Contractor lying to me about price of materials

[Stouffer123]

Is it normal practice for contractors to lie about the price of materials? I’ve got a contractor putting up some fencing for me, it’s costing a large amount in total. The agreement was I would buy the materials and get them delivered to me and then I would ‘own them’. He ordered the materials through his trade account and he gave me the price but when I rang up the merchant to pay, the price was significantly lower (about £300). I queried this with him and he said it was an ‘error’ but when I rang the merchant back they told me it was a trade discount. I wasn’t aware of this so feel a bit silly. I just paid it because I didn’t want to cause a fuss, but am I being unreasonable to feel that he lied to me about the price? Is it normal for contractors to do this or is it normal for them to pass the saving onto you. Just want to know if I’m being taken for a ride.

Tradespeople often charge more to get your stuff for you. It takes time to order and collect it. As a tradesperson myself it takes time and petrol to get bits and pieces for customer, so you always add money on to cover this.

He's charging you retail.
I worked in a trade , retail suppliers.trade discount was roughly 33% less than retail.

The trade discount is his discount though, not yours.

Would you take your own food to a restaurant and ask them to cook it for you? Trades people always make money on materials. That’s to be expected.

I think there’s a difference in a person charging you above retail, versus you paying retail but him getting the trade discount.

My DH used to let his clients have any discount if they purchased materials direct, but it was entirely down to the retailer what discount they were given.

They usually charge on top of materials for ordering, collection etc.
I'd think that if he have you the number and order details to make payment he wasn't trying to make any extra off you, cos how would he get it off the supplier you paid?

I think the confusion is you said you would pay cost of materials- he offered to get through his trade account, you assumed that meant you would pay the trade account price , he just meant he would do the ordering/collecting etc. if he was a friend I would expect trade price as a tradesman I don’t think he has to pass the discount on.

No he isn’t getting it for me, the merchant is delivering it to my home for me. The sticking point in my mind is that I knew what materials to get and he stopped me shopping around and told me that they would be cheapest at this particular merchant and I found out he obviously wanted to purchase there because it was cheaper for him not necessarily for me!

I'm confused - did you pay the lower price or the higher one that he asked for?

The merchant are delivering it to my house, so no collection from him.

Yes exactly that’s what seems a bit dodgy to me! He told the merchant not to give me the invoice so I can’t even see it to check, but it’s more that he told me to buy the materials here because it was cheaper and I trusted him, but only cheaper for him! I was going to get the materials myself you see…

But you called the merchant or pay? So you paid the price they had on the invoice? They told you the price, cheaper than you were expecting and you paid it… so how is the anyone making more money from you?

He's a cheeky ducker @Stouffer123. He tried it on and got away with it. I'm NW London and all the trades I've used recently have passed on their discounts to me. My painter and decorator won't be starting till tomorrow but gave me his trade discount card to go and buy paint on the weekend- I ended up saving over £100 at B&Q.

Well cancel the order and go buy your own materials.
The invoice is company property, not yours. The discount is encouragement from the supplier for the trader to buy from them. It's a sale-they sell to him he sells to you. Usually plus mark-up with the discount.
It's none of your business what the prices are.
Do you demand tescos or a cafe sell a bun at the business cost price?

DP has customers like you, usually to be found in the do not call back/ignore folder.

I’m totally confused how the fencer benefits here if you pay the supplier direct. Are you paying full retail price and the supplier is passing on the trade mark-up to the fencer as trade account credit?

I am so confused 😂

If you rang up and paid the lower price direct then what's the issue? Or did the merchant go on to charge you the higher price because you queried the lower one?

From what you've said, how can the fencer be making a profit here? You are paying the merchant directly, he's not getting anything.

You aren't making any sense.

No, after I called him to query the difference in price, he called the merchant and when I called them back they told me it was a higher price. It all sounds dodgy to me.

Yes this is exactly what’s happened!

He is making the money on the discount he gets.

If you had have gone to buy the materials yourself, you wouldn't have received the discount so price to you would be the same.

It's not rocket science

@Stouffer123 that's normal. Trade discount doesn't apply to you - it applies to builders.

The builder told you the price minus the discount. The merchant got confused and told you the trade price, then corrected themselves when they realised you were just a normal customer.

My DH gets trade discount but if I was to go in the same shop and buy something myself it wouldn't apply to me.

He got the difference in his trade account

He got the difference in his trade account

How do you know?

This is dodgy. I used my builder’s discount at Wickes, I just paid the discounted price, my builder NEVER added a penny to the price as his commission.