Quote for works v Works carried out

[Blazer]

Hi,

I was quoted £325 for some works which was broken down to include "2 men...one day". I was happy with the overall price compared to other quotes so proceeded.

When it came to the works, 1 man was on site for 5 hours (inc travel time for materials because it was sub'ed to someone else who had not come with any materials).

I was happy with what they did so paid. I deal with contracts all the time at work so just want an 'easy time' at home. But the fact that it took such less 'labour' than quoted has left a bit of a sour taste.

What would the collective have done in my position?

TIA

[ElyDave]

Definitely worth questioning that. One fewer person, I'd not quibble on 5 vs 8 hours if they have worked effectively, but saying its a two person job and doing it with one seems a bit off to me

[robgul]

I can see your point - but the "contract" was to carry out a task for a price.  It seems that happened and you're satisfied with the work - and happy with the price.  Not much to argue about.

We've had quite a bit of work done in the last 3 years or so (driveway, garage doors, landscaping, taking trees out, wood flooring, tiling)- it's all been fixed price . . . the labour was irrelevant as long as the job was done in the agreed time scale . . . none of the suppliers said it would be n men for n days - how they worked was up to them.

[Beardy]

Fixed price contract. If you were happy with the work done, you got what you contracted for.

Consider, if the task had taken three people over five days, would you still expect to pay what was quoted, or would you have been happy to pay more?

I would say though that the firm you contracted needs to do some work in its customer communication. The general rule is promise low and deliver high. Taking half the time with half the people you quoted is going to leave your customer feeling ripped off no matter how well well you delivered.

[toontra]

Companies may build in a time/labour contingency to cover unforeseen circumstances.  I know I do.  Far better that way than coming back to the client asking for more time/money for "extras".

As others have said - if you are happy with the work I can't see a problem.

[ElyDave]

I'm a consultant, I don't build a 50% contingency into my proposals.

[toontra]

I'm a consultant, I don't build a 50% contingency into my proposals.

It depends on the type of work involved and the unforeseeable nature of a particular job, doesn't it.

[Paul H]

If I was happy with the work and price I'd have paid it.  But whether you've had what you've been quoted for I'm not so sure about.  If the itemised quote is costed, then I'd say certainly not, but if it looks like the workings out then maybe you have.  I wonder what would have happened if it had taken longer, would they have been saying they hadn't quoted for that?
It seems a bit amateurish, when I did such things a quote would be fixed and not included a time breakdown, but an estimate would in order for it to be invoiced against on completion.   
Realistically, I suspect you were never going to get two days work, including costs and materials for £325.

[ElyDave]

I'm a consultant, I don't build a 50% contingency into my proposals.

It depends on the type of work involved and the unforeseeable nature of a particular job, doesn't it.

Err, no

I've quoted a 6 month job on a 1 page brief, I was within 5% of actual required effort

You state defined task, effort, assumptions. If I quote a two person job I don't send one person

[Blazer]

Thanks everyone for taking the time to contribute. I'm feeling more reassured with just paying and moving on. I also don't think that my feelings are entirely out of place.

It was a limited scope piece of work, so very little expectations of unforeseen arising.

I think the other thing that niggled me was the short notice use of a sub contractor, but that doesn't seem unusual.

Thanks again

[Canardly]

There is an old tale of a motorist having a noise problem with a gearbox. Upon taking it to garage No 1 he is told that a replacement gearbox is required and that this will cost him in the region of three thousand pounds. He then takes it to another garage for a second opinion. The garage proprieter places the car upon a ramp and half an hour later tells the owner the problem has been fixed and that the cost will be five hundred pounds. The car owner is outraged.
What is he paying for?
Has he had value for money?