I like Skol
A Minging Manc...
- Location
- Sunny Ashton-under-Lyne
Earlier this year Lady Skol decided we should change the failing UPVC french doors into the back garden at Skol Towers for some of the swish bi-folding variety that seem to be the latest home lifestyle must-have at the moment.
I spoke to a few potential suppliers and eventually settled on a preferred company and was given an estimate based on my own measurements. In the meantime things got a bit hectic with children's exams and job hunting, a few Covid incidents, as well as some UK holidays, so the door plan was shoved onto a back burner until this week. Ready to restart the process I contacted the company who confirmed the estimate was still valid and the next step would be to issue me with a proforma invoice. I would pay a deposit then they would conduct a site visit to make sure the doors were manufactured to the correct dimensions rather than relying on my own sizes. All good so far.
Then the proforma invoice arrived and I spied the payment terms!
30% deposit prior to site visit (No problems here)
A further 65% payable 7 days in advance of the installation!!!
The remaining 5% to be paid on completion on the day of installation.
Now I may be stupid, but even I know that paying a tradesman or construction company 95% of the job even before materials are on site is a sure way to leave yourself vulnerable to a big loss. I also accept that they are custom manufacturing something specifically to my requirements so need to be sure that they have not thrown time and materials into a job that is not going to be completed.
My big problem is that the final 5% payment comes to just under £130 and in my opinion that is just not significant enough to ensure they enthusiastically rectify any problems I identify once they consider the install completed. I'm not expecting a mess, I wouldn't be dealing with them if I did, but shoot happens. All I want is a reasonable surety that should the fitter be having a bad day and make an ugly hash of sealing the frame, or one of the doors gets scratched or dinged during fitting, then they will take reasonably prompt action to correct the fault/s and collect the balance of payments and <£130 is not enough to guarantee that.
I have contacted them to make the initial deposit and attempted to renegotiate the payment terms, offering to pay enough at the 7-days-to-go deadline to leave around 50% of the total payable on installation day, but they will have none of it. They claimed all their customers pay on those terms and it is rarely questioned and I said that is madness and we cannot possibly go ahead in that case so would leave it.
So there we are, I am back to looking for a new supplier, which is a shame as I like the product and the price was comparable to other companies.
I can't decide if I have just cut off my nose to spite my face or I am right to withstand such unreasonable trading terms? Just wondering what the CC crew think?
I spoke to a few potential suppliers and eventually settled on a preferred company and was given an estimate based on my own measurements. In the meantime things got a bit hectic with children's exams and job hunting, a few Covid incidents, as well as some UK holidays, so the door plan was shoved onto a back burner until this week. Ready to restart the process I contacted the company who confirmed the estimate was still valid and the next step would be to issue me with a proforma invoice. I would pay a deposit then they would conduct a site visit to make sure the doors were manufactured to the correct dimensions rather than relying on my own sizes. All good so far.
Then the proforma invoice arrived and I spied the payment terms!
30% deposit prior to site visit (No problems here)
A further 65% payable 7 days in advance of the installation!!!
The remaining 5% to be paid on completion on the day of installation.
Now I may be stupid, but even I know that paying a tradesman or construction company 95% of the job even before materials are on site is a sure way to leave yourself vulnerable to a big loss. I also accept that they are custom manufacturing something specifically to my requirements so need to be sure that they have not thrown time and materials into a job that is not going to be completed.
My big problem is that the final 5% payment comes to just under £130 and in my opinion that is just not significant enough to ensure they enthusiastically rectify any problems I identify once they consider the install completed. I'm not expecting a mess, I wouldn't be dealing with them if I did, but shoot happens. All I want is a reasonable surety that should the fitter be having a bad day and make an ugly hash of sealing the frame, or one of the doors gets scratched or dinged during fitting, then they will take reasonably prompt action to correct the fault/s and collect the balance of payments and <£130 is not enough to guarantee that.
I have contacted them to make the initial deposit and attempted to renegotiate the payment terms, offering to pay enough at the 7-days-to-go deadline to leave around 50% of the total payable on installation day, but they will have none of it. They claimed all their customers pay on those terms and it is rarely questioned and I said that is madness and we cannot possibly go ahead in that case so would leave it.
So there we are, I am back to looking for a new supplier, which is a shame as I like the product and the price was comparable to other companies.
I can't decide if I have just cut off my nose to spite my face or I am right to withstand such unreasonable trading terms? Just wondering what the CC crew think?
