Householders: It's Wise to Insist on Written Quotes from First-Time Service Providers

The moral of the following story is: Don’t be fooled by how 'nice' a service provider or tradie seems, such that you forego the wise move of asking for (and insisting upon) a written quote if you’re using them for the first time.

It’s long since become my Golden Rule. Until I bent my own rule last week. And have lived to regret it – and the insult it delivered to my intelligence and self-respect.

Here’s how it went down:

I called someone I was given to believe provided handyman services. He came around, we went through the tasks on-site and in detail.

Shortening the story from this point for a moment: Several confusing phone calls later, the $50 per hour “qualified tradesperson” that was to be assigned to attend on a specific day to work through the various jobs, suddenly was off on another project, apparently. The company owner ( i.e. the bloke I’d originally called and with whom the liaising had been) had taken it upon himself to change the job to one where lawnmowing / rubbish removal / gardening tasks only, would be performed.

When Confusion Is Currency

Keen to not involve myself in any further confusion and happy to get the lawns sorted, I was easy-going and told him to rock on in and get it done. But not before asking – several times – for a quote or, at least, the hourly rate of one of the intended two workers (an hourly rate of $25 was cited for the “old, retired guy” who was to be one of the two).

A whole host of different reasons (for not providing a quote or even an hourly rate) were given across the various seemingly necessary pre-work conversations, and I was assured that whatever the cost would be, it would be more favorable than the industry average . . . and that I should just trust what a good, honorable, cost-effective operator he says he is. Between my typical single woman’s soft-hearted gullibility (come on ladies, we’ve all been duped more than once) and the fact that during his original site visit to provide handyman services, he’d looked at the lawns and said “they’re a $40 job”, I thought things couldn’t go too far wrong.

Now, I DID add to the lawn moving brief, some weeding (which wasn’t huge, as I’ve only just bought this very well-presented property), the removal of a load of empty cardboard packing boxes and newspaper (that he said he “knows someone who would want those”), moving a kennel, and planting two tiny rosemary cuttings and a small potted fig tree plant.

Several times during the course of their attendance (which seemed to be mushrooming in time), I’d said how happy I’d be to have them back, “if I could afford it”, and did they know how much they were charging me? I was simply reassured, again, that “I’d be very happy with the invoice”.

A day or so later I received a call, assumedly to see if I wanted to give them a regular gig. I asked for the invoice ASAP, so I could be sure they were indeed affordable.

Actually, NOT Happy

Well, they certainly were NOT affordable. At all. What had originally started off as a small $40 lawnmowing side gig (to which I'd added a few genuinely minor items), had turned out to be a $730 invoice!!

The lady did protest. And Mr Nice Guy suddenly became, Mr We-Did-It,-Too-Bad,-You-Pay-For-It.

Now, given that I had been sufficiently duped as to what a nice, trustworthy operator he was and that I would be so happy with the bill that I didn't need a quote, I felt it was a case of "more fool me" and decided I'd just have to pay it. BUT . . . I DID have a real issue with the $90 tip fee reimbursement he'd charged me for 100% recyclable materials (that he'd previously told me he had a friend wanting, anyway).

So I paid $640 promptly, but emailed him, insisting on a copy of the $90 tip fee receipt.

I received a threatening reply saying that he wouldn’t be responding to my questions or providing anything. I had no right to question anything, was basically the gist of his highly threatening, chauvinistic response. And if I didn’t pay the $90 tip fee (i.e. without any proof that he'd incurred that expense) without asking any questions, it was off to the debt collectors for me. Forthwith.

Fraudulent On-Charging

He probably didn't expect me to do what I did in response to his heavy-handed threat: I researched his address (not provided on his "invoice" - another red flag and another reason to insist on written quotes), drove past his house and noted his rego plate. I then - through means I prefer to keep private - ascertained authoritatively that his rego plate didn't appear on any of the tip records for the the date/s in question. In short, the $90 "tip fee" was bogus.

Unbelievably, when I sent him a further email challenging him on my findings, he ignored the fact that I'd caught him out, and simply doubled down on his threats.

The short version of this unsavoury experience is that, (a) he got paid his highly inflated, opportunistic invoice, but (b) minus the bogus $90 tip fee.

The reason I ensure I recount this experience for readers is this: How many other victims might this character rack up if someone doesn't shine a spotlight on this sort of behaviour?

THE LESSON:

There's an old marketing maxim - and it will always remain true - that the customer that costs you the least to acquire, is the customer you already have.

It's called the value of repeat business. Over months, let alone years, my business would have been worth far more to him than his one-off, opportunistic plunder.

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