Terms and conditions, quotation terms (this contains ai generated content for debate)

[ppelec100]

Hi guys,

I've gotten AI to write up a terms and conditions for my company and then went through it with AI and tweaked it to make it sound a little more human and less robotic lol. I've tried to keep it as clear and concise as possible to avoid any problems with clients that aren't the best at reading or understanding without making it sound too dumb. I've tried to include everything that will cover me being stung by a nightmare customer.

anyways before I paste the long read, i have a few questions which are

1: Am I missing anything important in my terms and conditions? Should I remove anything? Shall I reword anything?

2. What bits should i add to my quotation without making the quote such a long read? im thinking payment upon completion, deposit required, works being under warranty, cancellation... the main points customers need to be aware of so that i avoid time wasting clients. of course i will also make it clear that my full t&c can be found at so and so... or i will attach a pdf file with the full t&c and mention on the quote that by agreeing to this quote you agreeing to the full t&c as attached.

3. what deposit do you guys request for upfront when providing quotes? do you ask for the cost of materials up front? a percentage of the total cost (sometimes the materials will be more than labour, thus you will fronting some of the materials).

4. How much guarantee do you offer on the work you have carried out? and how much warranty to replace items that become defected within a certain timespan? typically i found everyone offers 12 months for items supplied. what about workmanship? 3 years? 5 years?

Thanks for any help in advance!

MY T&Cs:

Scope of Work:
The client acknowledges and agrees that the electrician will perform the services as outlined in the provided quotation. If there are any extra works required beyond those detailed in the quotation, they will be regarded as additional work and will require a new quotation.

Change Orders:

Any changes to the scope of work outlined in the original quotation must be requested in writing by the client and approved by the electrician. The electrician is entitled to adjust pricing and timelines accordingly for approved change orders. Failure to obtain written approval for change orders may result in additional charges and delays in the completion of the project.

Payment Terms:

Payment for services provided is due upon completion unless otherwise agreed upon in writing. The quoted price will remain unchanged, and no discounts will be provided unless specified otherwise in a written agreement. A deposit of 30% of the total cost of the works to be carried out will be need to be made before any work is to commence

Cancellation Policy:

Cancellations or rescheduling of appointments must be made at least 24 hours in advance. Failure to do so may result in a cancellation fee of a one hour charge of £75. If a call-out is agreed upon and the electrician is en route to the location, cancellation will result in a one hour call out fee.

You reserve the right to cancel the agreement within 14 days. In the event of cancellation within this period, any deposits made will be refunded, except in cases where non-refundable items have been ordered on your behalf.

Access to Property:

The client agrees to provide access to the property during scheduled appointment times. In the event access is not provided, the client may be subject to a rescheduling fee to cover the time lost by the electrician.

Liability:

The electrician shall not be liable for any damages or injuries resulting from the client's misuse of electrical equipment or failure to follow safety precautions. Furthermore, the electrician's public liability insurance offers coverage up to £2,000,000 for any accidental damage incurred by the client's property during the project. The electrician is insured with professional indemnity coverage of up to £250,000 to protect against claims of professional negligence.

Subcontractors:

The electrician reserves the right to engage subcontractors to assist in the provision of services under this agreement. Subcontractors will be selected based on their expertise and qualifications, and the electrician will remain responsible for overseeing their work. Subcontractors will be bound by the same terms and conditions outlined in this agreement.

Damage by Trades:

The client acknowledges that the electrician's work may be affected by the activities of other tradespeople or contractors on the premises. Any damages to the electrical installation caused by the actions or negligence of other trades will not be covered by the electrician for correcting the problems. Such damages will be subject to additional charges for repair or replacement, and the responsibility for covering these charges will fall upon the party responsible for causing the damage, or the client. Furthermore, if the electrician causes any damage to other services within the property, the electrician will cover the costs to rectify such damages.

Warranty:

The electrician warrants that all works carried out will be done in a professional manner and in accordance with industry standards. Any defects in workmanship only within a 3 year period will be corrected at no additional cost to the client within a reasonable period of time. Additionally, any materials provided by the electrician will be covered by a 12 month warranty. If any supplied items are found defective within this timeframe, the electrician will replace them at no extra cost. Please note that this warranty does not cover consumable items such as items with batteries and lights where lamps/bulbs cannot be removed. Furthermore, any materials supplied by the client are not covered by this warranty.

Permits and Regulations:

The client is responsible for obtaining any necessary permits or approvals required from building control and local authorities for the works to be carried out. The electrician will comply with all applicable regulations.

Compensation:

The client agrees to ensure payment to the electrician and acknowledges that failure to do so may result in legal action. If the client avoids payment and avoids communication with the electrician regarding payment, the client will be responsible for covering any legal fees associated with resolving the matter, as well as any loss of time incurred by the electrician due to non-payment.

Acceptance of Terms:

By accepting these terms and conditions, the client acknowledges that they have read, understood, and agree to all terms outlined.

