- Thread starter tedmagnum
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Richard.
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Rub salt in the wound why don't ya.
Hello Ted,
I think you are right in feeling cheated , compounded by the inflated price he said they would have cost had you bought them yourself. That was rather silly of him as it is easily checked. That to me is the worst aspect of this case and not good business practice in my view, as I said, you won't give him another job?
Alec
I think you are right in feeling cheated , compounded by the inflated price he said they would have cost had you bought them yourself. That was rather silly of him as it is easily checked. That to me is the worst aspect of this case and not good business practice in my view, as I said, you won't give him another job?
Alec
ajlelectronics
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The price that the contractor pays his supplier is nobody else's business. I would be very offended to be asked for copy invoices. He may well be hetting his supplies from a proper source, rather than from some anonymous internet "back bedroom" seller. Trade prices are often above those, but there is personal service and a guarantee that you know will be honoured. As I said, the time to shop around it before you commit. If you know the price of everything and the value of nothing, you have to accept that often, you will not be getting what you expected.
"There is hardly anything in the world that someone cannot do a little worse and sell a little cheaper, and the people who consider price alone are that person's lawful prey. It's unwise to pay too much, but it's worse to pay too little. When you pay too much, you lose a little money – that is all. When you pay too little, you sometimes lose everything, because the thing you bought was incapable of doing the thing it was bought to do. The common law of business balance prohibits paying a little and getting a lot – it can't be done. If you deal with the lowest bidder, it is well to add something for the risk you run, and if you do that you will have enough to pay for something better."
"There is hardly anything in the world that someone cannot do a little worse and sell a little cheaper, and the people who consider price alone are that person's lawful prey. It's unwise to pay too much, but it's worse to pay too little. When you pay too much, you lose a little money – that is all. When you pay too little, you sometimes lose everything, because the thing you bought was incapable of doing the thing it was bought to do. The common law of business balance prohibits paying a little and getting a lot – it can't be done. If you deal with the lowest bidder, it is well to add something for the risk you run, and if you do that you will have enough to pay for something better."
AndyStobbs
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Next time provide your own gear, then its all your problem if it goes wrong.
MattF
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I'd have to agree with that too. That bit ain't going to go down well with the sparky. I can appreciate this discussion/situation from both sides. The time to question anything is before the quote is accepted, but conversely, if the bloke is making out that a standard fare item is something special or expensive, it's a bit off. I can see this whole affair ending badly, hence the suggestion to wait until the work is done before questioning it.
I'll be damned if I can place that one, though I know it's familiar. Who was it who said that? I'm thinking a Merkin?
ajlelectronics
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The statement has frequently been attributed to 19th-century art critic and social thinker John Ruskin, although there is little evidence to support Ruskin's authorship.
In the Yale Book of Quotations, editor Fred R. Shapiro states that this statement was "Attributed in Chicago Daily Tribune, 29 Jan. 1928. This quotation, repeated in many commercial advertisements, has not been found anywhere in Ruskin's works. An earlier unattributed occurrence appeared in the Washington Post, 1 Nov. 1914: "There is absolutely nothing in the world that some man cannot make a little worse and sell a little cheaper; and the people who consider price only are this man's lawful prey."[1]
George Landow, a professor of English and art history at Brown University and a specialist on Victorian literature is skeptical of Ruskin's authorship of this statement. [2]
In a posting of the Ruskin Library News, a blog associated with the Ruskin Library, a major repository of Ruskiniana at Lancaster University, the statement gets a brief mention. The anonymous library staff member briefly mentions the statement and its widespread use, saying that, "This is one of many quotations ascribed to Ruskin, without there being any trace of them in his writings – although someone, somewhere, thought they sounded like Ruskin".[3]
In the Yale Book of Quotations, editor Fred R. Shapiro states that this statement was "Attributed in Chicago Daily Tribune, 29 Jan. 1928. This quotation, repeated in many commercial advertisements, has not been found anywhere in Ruskin's works. An earlier unattributed occurrence appeared in the Washington Post, 1 Nov. 1914: "There is absolutely nothing in the world that some man cannot make a little worse and sell a little cheaper; and the people who consider price only are this man's lawful prey."[1]
George Landow, a professor of English and art history at Brown University and a specialist on Victorian literature is skeptical of Ruskin's authorship of this statement. [2]
In a posting of the Ruskin Library News, a blog associated with the Ruskin Library, a major repository of Ruskiniana at Lancaster University, the statement gets a brief mention. The anonymous library staff member briefly mentions the statement and its widespread use, saying that, "This is one of many quotations ascribed to Ruskin, without there being any trace of them in his writings – although someone, somewhere, thought they sounded like Ruskin".[3]
daleyd
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I'd be inclined to agree with MattF above ^^ - it's a tricky one!
