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Original poster

Late bill so I have to pay?

20 replies

Starfish125 · 13/12/2023 11:58

I'm completely panicking and I honestly don't know who to turn to regarding this so hoping some people have some advice!

I got a new ensuite in January this year, all fine, invoiced in the February, paid, closed. Except it seems they hadn't billed me the total cost, and at the time I was pregnant and didn't even remember what the quote has been but they say I still owe £1800. I paid around 3k at the time. I'm so worried I don't have that money anymore, how can they send me an email saying it was closed now say this? I looked at the original quote and it does seem that I have underpaid, but surely this is their fault not mine? I'm now on maternity pay and cannot pay it I'm so stressed out right now.

OP posts:
user1497207191 · 13/12/2023 12:06

They are well within legal timescales to raise the invoice. It's not as if they're trying to invoice more than they quoted either. Firms are perfectly within their rights to raise "correcting" invoices long after the event.

Your best bet is to negotiate payment by instalments - they should be amenable given their lateness in invoicing to payment over a reasonable timescale.

OwOwHolyCow · 13/12/2023 12:09

Yes you still have to pay, I would contact them with payment options and hope they don’t want to add late payment interest.
Being pregnant isn’t an excuse not to know how much the job you were quoted for was. The £1,800 is a huge amount so I’m not understanding how you didn’t notice when you paid the original 3k tbh.

Baxdream · 13/12/2023 12:12

Of course you need to pay.. surely you knew you still owed money?
I agree to ask to pay monthly and see what they say

fpqand · 13/12/2023 12:14

Oh come on OP, you really didn't realise the bill was £1800 short of the quote? What has pregnancy got to do with it? You thought you got lucky but you haven't, you were quoted, the work done, and should pay, imagine if your employer just decided to not pay you one month (because they were pregnant and forgot what your salary was Hmm). Only if it was a misquote would I be getting riled here. Have you got the original quote?

Original poster
Starfish125 · 13/12/2023 12:23

Because I had an invoice that said final invoice which was around £1k, I paid and they said account closed. Of course I thought it was lower than originally quoted but I also had another invoice that said 60% so I thought they had applied that?

OP posts:
TeaKitten · 13/12/2023 12:26

It doesn’t really matter how the mistake occurred OP, you owe the money so you have to pay it. Pregnancy has nothing to do with it, but you’ll have to explain you are on maternity leave and offer a payment plan.

Wednesday6 · 13/12/2023 12:28

Quote is an estimate and final invoice is final invoice. You are not wrong. I'd ask them to clarify why another invoice was sent when you have already closed the final one. They need to explain and why it came so late. You can then negotiate installments. I had shower redone, original quote was £2500 for the worst case scenario the final invoice was £1800.

Original poster
Starfish125 · 13/12/2023 12:30

Wednesday6 · 13/12/2023 12:28

Quote is an estimate and final invoice is final invoice. You are not wrong. I'd ask them to clarify why another invoice was sent when you have already closed the final one. They need to explain and why it came so late. You can then negotiate installments. I had shower redone, original quote was £2500 for the worst case scenario the final invoice was £1800.

Thank you for being the only one not to speak to me like I'm some sorta con artist. I can't believe company's work like this. I've emailed them asking for an explanation.

OP posts:
caringcarer · 13/12/2023 12:32

The invoice was so much less than quote you must have realised you underpaid. Just ask to pay in installments starting in NY.

TeaKitten · 13/12/2023 12:33

Starfish125 · 13/12/2023 12:30

Thank you for being the only one not to speak to me like I'm some sorta con artist. I can't believe company's work like this. I've emailed them asking for an explanation.

Show quote history

I didn’t speak to you like you were a con artist, even this poster acknowledged you have to pay the money.

fpqand · 13/12/2023 12:42

We didn't speak to you like were con artist, we pulled you up on your defence having been pregnant, that's the kind of shit that makes women look incapable. Either you knew you were getting a good deal (legitimate or not), or you genuinely thought the final job came in £1800 under the quote and that the bill was final. Either way, being a woman or pregnant doesn't need to come into the equation, so don't use it when trying to complain to the company about what happened because they won't take you seriously.

Original poster
Starfish125 · 13/12/2023 12:42

caringcarer · 13/12/2023 12:32

The invoice was so much less than quote you must have realised you underpaid. Just ask to pay in installments starting in NY.

I was also given an invoice that stated a 60% discount had been applied, I wasn't sure why but put it down to this. If I have to pay I'll pay in installments, all I wanted was some advice as to whether I had any ground to stand on, not be mocked about how it was SO obvious it was wrong.

OP posts:
Original poster
Starfish125 · 13/12/2023 12:44

fpqand · 13/12/2023 12:42

We didn't speak to you like were con artist, we pulled you up on your defence having been pregnant, that's the kind of shit that makes women look incapable. Either you knew you were getting a good deal (legitimate or not), or you genuinely thought the final job came in £1800 under the quote and that the bill was final. Either way, being a woman or pregnant doesn't need to come into the equation, so don't use it when trying to complain to the company about what happened because they won't take you seriously.

Thank you for explaining, yes being pregnant isn't an excuse you are correct, but I had also been signed off sick, however, again I'm drop feeding now I guess it's all irrelevant, I'm just annoyed at the company

OP posts:
fpqand · 13/12/2023 12:46

@Starfish125 I understand. Does the final bill make sense? Do you query the sum or the means in which they've done it? If the latter I think it's reasonable to require a mutually agreed payment plan given their mistake. Can you ask what was meant by the discount?

hedgehoglurker · 13/12/2023 12:46

Is it now clear to you from the invoices that you mistakenly underpaid? If not, you could redact your personal details and post them on here. Then we could see where the confusion arose.

MarmiteWine · 13/12/2023 12:51

You've mentioned an invoice saying 60% discount. Are you sure this wasn't a stage payment, invoicing for 60% of the bill, that you've missed paying?

Week54 · 13/12/2023 12:56

This reply has been deleted

This has been deleted by MNHQ for breaking our Talk Guidelines.

MrsDanversGlidesAgain · 13/12/2023 13:04

Wednesday6 · 13/12/2023 12:28

Quote is an estimate and final invoice is final invoice. You are not wrong. I'd ask them to clarify why another invoice was sent when you have already closed the final one. They need to explain and why it came so late. You can then negotiate installments. I had shower redone, original quote was £2500 for the worst case scenario the final invoice was £1800.

Agree with this - ask them why this invoice has been issued after what you believed was final payment, and ask for a breakdown of total cost, what you've paid and what they reckon you still owe.

Papillon23 · 13/12/2023 13:07

Would it be worth photographing the invoices, redacting your and their name and showing us what you're talking about? I'm currently struggling to follow exactly what you're saying happened with the various invoices.

It's definitely very frustrating and the answer unfortunately may well be that you need to pay, but if they sent you what they said was a final invoice for the work I would want to check everything through carefully to make sure.

Caterina99 · 13/12/2023 17:22

Make sure you double check the quote and invoices OP. We got an invoice, effectively double charging us for new kitchen worktops last year after we’d paid in full.

I like to think it was an honest mistake because as soon as I queried it they immediately came back and said I was correct and apologised saying it was their error, but I was a bit freaked out when I opened it and it said another 1.5k (or whatever it was). And we’d just had our kitchen done so there were a lot of bills being paid at that time so easier to lose track.

I do my DH invoices. It is easy to make a mistake. Of course they might’ve under charged you and only realised now, but you can definitely ask to pay in installments.

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