What would you make of this message?

[MissPear]

I’ve employed a workman and he has ordered parts from a company that I have to pay for direct. He forwarded the invoice including the email chain which contained this along with the invoice:

‘I've taken into consideration the inconvenience caused this week with delivery of job reference xxx so hopefully this will soften the blow.’

What do you think this means? I replied to ask what this was referring to and they explained what the inconvenience was but did not mention the ‘softener’ in their reply.

I would assume they've deducted a bit from the bill??

Yeah, there's been a discount given for the inconvenience.

The workman has caused a bit of grief to the supplier on another job, and making it up to him by giving him another order.

Wait, was it the workman or the company he was ordering from who wrote that?

There were no discounts on the invoice and I am paying them direct. The inconvenience was caused by the supplier to my contractor according to the supplier.

Who's the email from? The worker or the person he was buying from

This is good for you isn't it? Your bill is cheaper?

The email is from the supplier. It contains a quote for goods that I am to pay for directly.

The bill is more than I was told it would be and I can’t see any discounts.

Op, where you've used 'they' and 'them' etc in your posts, we don't know which person you're referring to

Sorry, I will try again.

I have employed contractor X to do some work. He has ordered parts from supplier Y for which I am to pay directly. Contractor X forwarded the email chain to me which contained an invoice and the following passage written by supplier Y along with the invoice:
‘I've taken into consideration the inconvenience caused this week with delivery of job reference xxx so hopefully this will soften the blow.‘

I replied directly to the supplier Y to ask what that meant and they explained they had caused contractor X an inconvenience but did not explain what ‘soften the blow’ means. There are no discounts on the invoice which is higher than expected. The delivery charge is high but the parts are large/heavy so could be the going rate.

Is the job number your job?

No, a previous job. Supplier Y explained it was a delay on a delivery.

Not sure I'd be comfortable with that. I mean I've never had to pay for the supplies directly (unless I've chosen to source myself before seeking a quote for the job), so no idea if that's normal or not (?) but sounds dodgy.

You're paying the contractor for the work, not their chosen supplier. I'd tell them to pay it or cancel the job.

Why don't you ask the contractor? I presume they charged a bit less than for his previous order, which wouldn't be obvious to you. Or it's faster/upgraded delivery.

I'd ask the contractor what happened / if the price looks adjusted. Sounds like they've done something with the price for him (not all invoices will show a discount on the face of them).

The supplier would probably have been unaware you were going to be paying direct, hence they've said it'll soften the blow for the contractor.

I honestly think this reads absolutely in your favour op.

Even though it's more than you thought, I think Ys initial price befire they 'softened the blow' was even higher, and they've reduced it for X, for whatever reason.

There's no reason you would 'see' the discount on the invoice. Maybe it says £100 where it was supposed to say £200 before Y softened the blow.