Tricky customer Quibbling price after emergency job, what would you do?

[Haironyourchest]

23 minutes ago, Yournamehere said:

... via his solicitor of course and then write to his solicitor as often as you can. Solicitors like writing letters t their clients. It won't take long to write a few hundred pounds worth...

Nah, send it directly to him, just saying that your case is strong and you will be filing in court unless full payment is made. The court will take this into account as well, as chancers (that is, if the OP was a chancer) don't waste money on solicitors over 4 or 5 hundred quid. Aggrieved honest tradesmen do. I don't know how much a short consultation costs in the OP neck of the woods, around here it's about 50 euro.

[Jonny69]

9 minutes ago, Haironyourchest said:

Nah, send it directly to him, just saying that your case is strong and you will be filing in court unless full payment is made. The court will take this into account as well, as chancers (that is, if the OP was a chancer) don't waste money on solicitors over 4 or 5 hundred quid. Aggrieved honest tradesmen do. I don't know how much a short consultation costs in the OP neck of the woods, around here it's about 50 euro.

In England we have MCOL. No need for solicitors. Apply online, pay your £60 and let the judge decide who is right. 

 

Edit: In response to the original post it MAY be worth pursuing in small claims, you can only try. Don't expect it to end 100% in your favour though. The lack of paperwork, terms, conditions and a written go ahead to do the job mean that you may end up back at the £200 he has offered. 

Edited October 21, 2018 by Jonny69

[5 shires]

11 hours ago, Agent-Arb said:

 

Evening all, the other morning about to have a yard day I got called out to an emergency. A mate who does the odd day gardening at a big country hall. He’s seen this fair to medium size unsafe tree, & it’s a building site so builders & plenty of rubbish/rubble/wood with nails lying about in piles under & around it. Mate was talking between me & owner & reckons the guys ok, so I went.

 

Hours drive away. 6 hours later, safely down, snedded & cut into chunks a triple stemmed 50-60ft chestnut. 2 stems failed, & last one cracking & delaminating towards greenhouse & hedge. Had to use couple of ropes, Land Rover to pull & a tether off one of the failed stems laying over the ditch out the back to make it down safe. Customer didn’t want any damage. Would have took half the time to just drop it & make safe.

 

Price agreed verbally with customer before leaving site, but not before starting - nor over phone before I set off in first place (I know, I know).

 

Got email next day from customer. After agreeing to my price face to face, he’s now an expert as he’s rung local tree surgeons asking how much to fell a tree & got prices ranging from £95 to £200. Says I need to revisit my pricing as I’m completely out of market range. I’d said £450 - justified by; the danger, the safe completion, turning up with & using £20k+ worth of kit & 20+years experience.

 

I replied saying I shudder to think what he’d have got for 200, nevermind 95 knowing it was pretty involved to have done it safely. But was respectful & explained my overheads for him so he could see what he was paying for.

 

This morning he comes back with that he’s insulted, & knows how business works as he used to be very high up in legal for a main bank. He’s only prepared to pay £200 non-negotiable, one time only offer.

 

Never had a non-payer yet. Nor a haggler after the event !!!

 

What have you got folks, anyone else had this?

 

Thanks

 

Wow..you definitely cocked up on your pricing from the get go..£450 is way of the quotation price for that job on a normal basis so even more for an emergency call out..by my reckoning it should have been £1’000/£1’300 ar very least.

so you have really done your self a favour by pricing so low and coming away with only losing £250...I would accept the £200 before he changes his mind..better to come away with something rather then nothing and have the hassle of phone calls/emails etc etc cause am sure you have got better things to do with your time.

As said before just put it down to gaining experience and if that situation raises its ugly head again you know how to handle that particular situation...only what I would do but we all have our own thoughts.

[Yournamehere]

9 hours ago, Haironyourchest said:

Nah, send it directly to him, just saying that your case is strong and you will be filing in court unless full payment is made. The court will take this into account as well, as chancers (that is, if the OP was a chancer) don't waste money on solicitors over 4 or 5 hundred quid. Aggrieved honest tradesmen do. I don't know how much a short consultation costs in the OP neck of the woods, around here it's about 50 euro.

The idea of writing frequently to his solicitor and instructing his solicitor 'to inform his client that...' is that it will soon be costing him - per week if you are up to the game - more than the original bill, and that he will settle.

Someone on here once said so.

 

Disclaimer.

IANAL this is not legal advice and should not be regarded as such.

[Yournamehere]

1 hour ago, 5 shires said:

Wow..you definitely cocked up on your pricing from the get go..£450 is way of the quotation price for that job on a normal basis so even more for an emergency call out..by my reckoning it should have been £1’000/£1’300 ar very least.

so you have really done your self a favour by pricing so low and coming away with only losing £250...I would accept the £200 before he changes his mind..better to come away with something rather then nothing and have the hassle of phone calls/emails etc etc cause am sure you have got better things to do with your time.

As said before just put it down to gaining experience and if that situation raises its ugly head again you know how to handle that particular situation...only what I would do but we all have our own thoughts.

