Customer knocking me down on price for extra work he had to do

[Guest55]

Trevs already given the correct response.
non-payment claim in court where bsing 6 ft 5 will be of little help.
and ask the customer to provide an invoice and breakdown for £500 of plastering repairs
he wont of course because its a £50 fix.
please tell me you've not given him any certs ?

 

[ipf]

Verbal agreements mean nothing mate get everything in writing then you can always bounce it back.

Wrong there Sintra. A verbal agreement is a contract.
Had a situation with a client who wouldn't pay the full amount. Took them to Small Claims and, basically, got full remuneration plus court costs. No written contract involved. Prove you've done the job to the value you charge and there is a good chance you'll win. A threat of small claims may just force them to pay, but try asking first.
And, just remember.....the bigger they come, etc. Good luck.

 

[Sintra]

Wrong their Sintra. A verbal agreement is a contract.
Had a situation with a client who wouldn't pay the full amount. Took them to Small Claims and, basically, got full remuneration plus court costs. No written contract involved. Prove you've done the job to the value you charge and there is a good chance you'll win. A threat of small claims may just force them to pay, but try asking first.
And, just remember.....the bigger they come,etc. Good luck.

Just very hard to prove a verbal agreement even took place. That's the point I am trying to make.

 

[calpol91]

The thing is hes paid for the extras. I dont need to prove that.

Its the invoice for 500 of apparent work. He didn't even do a full reskim, his plasterer just patched up. He then paid for that work.

I just think he's using that as an excuse not to pay for the lights we installed, but he hasnt denied the extras, so should it come to court, itll be about the £50 of work which was multiplied by 10....

 

[ipf]

Just very hard to prove a verbal agreement even took place. That's the point I am trying to make.

Understand what you're saying, but, how hard is it to prove the work took place ? Get the work details down on paper with your valuation and present it with times, dates, etc. then it's him against you over a table with a judge to decide.

 

[not clever]

Send the invoice back to the plasterer with a letter saying it seems to have been sent it to the wrong address & there was an agreement with the homeowner that you were not liable for the repairs post extras agreed to by the customer.

Or

Send a letter and an extra invoice for say £300 to the customer, on the letter state that you had unfortunately forgotten to add the inflated cost of undertaking extra work on your previous invoice.

 

[Stuuk1]

Take extensive photos of every single job you do, the more the better and save them all in a detailed folder on a large external hard drive.

Any comebacks and you now have proof e.g. The painted ceiling which wasn't painted when you finished your part of the job..

Before and after pictures are also a good idea.

 

[SAILOR48]

The thing is hes paid for the extras. I dont need to prove that.

Its the invoice for 500 of apparent work. He didn't even do a full reskim, his plasterer just patched up. He then paid for that work.

I just think he's using that as an excuse not to pay for the lights we installed, but he hasnt denied the extras, so should it come to court, itll be about the £50 of work which was multiplied by 10....

Just invoice as usual for the work to start the ball rolling and await his response
Try and get him to reply by email (It’s a good record of what’s gone on and costs nothing)
Don’t enter in to any correspondents about plastering etc just here is the invoice.
Give him 7 days to reply then send the invoice by recorded delivery.
If no response after another 7 days another invoice with a covering letter saying please pay or respond with any reason that he feels he should not pay (Repeat Try and get him to do it by email or in writing )
If no response same again with 14 day notice that you will go to the small claim court for payment (recorded delivery or email)
Ignore all replies about other works remedial etc, no get involved in discussions about any thing else, just the unpaid invoice.
Your aim is to get him to admit that you did some works (email or in writing) that there is a dispute with you and an unpaid bill. Not that the job was not done, or was not done to his satisfaction.
If he states as I understand, that you messed his ceiling up and he has hade to pay for it to be repaired, this would probably be his counter claim which is a different matter to your unpaid invoice.
Quote or not, if you can prove that you did some work which he asked you to do and is refusing to pay for he owes you money.
Let us know what happens.


Remember this always, don’t make friends with your customers and don’t make friends your customers