To not pay the full amount?

[Movingsoon21]

I recently had a local company round to give a quote for some new light fittings
in the house. There were 4 lights that we definitely wanted to replace as they were in a bad condition (a light in the front bedroom, the bathroom light and two lights in one of the back bedrooms) and another 2 in the other back bedroom that are ok for the time being but we thought we'd replace at the same time if we could afford it.

I asked the company for a quote and asked them to let me know the price for the two "extras" in the second back bedroom so we could make a decision on whether to go for them as well.

The email came back:
"Option 1: Front bed, bathroom, two rear beds: £xx"
"Option 2: two rear bedroom lights: £yy"
I read this to mean that option 1 was the price for everything, including both rear bedrooms, and option 2 was solely for the "extra" bedroom, to show us what that cost was separately. We were happy with the amount for option 1 so I replied and said we'd go for all the lights. I didn't get any confirmation with the final amount, they just called to arrange the fitting. The lights were all fitted last week and we are pleased with them.

I then got the invoice for the work on Friday, and it was for the total of options 1 and 2 together. So I queried it and was told that option 1 had just meant the front bedroom, the bathroom and the 2 lights in the "must have" rear bedroom. It did not include the "extra" bedroom.
So now I don't know what to do. We wouldn't have agreed to the two extra if we'd known it was the total of the two options (option 2 is 50% of option 1 so not a small amount and we need to do a fair amount of other work which we are saving for) and I believe my reading of the email was reasonable. On the other hand, they've done the work and are a nice local company, I don't think they were trying to be misleading, it was just a miscommunication.

AIBU to suggest paying only 50% of option 2 cost, seeing as I didn't agree to paying it in the first place?

Yes, this. If there was any confusion I would expect the two extra to be half (or less as they are already at the property) of the cost of the first four, or a third or less of the price of the whole six. So the price clarifies it for me.

If you weren’t 100% clear what they meant (which is how it sounds even though I think it’s clear) then you should have queried it. They’ve done the work, you are happy for it - you need to pay.

You had 4 "must" replace lights and 2 "might" replace lights = 6 in total.

Quote 1 is for the 4 "must" lights and Quote 2 for the 2 "might" lights = 6 in total.

Crystal clear and yabu to not pay in full.

But it didn't say 2 rear bedrooms, it said 1 front bed, 2 rear bed, 1 bathroom - that's the windows, not the rooms.

Oh cmon... It wouldn't have made any sense for 2 lights to cost half of 6 lights.

Common sense should have made it obvious although the quote seems pretty straight forward.

Please pay. You'd be very unfair not to.

My comprehension must be in the shitter, and I must be as thick as a ton of rice pudding, because I don't understand the 'quote' at all. 😫

@Movingsoon21 YANBU, I find the quote confusing too. BUT I would have questioned it. Sorry you feel duped. Most people here think YABU, so maybe you are wrong, and so was I. Was it a massive difference in price?

Why would they say 2 beds if they meant 1 bed. It might have been a strange way to quote but 2 beds is very clear.

'2 rear beds' could either mean 2 rear bedrooms or 2 rear bedroom lights, but I think it was quite obvious under the circumstances. You asked for two separate quotes and that's what you got.

If there is any doubt, you need to verify it before. I've found that a lot of tradesmen, mechanics etc. are brilliant with their trades - I'm in awe with how practical and methodical they are when approaching what I see as complex multi-stranded tasks - but they are often not all that great at the paperwork side. The two skill streams aren't mutually exclusive, but many people do seem to have one or the other, but not both.

If it were I preparing a quote or invoice, I would ensure that it was crystal clear and completely unambiguous; but if you asked me to do anything more than wiring a plug myself, you'd have Frank Spencer a guaranteed disaster on your hands.

Hardly crystal clear as multiple posters have interpreted it in different ways.

Hardly crystal clear as multiple posters have interpreted it in different ways.

Circumstantially - based on the requested quotes - and mathematically, it should be pretty easy to work out; but if there's any doubt, the onus is on the client to check that they understand the quote.

If you're given a quote and say you want to go ahead with it, how is the tradesman meant to know that you didn't understand it? Yes, it may have been ambiguous, but nobody could say that it clearly and unequivocally said what OP assumed.

I don't think it's ambiguous at all. Option one is the lights you definitely wanted doing. Option to is the additional lights you might have wanted doing. You had all the lights done so you owe the sum of both.

You had 4 lights that had to be done plus 2 which were optional.

Quote 1 was clearly for 4 lights.

Quote 2 was for 2 lights.

what’s confusing about that?

Exactly this.

It's unfortunate but it doesnt really matter if you misread the quote - they quoted for the correct amount, carried out the work and have now invoiced accordingly. They need to pay wages.

This. You need to pay. You said all the lights, they installed all the lights.

You need to pay. If you wasn't sure you should of asked.

I think they were clear. You asked for 2 quotes, got 2 quotes then asked them do do "all the lights". Of course you should pay them!

For those of you saying “if you weren’t sure you should have asked” - I was sure! I didn’t find it ambiguous at all! I just read it as “two rear beds” meaning two rear bedrooms and thought option 1 included everything. I thought they had just separated out the extra bedroom in option 2 to show me exactly what that cost was.

I don't understand why you read it anyway other than how they meant it as 1) they gave you the two quotes exactly how you asked for them, 2) option 2 quote states 2 rear bed, exactly the same as the way they worded the rear bed in option 1, so unless option 2 was a quote for just both rear bedroom lights it's obvious option 2 was was 2 lights in one room not 2 rooms of lights, and 3) why would 2 lights be 50% of the cost of 6 lights?

Of course you have to pay them it's entirely your mistake shame on you for even thinking about not paying in full

Option one is for 4 lights, add option 2 for the extra 2 lights. They have (clumsily) quoted you for the 4 & 2 option, Hohn you've told them to go agreed with due to not calcifying what the first option actually included- given you asked for 2 quotes, that's what you got. Personally, I'd just pay it, and if something isn't clear in the future, use this as a learning experience to ask!

I thought they had just separated out the extra bedroom in option 2 to show me exactly what that cost was. but that makes no sense.

Sorry, this is on you. You read it wrong.

I think it's badly worded but I'd have read it as the company intended.

The fact you asked for the quotes as they were given and the fact the extra lights were half of quote 1 would have indicated to me that I was reading it the right way.

But OP why would you think that option 2, the fitting of 2 lights, was half the cost of option 1 if you thought that option 1 was the fitting of 6 lights?

I read option 1 as the primary quote you requested for 4 lights, option 2 as the additional quote you requested for the additional 2 lights.

You need to pay them for the work as I really feel the mistake is yours. The provided the quote you requested in the manner you requested and have done the work you requested.

No one quotes the way you thought it had been written that Option 1 included everything. Option 1 is always the quote for what you asked and Option 2 was for anything additional. You also wrote back not that you wanted Option 1 but that you wanted 'all the lights' which clearly to them means you would be happy to pay for everything. It's not their fault you read the quote wrong. You agreed to it and need to pay it now the work has been done. Take it as a life lesson for the future to check anything that may be ambiguous to you.

Why would they give you a quote including all of the lights when you said only 4 definitely needed to be done, and 2 would be optional depending on what the additional price was? Neither quotes would suit what you needed then.

Why would they put all lights on quote one, when you specified that getting the two additional lights done would be dependent on the price?

In reading your latest response, if you didn't decide to get all 6 lights done, and just got the 4 lights done, would you have expected to pay whatever quote 1 was MINUS whatever quote 2 was?