* Stuff came up and I ended up keeping it for 2 weeks.*

^Your fault isn’t it.

Lol I did not even see that bit. OP, you make yourself sound a bit of a brat here. Pay up and take it as a good lesson to be more organised in the future.

Have they got the sander back now? Just don’t pay, or pay what you think is right, by the sounds of it they’re probably not organised enough to chase you for it. And if you didn’t sign anything then there was no contract in place so they haven’t got a leg to stand on either. You won’t be able to go back there again though!

Even better ask them to provide a copy of the hire agreement signed by you, agreeing to the cost/their terms, with the dates of hire/return, also singed. Bear in mind if they do have it you might have to pay up!

Based on the prices you quote I can't work out how he got to £77. Even if you kept for three weeks it would be £69.

Basically you just need to ask for a price breakdown of what's been charged

Given that you kept it longer than the agreed hire period and they have had to chase you for payment /return, I think it's pretty obvious that a penalty fee of some kind has been added to the whatever the basic hire fee for the 2/3 weeks would have been.

Seems fair enough to me. You need to be more organised and should have return led the equipment on the agreed date.

Ask for a break down.
if they charged you £20 + £12.50+VAT a week then for 2 weeks it would come to £78, which is one possibility.
However I think more likely from your vague "Stuff came up and I ended up keeping it for 2 weeks" that you have been charged more for not returning it when they expected.
So if you'd told them you were keeping it for 2 weeks then you would only have been charged £54. Because you told them you were (or maybe didn't tell them you weren't) only taking it for a week, the price goes up accordingly.

Ask for a break down of the costs, but often the lowest prices on on long term (several weeks) and/or hires booked in advance, or a cheap first week as a “hook”. Don’t assume that 1 week’s hire is the same as the next week’s.