Help please, can i get some advise feedback from you please

Pudsey Bear said:
Sounds like a rip off to me however without seeing the parts and the invoice for them it's hard to know for certain, of course you can buy cheap but if I was doing my own cheap is my choice but doing it for someone else I'd err on the side of caution and not want to be fixing stuff all the time.

I'm sure David can do jobs for less than whatever he charges, but at the end of the day you would get less, there is also the issue that good gear is made better and money was spent on designs to enable easier and better fitting and cost less in labour, cheaper gear may cost more to fit as it's crap but does the job.

I fitted a solar panel and controller for a Facts member about ten years ago, I bought all the gear and fitted it and gave him my pre agreed bill, he said I could get these for less that half that, I just said well if you could have then you should have, and fitted them yourself which he couldn't as he was clueless, (bit like me but I now how to do that job) I just priced the job based on what the gear cost me and £10 per hour, plus travelling cost to his storage place and back.

As they say Cheap no good, Good no cheap.
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Yeah i totally get you
I do want the best in there and I don't mind paying for the best, but what i really want more than anything a stress free process. This guy has me all worked up with his prices and eratic work ethic, he's continually cancelling, never answers a message or a call
Unfortunately i am not able to do this stuff myself anymore, i have a bad tremor which makes doing any detail work impossible
 
Did he say that he would supply parts at what they cost him or simply say that that was the cost that he would charge you for parts, with labour on top?
 
wildebus said:
One question ....
He has quoted all these prices and parts. Have you actually accepted his invoice and paid them?
Are you questioning the prices he is quoting before settling the final invoice?

Some of the prices you have stated it is hard to comment on without knowing more info.
Other items seem excessive, although quality of items can vary so much for the same apparent product, it is possible he is buying top quality stuff from a motorhome product supplier rather than looking for the best deal on eBay.
As an example, a camera to connect to an in-dash display... you can buy a camera for £10. You can spend a lot more, but £139 is certainly very much at the high end.

Just as Pudesy says below,

When you being paid to supply and fit kit for someone, if you are sensible, you fit quality stuff that means you don't have to go back to fix/replace, plus you have to factor in replacement costs IF something fails, so there will be some kind of mark-up to cover some service costs, plus higher quality kit where appropriate as well. But these markups have to be fair and not take the pee.



I would absolutely agree that you should ask for an itemised bill with a product breakdown including prices. I
Labour of £700 for 3 days is ok I would say but not sure if I can see 3 days work involved there to fit the list of kit mentioned.


All I think maybe you can do is hope he has done a good job and while the price is questionable, you are happy with the result. There is a saying along the lines that the price is long forgotten whilst the quality lives on. Let's hope that is true for you.
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what i planned on doing was try and get him to finish and then question the prices as i haven't yet paid him for labour yet. I know he is doing this under the radar (eventhough he says he isnt), he only has a facebook page and not VAT registered. It's the only way i can think of handling this to be honest
If i say because he is not VAT registered i need to have the receipts, then hopefully he will see sense or the tax man will, I hope he realises that. If he can prove the costs i will pay otherwise deduct it from the labour cost.
Why do people make life so complicated, beats the hell out of me, no sense in it at all from any angle
 
For warranty purposes you will need the original receipts, as he sounds lie a fly by night to me, no original receipts, no payment.

As he's bought of Amazon any problems anyway will be hard to resolve.
 
Yes, that will make it difficult, hopefully i can make him see sense
I have to wait to see if he actuaally finishes yet, in 2 weeks he has changed the times so often, i just want him oput of my hair
 
Give him 7 days to finish it or you have found someone else to do it already as it's getting on your tits.
 
Ref the VAT thing ... There is no requirement to be VAT registered to do the kind of work he is doing. Not being VAT registered does not automatically mean he is doing anything dodgy or not declaring his income to HMRC.
I am not VAT Registered and took that choice as most of my customers are not companies and I am under the revenue threshold that makes it a requirement (over the threshold, you HAVE to be; under the threshold, you can make the choice yourself).
 
