Quote - back track?
Discussion
I was given a verbal quote (£150 all in)to fix my car, I accepted and car issue was fixed. I was then presented with a bill for £212 with a verbal reason of needing more clips and a couple of hex bolts.
I refused to pay stating the quote price. Bill was reduced to £180 and at this point I was annoyed and said I will pay the quote price. That offer was accepted and needless to say I won’t be going back with further work.
Question is where would I have stood as a point of legality, purely just out of interest tbh.
I refused to pay stating the quote price. Bill was reduced to £180 and at this point I was annoyed and said I will pay the quote price. That offer was accepted and needless to say I won’t be going back with further work.
Question is where would I have stood as a point of legality, purely just out of interest tbh.
Depends on the exact conversation - I never expect a mechanic to give me a firm and fixed quote.
It's usually 'shouldn't be more than about 150 quid' as a conversation - but, if something goes wrong, costs obviously rise. Sounds like an extra hour of labour plus some parts - not unexpected, depending on the age of car.
It's usually 'shouldn't be more than about 150 quid' as a conversation - but, if something goes wrong, costs obviously rise. Sounds like an extra hour of labour plus some parts - not unexpected, depending on the age of car.
Poppiecock said:
Depends on the exact conversation - I never expect a mechanic to give me a firm and fixed quote.
It's usually 'shouldn't be more than about 150 quid' as a conversation - but, if something goes wrong, costs obviously rise. Sounds like an extra hour of labour plus some parts - not unexpected, depending on the age of car.
Yes agreed, however on this occasion I asked for ‘a price’ and they told me £150 all in. It was a simple job and the reason for additional charge for clips and hex bolts really I felt was weak excuse It's usually 'shouldn't be more than about 150 quid' as a conversation - but, if something goes wrong, costs obviously rise. Sounds like an extra hour of labour plus some parts - not unexpected, depending on the age of car.
Other garage have a written charge for same job at £110, unfortunately to far and not worth the drive for small job.
I agree if a garage give me an estimate and tell me that if problems arise it may be extra that puts a different complexion on the issue. But in my case it was a simple undo clips, remove faulty item, replace and clip up/ bolt up. Not much scope for getting the price wrong.
First time I had used this particular garage as well, and last.
Sorry I forgot to thank you for your post.
My garage has a "fixed" time for most jobs (there must be some magic website which he logs onto which tells him the parts that he needs and the manufacturers recommended time). That's what he charges me for regardless of whether his staff do it quicker or slower. i think that's fair tbh.
crankedup said:
I was given a verbal quote
Question is where would I have stood as a point of legality, purely just out of interest tbh.
Nowhere. The old cliche is that a verbal contract isn't worth the paper its written on.Question is where would I have stood as a point of legality, purely just out of interest tbh.
The mechanic obviously thought you weren't worth the trouble and just reduced the bill. If they wanted to play hardball they could likely have made the situation more difficult for you than them.
Countdown said:
(there must be some magic website which he logs onto which tells him the parts that he needs and the manufacturers recommended time).
Autodata. It’ll give book times for jobs which are mostly generous but won’t account for that hard to reach seized nut! Some larger garages will expect mechanics to work to 100% efficiency, with bonuses for % over book times - for example in your 8 hour day you’re given 8 services at a book time of 1 hour each, squeeze in 9 and you’re at 112.5%. trickywoo said:
crankedup said:
I was given a verbal quote
Question is where would I have stood as a point of legality, purely just out of interest tbh.
Nowhere. The old cliche is that a verbal contract isn't worth the paper its written on.Question is where would I have stood as a point of legality, purely just out of interest tbh.
The mechanic obviously thought you weren't worth the trouble and just reduced the bill. If they wanted to play hardball they could likely have made the situation more difficult for you than them.
Yes I did consider that hence my question in here, and yet on that basis the garage could top up the 20/30% on jobs as they please without recourse from the customer? I’m sure that many garages enjoy this perk just as many garages take the honest repeat business route.
Countdown said:
My garage has a "fixed" time for most jobs (there must be some magic website which he logs onto which tells him the parts that he needs and the manufacturers recommended time). That's what he charges me for regardless of whether his staff do it quicker or slower. i think that's fair tbh.