If it were me I'd ask, but not push it. if you don't get a result then just take it on the chin and move on, as you say it is his loss if he gets no further work, or recommendations from you.
It's easy to stand here and say "You should have done this... " etc, but that doesn't help your current position, so I won't!
If it were me I'd ask, but not push it. if you don't get a result then just take it on the chin and move on, as you say it is his loss if he gets no further work, or recommendations from you.
It's easy to stand here and say "You should have done this... " etc, but that doesn't help your current position, so I won't!
Odd one this. You asked for a job to be done, had a price quoted that you were (presumably) happy with, and now the job is done you are changing your mind. What you can get the lights for is irrelevant at this stage. Your only valid argument is if any aspects of the job haven't been done or have been done badly - I think you mentioned over ride switches not fitted. THAT'S where you should be concentrating your efforts.
ajlelectronics
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I have a similar issue with a customer. It is going through the County Court at the moment, so can't say too much. Basically, a job was done and the customer ripped out the equipment we had installed and charged £25 for and dumped it back on my desk with a refusal to pay for that and also the engineer's time. He bases this refusal on the fact that something similar was on Ebay for £18.00. The fact that he had had the job done, used the engineer's skill and time seemed irrelevant to him.
Richard.
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I have to agree with ajl on this
There is a lot more involved than simply providing something that you could of got cheaper.
The contractor has recommended the equipment you need and given you a price. You accepted that price and he in return fitted what he recommended. Yes it was a little silly for him to say these are x amount and you won't get cheaper. Personally I think the only argument you have is on the work he has not done not the work he has done and you accepted. Value for money should not be based on what you can get cheaper it should be based on what you are willing to pay and did you get what you pay for.
You were willing to pay £950 for 6 quality lights fitted.
If he is a good man you will get 6 quality lights fitted
Don't worry about what others pay for things this is what you agreed to pay.
There is a lot more involved than simply providing something that you could of got cheaper.
The contractor has recommended the equipment you need and given you a price. You accepted that price and he in return fitted what he recommended. Yes it was a little silly for him to say these are x amount and you won't get cheaper. Personally I think the only argument you have is on the work he has not done not the work he has done and you accepted. Value for money should not be based on what you can get cheaper it should be based on what you are willing to pay and did you get what you pay for.
You were willing to pay £950 for 6 quality lights fitted.
If he is a good man you will get 6 quality lights fitted
Don't worry about what others pay for things this is what you agreed to pay.
the snooper
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Not having read through all posts I'd say the quote was. Based on lights being £100 each if that's not the case then I would say the quote is invalid, you both made a contract and the contract seems to have changed due to cheaper lights being fitted
Challenge Him
Challenge Him
Richard.
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Na I don't think that would be the case because the lights them selves have not been swapped for cheaper alternatives. The spark said he would fit a type/brand of light and that's what he fitted. So he may of exaggerated with the price of these things in a sales pitch but we all get that day in day out and let's face it everything can be sourced cheaper if you look. Bottom line is he quoted for 6 lights of a certain spec and so long as those lights meet the spec/type/brand that he said he would provide then he has met his side of the deal.
the snooper
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In the original post it only states the lights are 100 quid top spec not a brand and model
Richard.
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I'm sure the sparky would of told him what type of lights he would provide. He left the boxes there so I cannot imagine he was trying to fit something different to what was agreed or they would of been out of site. You simply cannot argue a case based on what price you could of got it yourself despite how much he said they cost (that's not relevant) the quote was accepted so the only relevant thing now is that the lights he fits do exactly what he says they do and meet the standards that he says they meet.
Well... I very politely asked about the price of the lights.. They insisted that's what they cost and actually got pretty angry about it. Maybe rightly so..
They insisted they cost that even though they had no reciept because they "paid cash".. Even though yesterday they said it was on their account. I still think I've been conned a bit but thats my own fault.
So anyway...I agreed a price with them so I paid it.. I had no intention of not paying but I had to ask.
It was too much. But got to take it on the chin. Thanks for the input all.
They insisted they cost that even though they had no reciept because they "paid cash".. Even though yesterday they said it was on their account. I still think I've been conned a bit but thats my own fault.
So anyway...I agreed a price with them so I paid it.. I had no intention of not paying but I had to ask.
It was too much. But got to take it on the chin. Thanks for the input all.
