Quoted for job but invoiced per workman

[User1742777]

Hello, I was quoted £30 an hour from a stonemason. to remove a section of render from the rear of my house so I could see the condition of the bricks underneath (damp issues). They were maybe just over an hour so have invoiced for 1.5 hours (fine ok) but two of them arrived and I have been invoiced for two people, plus VAT the total comes to £108. My written message prior to this appointment was “The cost would be £30 p/h”. I just feel aggrieved do I really owe £108?

Do you have the quote in writing?

If it would have taken one of them twice as long then yes, it's the same. I pay my cleaners £15 an hour for example but there are 4 of them so the hour costs £60. If I had one cleaner they would take 4 hours and still cost £60.

Yes, my written message prior to this appointment was “The cost would be £30 p/h”.

Did the quote give an estimate of the hours needed?

Tbh a quote giving an hourly rate is meaningless unless they can advise the estimated time the job will take.

No

The quote needs to include VAT unless you are a company / business ( I’m guessing you are not ) .

Does the invoice have a VAT number on it ?

Did you really think each experienced stone mason would work for only £15 per hour??

They should have quoted “£30 per hour per workman plus vat, we estimate this would take two of us an hour but depending on the condition of the wall when we start work it may take longer caveat caveat etc”. But if you’re happy with the work, just pay up?

Did he say "it'll be 30 quid an hour and take about an hour and a half?" If so you have some cause for complaint that he's misled you.

But if he just said "it's thirty quid an hour" then presumably you'd be happy if he'd turned up and worked for three and a half hours on the job and billed you 108? So why would you complain if they did the job for the same price in half the time. Fifteen quid an hour would be a very very low rate for a short one off job for a skilled worker.

Did the original quote say how long the job would take? So you knew how many hours you were expecting to pay?

If it did and said 1.5hrs @£30p/h then you have a point and I'd be asking why their original quote was £45 +VAT and now they've invoiced for £90+VAT.

If it didn't specify number of hours, then you didn't know how many hours you'd expect them to invoice for. So it could have been 1 person for 3 hours. 2 people arrived so they got it done in half the time, either way the amount you pay is the same.

Yes I'm querying the VAT I'm querying that before VAT the cost is £90 for 1.5 hours work charged at £30 per hour, and that's because it's broken down by workman

If it just says £30 p/h you owe them £45. It doesn't matter how many people were there. They didn't say per person per hour.

So if it was one person who took 3 hours would you have felt cheated?

All he was was drill three holes in the wall so I would have been shocked if it took three hours and would have queried that too I think

So do you not know how long they were there?

Attached is the work I don't think it should have taken 3 hours? It was relatively fast some of the time was due to us discussing options with him going forward for the render

Yes was there about an hour 10 min

Who’s to say the second person was a fully experienced stonemason? It could have been an apprentice just there to do some grunt work. They should have told you it was ppph

If they're VAT registered and didn't bother to specify VAT was on top when quoting, legally, their price is assumed to be VAT inclusive. So you don't have to pay the VAT - that's definitely their screw up.

The hourly rate bit is more grey. If it would have taken one person three hours and two did it in one and a half, I think that's OK. Although you should have queried when they turned up, I think.

I'm not sure how you are querying the time they spent then if you were actually there and saw them doing it. If I get any tradesman in for anything and I get a bill around the £100 mark I'm always relieved it wasn't more. I'd pay it and be done.

I'm not querying the time?

And this would include materials before you’ve even got to pay NI, tax and pension contributions. Maybe the OP thinks manual workers deserve no more than minimum wage? Peasants should know their place!

I'm just saying this was a job that I don't think would have taken one person much longer at all

All he was was drill three holes in the wall so I would have been shocked if it took three hours and would have queried that too I think

Looks like you are querying the time!