Browse Forums General Discussion 1 Feb 23, 2007 12:44 pm I ordered $5000 of new carpet to be layed in a house we are purchasing. The settlement has taken longer than expected (thanks to our bank losing our paperwork!) and is due to happen any day now. We were assured by the bank that everything was going to ok for that date so we went ahead and booked the carpet in to be layed prior to us moving in. Unfortunately we had to cancel the carpet laying and the manager said that was fine and they would hold it all till we advised them of the new date to install it. A week later they sent us an invoice of $900 for
"Waisted Trip". Is that standard practice for just postponing the date? I was a bit blown away at the price. Anyone had the same problem? hellieinperth helliewoo Re: Being charged for postponing carpet laying 2Feb 23, 2007 7:43 pm hellienperth,
The way I look at it if the (building project) manager agreed it was fine to postpone the carpet, then there should be no charge. I would ring him and let him know of the agreement and then the invoice that was sent in "error". Even if you had no agreement, for $900 where were the people coming from? I think it's a rude money grab. Cheers, Casa Re: Being charged for postponing carpet laying 3Feb 23, 2007 8:12 pm It seems rough but I can see where they are coming from.
My father-in-law was a carpet layer. Most houses take one day to lay. If people mucked him around on that day, he would miss out on a day's earnings. Labour is around $900 per day for 2 men, so that is what he would miss out on. That is probably what they are trying to re-coup. The customers were meant to move the furniture off the old carpet, but many wouldn't. So instead of going away and missing out on the day's earnings, he would have to move all the furniture himself. Not really fair. It's a hard job. Re: Being charged for postponing carpet laying 4Feb 24, 2007 9:27 am We all have hard jobs but above all we have to accomodate our customers needs which often can change without much warning.
They should have declared the fee up front before agreeing to postpone. As a builder I would tell the contractor to 'go forth and multiply' and if he didn't like it I would then just cancel the whole order and go elsewhere. Try calling your consumer affairs dept connected with state Government and see what they say. Re: Being charged for postponing carpet laying 5Feb 24, 2007 6:51 pm Yes, he should have said something up front. Who knows, maybe there was already a clause in the contract stating the charge for cancellation.
Let's face it. The tradesman who allows for 'loss of income' days in his pricing will have a higher price. But he won't hit you for lost days. The guy with the cheap price probably will. He doesn't have the fat built in. I'm sure you wouldn't be happy if your boss suddenly rang you up and told you to have a day off without pay on Monday. If you gave the layer enough notice to organise another job, there shouldn't be any charge. Carpet laying replies 6Feb 25, 2007 12:38 am Thanks guys for your replies!
I can see what you mean about the carpet layers losing money for that job on that day, and I did only cancel it 24 hours before they were due to install the carpet. It was going to take 2 guys around half a day to lay it, I was told. I would love to cancel all together but unfortunately I have paid a deposit and I guess they would keep that. They were the cheapest quote I got and we discussed with the manager that if they did a good job we would use them again for many jobs we have coming up ( I have a property development company) and he was pretty keen to do us a few favors. ( does he want the business or not? ) Dont know if he will be on my list in the future. Oh well, his loss I guess! The main thing that bugs me is that I still want it layed, it will just be a few weeks from the original date. He did say I would be charged a small call out fee but I wasn't expecting $900 ! helliewoo Re: Being charged for postponing carpet laying 7Feb 26, 2007 8:19 am My advice is that if the deposit is less than $900 then let them have it and move on.
Again, call consumer affairs in your State and see if this is even legal. Just 'cos it is in their 'contract' does not mean jack if it contravenes any legislation. Re: Being charged for postponing carpet laying 8Feb 26, 2007 11:51 am hellieinperth,
Your predicament brings up many thoughts. I can see both sides of the argument. The carpet layers were booked and if they only had 24 hours warning, it would be difficult to find another job, therefore loss of income. Of course, who would try? If the carpet layer is going to get paid regardless of whether they lay the carpet on not, why not take a paid day off? Or better still, organise something else and get paid twice! Given that you have a property development company and the carpet sales company knew that you were evaluating them for future work, I'm surprised they even thought about charging you the $900. Now, onto practicalities: 1) If the carpet company's manager said there would be "a small call out fee", then $900 is NOT "a small call out fee" 2) What are the terms and conditions for the purchase you made? That is, if you call 24 hours before and postpone the carpet laying, what does the written terms and conditions say? 3) As builda says, call consumer affairs and see what they think. Good luck with it all. I think the fair thing is for the manager to hounour his “a small call out fee”. Cheers, Casa Re: Being charged for postponing carpet laying 9Feb 26, 2007 6:36 pm While working for Carpet Court in Nowra for 2 & ½ years, there were MANY cancellations for laying carpet on a scheduled day.
These customers were NEVER charged a cent, for the cancellation. The layers were sent else where for the day, it just meant office staff had to be more organised. This is a RIPP OFF, I hope you didn’t pay the bill. Internal and External Building and Colour Consultant Online - Worldwide http://www.denovoconcepts.com Re: Being charged for postponing carpet laying 10Feb 26, 2007 7:09 pm Michelle,
I've been watching the arguments and counterarguments on this issue and I'm glad to see a definitive answer from someone with relavent experience. As has often been said before, Michelle, you're a legend Cheers, Casa Re: Being charged for postponing carpet laying 11Feb 26, 2007 7:35 pm Hi Casa,
Thanks so much for the complement!!!! It truly sounds like the carpet supplier got stung by the laying contractor for the days work missed. MOST layers are contracted in to do the laying for the carpet stores. If they are put off without notice it means that the contractor misses out on a day’s work, which means money to them. BUT $900 that’s way over the top. Where I live the guys are happy to get the time off, it just means they get to go surfing!!! But in the cities it’s a different story. It still never happened at Carpet Court, it meant a lot of pacifying to the contractor and promising them more work for a week, but it all got sorted. I think this carpet store has a lot to answer for. Internal and External Building and Colour Consultant Online - Worldwide http://www.denovoconcepts.com Once you know the basics, the rest is easy. Read my post in the thread linked below. viewtopic.php?p=1919271#p1919271 2 19517 My garage door has started playing up recently. Sometimes (and getting more frequent) when I press the button to open it, it wont. The motor is an ATA GD0-6V3. Red and… 0 2674 Being an owner builder is no walk in the park. It’s a challenging endeavour that requires dedication and hard… 0 10006 |