I was thinking much the same thing: three stems is three trees + emergency +CAD: time for a dozen or so independent quotes to that effect.

[peatff]

Have I heard this right, your mate got £150 from the bloke for groundying and you are only getting offered £200 for dropping the tree and cutting it up ? Has he got his money yet ?

[felixthelogchopper]

1 hour ago, 5 shires said:

Wow..you definitely cocked up on your pricing from the get go..£450 is way of the quotation price for that job on a normal basis so even more for an emergency call out..by my reckoning it should have been £1’000/£1’300 ar very least.

so you have really done your self a favour by pricing so low and coming away with only losing £250...I would accept the £200 before he changes his mind..better to come away with something rather then nothing and have the hassle of phone calls/emails etc etc cause am sure you have got better things to do with your time.

As said before just put it down to gaining experience and if that situation raises its ugly head again you know how to handle that particular situation...only what I would do but we all have our own thoughts.

All the more reason to not accept less than the £450. If it goes as far as small claims, the OP can claim for expenses to cover the hassle. The only experience the OP would gain by giving in is in how to roll over.

[Joe Newton]

2 hours ago, 5 shires said:

Wow..you definitely cocked up on your pricing from the get go..£450 is way of the quotation price for that job on a normal basis so even more for an emergency call out..by my reckoning it should have been £1’000/£1’300 ar very least.

so you have really done your self a favour by pricing so low and coming away with only losing £250...I would accept the £200 before he changes his mind..better to come away with something rather then nothing and have the hassle of phone calls/emails etc etc cause am sure you have got better things to do with your time.

As said before just put it down to gaining experience and if that situation raises its ugly head again you know how to handle that particular situation...only what I would do but we all have our own thoughts.

Ha Conrad has been doing this job long enough to know his pricing. If I recall he worked on David Humphries team in London for a good while.

[5 shires]

1 hour ago, Joe Newton said:

Ha Conrad has been doing this job long enough to know his pricing. If I recall he worked on David Humphries team in London for a good while.

Hi joe...working for someone who does the pricing and working for yourself and pricing are two totally different things....would you have done an emergency call out and all that work for £450???am guessing not...his pricing of that particular job + Call Out was way out...this isn’t about pricing it’s about him being ripped of either for £450 or £1’450..my opinion would be take the money what’s offered and take it on the chin...will save hassle,phone calls,emails...it’s always the small guy who gets shafted in these circumstances.

[Chipperclown]

No paying customer for whatever reason:  

Thomas Higgins Limited

Registered Office
Lloyds Chambers
19-21 Seaview Road
Wallasey
CH45 4TH

 

This is what I have done in the past and it worked every single time and so simple to do. Google search Thomas Higgins Solicitors, sign up online line to open an account (takes 1 minute completely free). Then look at the list below. Pay three pounds plus VAT, they send a letter before action. That normally works, if they do not get payment, then they submit a court summons, costs below. 

 

Its so easy to do so now I never get stressed when and if these situations occur. All your costs are paid by the customer if the court decides you are in the right. If you have done the work, submitted and invoice (they will need a copy) then happy days in my experience). Very easy process.

 

Stage One

To begin the debt collection process where the debtor is a limited company or a firm (partnership) we can send either a Letter Before Action to the debtor, which requests payment from the debtor within seven days or alternatively a Late Payment Demand, which not only claims your basic debt but also claims interest, compensation and your reasonable debt collection costs under the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998, provided both parties were acting in the course of business.

Letter Before Action only £3.00 (+ VAT) Standard LBA

 

Stage Two

Court Actions in England and Wales

All claims under £100,000 are issued through the County Court Business Centre. VAT is charged on costs, not fees and is not recoverable from the Debtor, but can be reclaimed by you if VAT registered (unless exceptionally you operate under the VAT Flat Rate Scheme).

Claim Value	Costs (+ VAT)	Court Fees	*Total (+ VAT on Costs)	Standard LBA Debtor Pays	Standard LBA Non-Recoverable Costs	LPD Debtor Pays
£25 to £200	£70	£25	£95	£75	£20	All
£200 to £300	£80	£25	£105	£75	£30	All
£300 to £500	£90	£35	£125	£85	£40	All
£500 to £600	£110	£60	£170	£130	£40	All
£600 to £1,000	£140	£60	£200	£130	£70	All
£1,000 to £1,500	£150	£70	£220	£150	£70	All
£1,500 to £3,000	£150	£105	£255	£185	£70	All
£3,000 to £5,000	£150	£185	£335	£265	£70	All
£5,000 to £10,000	£170	£410	£580	£510	£70	All
£10,000 to £15,000	£170	4.5% *	4.5% * + £170	4.5% * + £100	£70	All
£15,000 to £50,000	£175	4.5% *	4.5% * + £175	4.5% * + £100	£75	All
£50,000 to £100,000	£180	4.5% *	4.5% * + £180	4.5% * + £100	£80	All