 

[Dan]

It's not worth the paper it's printed on, would be my first reaction mate. The compensation rubbish is terrible. Doesn't comply with legal at all, it suggests you will be pestering them about their bill when in fact doing so you could be liable to harassment.

You need to totally separate your clients. Domestic customers you would never dare to pester, you'd find your terms hard to enforce. If they dont have the money they don't have it, and you should have seen red flags before you're out of pocket too much.

Whereas commercially you still can't pester the company but you can legally enforce your terms to a point. But the second they disagree with the amount, its not now a debt that needs to be paid. Its now a debt in question so you need legal clout to enforce it and mitigate and argue. And still after all that you might be going for a drink with the company owner. As your company arguing with his company isn't you arguing with him.

This is where AI fails at every hurdle. It's not real world factors and variables that go in or come out.

Garbage in garbage out. (Is a coding saying)

(edit: in fact this is so poor and clearly chat gpt, and Google knows this, so may think I'm hosting content that isn't factual - too many of these is a red flag to google, so I'll need to deny google access to this thread or mark it as generated content so it's not indexed)

So it's that bad, it makes your company not look real almost. I'd never use those terms now, personally.

Learn to be selective with your clients instead. I've dealt with Panasonic, bosch, Saint gobain and dozens of other blue chips and never sent any terms, not once. They'd laugh in my face if I tried email them that.

An agreement is an agreement and if you need terms like that you've got to ask yourself, should I be risking my time and money on said deal.

 

[ppelec100]

It's not worth the paper it's printed on, would be my first reaction mate. The compensation rubbish is terrible. Doesn't comply with legal at all, it suggests you will be pestering them about their bill when in fact doing so you could be liable to harassment.

You need to totally separate your clients. Domestic customers you would never dare to pester, you'd find your terms hard to enforce. If they dont have the money they don't have it, and you should have seen red flags before you're out of pocket too much.

Whereas commercially you still can't pester the company but you can legally enforce your terms to a point. But the second they disagree with the amount, its not now a debt that needs to be paid. Its now a debt in question so you need legal clout to enforce it and mitigate and argue. And still after all that you might be going for a drink with the company owner. As your company arguing with his company isn't you arguing with him.

This is where AI fails at every hurdle. It's not real world factors and variables that go in or come out.

Garbage in garbage out. (Is a coding saying)

(edit: in fact this is so poor and clearly chat gpt, and Google knows this, so may think I'm hosting content that isn't factual - too many of these is a red flag to google, so I'll need to deny google access to this thread or mark it as generated content so it's not indexed)

So it's that bad, it makes your company not look real almost. I'd never use those terms now, personally.

Learn to be selective with your clients instead. I've dealt with Panasonic, bosch, Saint gobain and dozens of other blue chips and never sent any terms, not once. They'd laugh in my face if I tried email them that.

An agreement is an agreement and if you need terms like that you've got to ask yourself, should I be risking my time and money on said deal.

i mean i used AI for the structure but i did edit some of it myself.

The thing is i wont force the client to read it and wont include the entire thing on the quote itself but i will attach it as a pdf file alongside the quotation. i will mention on the quote that i have attached the terms and conditions and by agreeing to have the works carried out you agree to the full terms and conditions. ive tried to keep it short to be honest so its not boring and long to read.

even if its not for the legal side, its more for enforcing my rules on the customer of this is how i work, for example, if youre going to cancel give me a heads up of 24 hours at least. when i finish you pay up on time. i dont want you getting involved with the work. it also gives the customer some peace of mind knowing i'll come back to fix things if things go wrong if i supplied things, if they supplied it then i wont. i dont want to seem unprofessional and would rather they have access to this information so they feel comfortable knowing what type of sparks i am and not some random cowboy who has no terms and conditions, how will they know he is going to put things right? just because he says so... where is his word now things go wrong and he wont fix it?

the compensation bit did seem a bit farfetched, i'll probably remove that section, but i dont think it suggests ill pester the client. if it did come to that i will send a few emails, text to try and get in touch with them, after that i will reach out to a legal team to handle it depending on the cost. but i mean if i send this over and someone has agreed for the work to be carried out its pretty much on paper that they are agreeing to my terms.

the thing is a lot of the times i will not know these people and i might make a poor judgement or they might be very good at hiding the red flags so i cant always rely on those

 

[Dan]

I don't think I'd use it mate even the one line heading then one long paragraph screams ai. And untrustworthy. I don't think much has been edited I got the same results with one three worded command. Then click refresh so IT tidy itself up a bit and applies some common human mistakes even. But still screams ai and desperate.

Write some basic one sentence points, and say its what you adhere to. And it is more polite and does the same but concentrate on your pitches and how you can save somebody money by employing you and only you.

Concentrate your efforts on that. Website, drink in pub with the lads who run the local stockists. Or golf or the gym or a walk with your dogs etc be helpful mates with locals who need electricians.

You need build relationships and keep them. I have loads of stuff going on in my life now (weddings for eg) that are mates that I met through work or whatever and they've stayed in touch etc

Be genuine and nice.

Bit deep that lol