The specialist garage in Essex takes this approach for the majority of the big regular maintenance jobs. It’s a pity that they are 80 miles drive so I book in for their service for the bigger jobs such as annual service, belts, big repairs. I guess they operate on a some win/some lose but overall it works for business and customer as they have been operating for over 15 years.trickywoo said:
The old cliche is that a verbal contract isn't worth the paper its written on.
Verbal contracts have the same legal standing as written contracts in UK law.The problem is of course that proving what was agreed verbally can be somewhat trickier that if it was all written down.
Was it a quote or an estimate?
Very surprised any garage or mechanic would give out a fixed price quote without adding something like, "unless other parts or work required due to unforseen events".
Sounds like they were happy for you not to use them again, and saved them the aggro of telling you not to visit them again.
Very surprised any garage or mechanic would give out a fixed price quote without adding something like, "unless other parts or work required due to unforseen events".
Sounds like they were happy for you not to use them again, and saved them the aggro of telling you not to visit them again.
Coilspring said:
Was it a quote or an estimate?
Very surprised any garage or mechanic would give out a fixed price quote without adding something like, "unless other parts or work required due to unforseen events".
Sounds like they were happy for you not to use them again, and saved them the aggro of telling you not to visit them again.
In all honesty I’ve never asked whether the price they’ve told me is a “quote” or “estimate”. It’s the amount I expect to pay when I go to collect the car regardless. I’m sure there will be ups and downs for the garage, and I’m sure that their experience usually ensures that they are “ahead” more often than “behind” when it comes to pricing up jobs.Very surprised any garage or mechanic would give out a fixed price quote without adding something like, "unless other parts or work required due to unforseen events".
Sounds like they were happy for you not to use them again, and saved them the aggro of telling you not to visit them again.
If something major comes up then I’d expect them to call me before proceeding. I’d be pretty peeved if an extra £60 appeared on the bill without them checking with me first.
Countdown said:
In all honesty I’ve never asked whether the price they’ve told me is a “quote” or “estimate”. It’s the amount I expect to pay when I go to collect the car regardless. I’m sure there will be ups and downs for the garage, and I’m sure that their experience usually ensures that they are “ahead” more often than “behind” when it comes to pricing up jobs.
If something major comes up then I’d expect them to call me before proceeding. I’d be pretty peeved if an extra £60 appeared on the bill without them checking with me first.
An important difference if anybody wanted to follow a legal route.If something major comes up then I’d expect them to call me before proceeding. I’d be pretty peeved if an extra £60 appeared on the bill without them checking with me first.
A quote has to be held (within in a minor %age difference).
An estimate is exactly that, an estimate, and can alter for various reasons. I would expect most garages to give you an estimate. It is impossible to predict what else may break or need replacing, or extra work required due to fastening issues or other issues.
Depends what work on what car really.
thebraketester said:
£62 for some clips and hex bolts? What were they made of?
Trim clips and things can be a bloody fortune from the dealers so it’s not uncommon, and special bolts can be several £ each of theyrr something like a special pitch/thread or a camber asjustment bolt. It seems like the OP is hard work and the garage just want shot of him which is why they reduced his bill so quickly and let him go,
to be fair on his part though if I was the garage (I work in one) I would have phoned the customer to tell them there are some extras that couldn’t be forseen.
But the motor trade is one of those businesses where things happen, and you can’t predict everything. Whether the garage wears that cost or puts it to the customer is down to each individual
Out of interest OP what did you have done?
bristolbaron said:
Countdown said:
(there must be some magic website which he logs onto which tells him the parts that he needs and the manufacturers recommended time).
Autodata. It’ll give book times for jobs which are mostly generous but won’t account for that hard to reach seized nut! Some larger garages will expect mechanics to work to 100% efficiency, with bonuses for % over book times - for example in your 8 hour day you’re given 8 services at a book time of 1 hour each, squeeze in 9 and you’re at 112.5%. I'd expect indie's to charge the time taken - if they go on book time then you might as well use a dealer as they'll often discount the labour rate on older cars.
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