Recovering Costs?

[tim361]

A few weeks ago i won a contract to carry out some tree work for my local parish council. Having met with the guy who was organising the work he said we had won the tender. Although the work was being organised by the Parish coucil a local home owner was paying for the work. A few days ago i got a phone call from the counciller saying the gardener of the home owners house has said the quote was to high and wanted to get a few more. Having asked all the other companies to re tender i didn't get asked. I then got a phone call saying that the tender was getting cancelled and re awarded to another firm who were previously alot more money. I was not informed of any changes to the decribed work or asked if i could lower my price at all.

 

My question is do any of you get the client to sign something once you have been awarded the work to recover any costs for time or cancelled orders etc.. I was thinking along the lines of £100 or 10% which ever is greater?

 

This is only because the work was worth quite a few thousand pounds. Its not just the lost work but the time i have put into getting the quote put together and having to cancel things i had booked for the job.

 

The whole thing was done on a very informal arangement so is there any advice anyone can pass on for future referance?

 

Cheers All.

[Jonny69]

Hi,

 

With Councils unless it is emergency work you will generally get an order number, this gives you the go ahead with any quote. (though it depends on how well you get on with the councillors/schools whether there is a lot of mutual trust etc)

 

Sounds to me like they either decided they didn't like you or, more likely, found a mate of a mate and you got squeezed out. Happened to me before, though not in the same situation as you.

 

You can usually tell because the client goes all weird, I think your best bet is to go round the guys house who is paying the bill and have a chat with him about what went on. The best you can hope is that you can guilt him in to changing his mind or maybe consider you for some future work.

 

Unfortunately, as I see it you have no grounds for financial remuneration. You quoted, someone else got the job.

 

For the future. Dont bother talking to anyone, unless they are in charge of the chequebook. Stopped doing that a long time ago. I now always talk to the person with the money first, then discuss the details afterwards when dealing with councils.

 

Hope that helps. Jonathan

[Old WoodChip]

Good advice Jonny, think you hit the nail on the head there.

lifes a bitch at times

good luck

[Dean Lofthouse]

Yep, there's always someone that will do it cheaper once they know what others have quoted

 

 

Sent from my iPhone cos it was

[Andy Collins]

Parish councils are terrible to deal with, the worst kind of clients. IME they want everything done for nowt. I quoted recently for a parish council, to crown lift 6 trees alongside a footie pitch so the tractor could mow closer. Easy job to do good access and that. Chip up branches and blast them into hedge line. Put in quote, went past a day later and trees on opposite side of pitch were done, all small, didn't need doing, so I rang up and asked what was going on? Oh your quote was too steep, old boy in village offered to do them for nothing! And they're going to flail back the big trees I quoted for, FFs. Total waste of time, and I've heard of many similar tales over the years. Not often worth the aggro.

[TRADITIONAL LOGGERS]

Parish and District Councils are well know for messing around on prices and verbal is often a waste of time.

 

Some people in this area now charge £100 for a visit and if awarded the contract take that off the final bill. Sorts the serious from the timewasters!!

Edited March 24, 2012 by TRADITIONAL LOGGERS

[Dilz]

yup, charging for quotes is the way forward, it takes time and money so charge em for it! you stop getting messed about so much

[Paul Jenks]

yup, charging for quotes is the way forward, it takes time and money so charge em for it! you stop getting messed about so much

 

Just on this particular point. I think there is some legislation about charging for quotes. I may be wrong. A few years ago plumbers started to charge for quotes and some enterprising individuals thought up a business model that involved just quoting. They never did any plumbing just quote high prices and got paid for the quote.

 

As for parish councils, I think it depends on the council and their culture. We work for a few and most are absolutely marvellous. Some are rubbish, of course.

 

As with most clients, if we can build a co-operative relationship with them rather than an attritional one that is what we strive for. If a client or potential client has asked you to quote several times and you've lost the work to someone else it's time to question whether they are worth the effort. Question them or question yourself. Simple, not easy though.