Driveway troubles

[Mitosisgirl]

Hi all,

We got a quote for our driveway and back garden drive and path to be done up with block paving. It was 9500. This was documented. We agreed to it and asked for a manhole to get block paving, as well as a boundary between us and the neighbour, and a small extra path. He said this would be 2000 extra. This is documented. We went ahead with it. He told us that the manhole was deeper than he had anticipated and when we asked how much extra, he said that he didn't know. The driveway has been done now. And, it's 2800 extra! This was totally unexpected. It's my first house and it's a medium sized house. Our garden and drive aren't that big.

What should we do? The extra 2800 is far too much.

Did you get any comparative quotes? Surely it would be £500-£1000 all in?

I think it sounds pretty extortionate. If I were you, I'd be making a few enquiries of my own, obtaining other quotes and checking out his legitimacy. Don't make any further payments.

Hi all, I spoke to the guy and he is a total chancer. There were inconsistencies in his story about the manhole. In the end, I negotiated the extra cost to 500 GBP. He had been asked to give quotes by other people in the area and was worried that I would jeopardise this.

Thank you for all your help.

@WB205020

Sounds extortionate. Even the original quote. We had a block paved drive done with 2 man hole covers for less than 500 (for the covers). He is a chancer and I would think about calling another driveway contractor in you area and ask them how much a manhole cover would be. No where near 500.

I suspect overall costs increased and rather than be upfront he has bulked the price out to recover his margin.

Totally agree with you. Thank you for posting. Your post gave me the confidence to negotiate. 😀

@endofthelinefinally

Get a couple more quotes. This sounds strange to me. He should have thoroughly inspected the area before quoting and the job should be itemised in writing.

Completely agree with this.

@Mitosisgirl

Hi all, I spoke to the guy and he is a total chancer. There were inconsistencies in his story about the manhole. In the end, I negotiated the extra cost to 500 GBP. He had been asked to give quotes by other people in the area and was worried that I would jeopardise this.

Thank you for all your help.

Congrats! Clearly wasn’t as much as he was saying then. I’d be considering reducing the £500 if there are quotes for a lot less than that by others in your local area.

An option would be to ask him to sue you for the extra which he would be unlikely to do since you have documented evidence of the agreed price.
He should have checked with you before carrying out any work which incurred extra costs.
I would also be warning others about this chancer.

So £500 extra from £4800 extra. Wow OP well done for sorting that out!

What an absolute chancer.🙄 It's hard work isn't it when people are like that.

Does the 'document' say 'estimate' or 'quote'?
If it is 'quote' that is the price, if it is 'estimate' it is just that and can change.
If you requested a quote and he responding without stating whether it was a quote or an estimate I believe it will be regarded as a quote.

Seems quite expensive overall. Obviously it would depend on the size of the area but we had our driveway block paved including putting in the dropped kerb and taking down our front wall and a tree in the front garden and it came to £6000 in total. This is south east (outside London) too.

@Mitosisgirl
No problem. At the end of the day you cant fault people for wanting more money but sometimes us Brits are too polite to negotiate and accept things at face value.

Definitely ask for a breakdown, speak to another contractor about the cost of a manhole cover with labour, and go back to them. I would even go so far as to refuse to pay the extra if they don't come down to something around 300-400 mark. Let us know how you get on.

Why did the manhole being deeper cost more? Was he rebricking it top to bottom or what?
We had a cover put on an unusually large manhole, and wanted a specially strong one that could carry a fair bit of weight. It was hard to find, but still only cost under £100 for the lid and collar. The whole job included rebricking the top few layers of bricks. It cost a few hundred for the whole lot, IIRC. And it was a very large, deep hole!

So £500 extra from £4800 extra. Wow OP well done for sorting that out!

I really hope that's what OP means. If OP has paid £500 over what she agreed, she's been mugged.

Surely you can just tell him you can't afford it? Just tell him the figure he quoted you for the work was the most you can stretch to.

How did the negotiation go @Mitosisgirl?

Hi everyone, we negotiated last week. We agreed on the 500 extra (still a rip off, but we had enough of this guy and he looks like a trouble maker). I have already paid. It's a lesson for us. Always question everything.