If you have already paid the £950 up front I dont think there is much you can do. If you havent yet paid then you have some leverage. However I dont think seeing the original invoices for what he paid for the goods he is supplying you will do you any good either. If he has added a mark up then there is nothing legally wrong with that if you have agreed to pay it. If he has misled you with a product saying its a particular brand and it turns out to be something inferior then thats a different story.

I have supplied goods for decades either just selling them outright or fitting them as part of a service. I certainly dont supply them for what I pay for them, you would soon go out of business doing that. However as others have said, it does sound like he is both unreliable and taking advantage. I think the fact that he has never done a motorhome before would be enough to set some alarm bells off.

See what Citizens advice say.
 
sorry to hear your woes if i were near you and feeling better i would try to help you
 
frendlered said:
It's been a huge help just being able to chat with someone about the problem to be honest, otherwise i feel quite isolated where I am
You really have helped me a lot. Really has meant a lot to me
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Keep us posted with progress, advice is free and well intentioned on this forum 👍👍
 
Are all the products you asked for been deliverd to you or him ? Tell him your going away and now need it installed asap for your time away in van and pay in full.

But make sure you get all products purchased befor april 2023. if items still outstanding remove items from your £950. Give face ack 7 days to complete task / install. whats left not fitted remove from total invocie.

Not a charity. Be blunt, but be fare. 7 days to finish install. Robbed or not or you talk to much .

Dont give out your life in small talk, To people in your employment, always talk about them
 
That's very sound advice
I have tried the tack of ultimatums ever since he started, the are wearing a bit thin now. Although in actual fact it does have to go to a garage on Wednesday to have lpg bottles fitted, so he has until then, if he can finish by Tuesday, i will then approach him about the purchase receipts. If he refuses to produce them, then i will first do my own research on actual prices once i see the make and model of items he's installed i can cofront him with actual prices.
If he wants his money then he'll have to sit down with me and talk about it. I am going to say i need these for my own tax and VAT returns and if he can't produce them i will just have to pass his details onto the HMRC. I am taking a calculated guess that he does work under the radar and this i am hoping will wake him up. At the end of the day if he doesnt I will go further.
I am not going to let him get away with it. but i will give him the benefit of the doubt to set the records straight.
All products were ordered to him at his address except the rediculous ceiling lights he bouught, which i reordered myself (my downfall really, as i am not experienced in the correct specifications needed for many of them) :(
Who in their right mind would want these on the ceiling in the centre of their motorhome?
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Val54 said:
One of the problems here, (with the exception of the LED strip lights) is that some of the items quoted could be in the region of the price quoted. For example a topend dual reversing camera could be well over £100. The same goes for some of the larger items such as the consumer unit and control panel, did he give you a specification for these items. If he continues as with the leds then Boris and Trev are spot on. You need that spec info before deciding to ditch him otherwise I don't rate your chances of getting any money back. Did you get a written, itemised quote?
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No my cam was £25 of ebay and any caravan breaker will have a c box for about £15 or so.
 
if and when you agree on a price do not pat cash ask for his bank details and do a bank transfer he wont be under the radar then. make sure account is in his name !!!!!
 
Let me say first, that I do feel for you and fear you are being ripped off. Speak to Citizens Advice they will be able to advise on your best course of action.

Thats said, if the chap gave you a price and you agreed to it, then agreed to pay in advance and did so, I fear you may not have a case.

Of course I may be wrong and hope that I am.
 
I wouldn't do anything to confront him before he has done the agreed work if it were me....just in case! That is if you are happy to let him carry on with it?

I think doing some research on the parts he has/will be supplying is a good idea. Print off copies of any website pages where you can get them for X price. I would do this before you pay his labour invoice. In that way if you can reach an accord with him and agree that his prices are excessive, you can knock it off his labour bill.

It may be that you have to take some hit as he may well be ripping you off but it won't happen again to you will it?
 
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