Honest views, please

[Balky001]

Hi Ed,

I'd honestly put it down to experience. I would explain that actually it does contain a discretionary trust and admit it was something you could have mentioned at the time but forgot. I would also say for the sake of the friendship (who wants to lose friends over £150, well maybe your client!) and the fact you did make an error lets put this behind us (and also get future business so you can get money back 1 way or other if you want to). He may offer something towards it once calmed down.

Also as a business you don't need bad comments like 'I thought he was a mate and ripped me off, feel sorry for the customers he doesn't like etc' as obviosuly this is not true but people can be funny. Risk/reward, know your curve!.

[embee]

Whatever happens, from here on it sounds like they're not going to be "friends" anyway.

Like you and the others say, your mistake unfortunately. Shame, but there you go.

I'd put money on you not doing the same thing again!

I do work for friends, but only the ones who trust me and I trust implicitly. Unfortunately you do very often end up charging well below what it ought to be, but I've always found I get paid back in other ways.

Thank you all for your comments. I tried not to let it show in my post but I am hopping mad.

My inclination is to take it on the chin because the time it takes to argue over £150 is simply too great and it obviously means a lot to him to 'win'. This bloke and his wife were very close to us some years ago - we used to babysit their then very young children, we even held daughter's birthday party here when her mother was ill, but as their kids have grown up we have rather drifted. We confronted this issue a few years ago but they said that as their kids were now teenagers and Sophie was (at the time) only 6, we couldn't expect teenagers to want to know. So we have drifted and we are not as close as we once were.

On the contractual side - if I refused to back down and they applied to the Solicitors Regulation Authority for a remuneration certificate (basically, an independent review of the file to determine is it worth the bill) I'd have no chance cos I didn't send a revised estimate.

What annoys me is that he knew I was doing a discretionary trust and knew it was a lot more work. Now it seems as though he hasn't even read the bloody thing. I think I will write a slightly hurt letter to say that as I didn't send a revised estimate they are entitled to insist that the bill is in accordance with the estimate, send a credit note for the original and issue a revised invoice for the lower amount, and see how much they send.

As for the friendship - well as stated it was drifting and now I feel utterly shafted.

No.. stick to your guns, regardless of Mates or Familly you provided a service which is costable, an estimate is that,

If I change something half way though and dont recieve an revised estimate I would still expect the final bill to change....

You cannot get something for nothing...and remeber profit is NOT a dirty word...

My dad faces this as a plumber, ppl not happy with the bills, he simply sticks to his guns, as rightly the equipment is his untill paid, so he has every right to go and remove the installation...

Is it possible for you to nullify your work and cancel the bill?

Nopne of my "friends" would need to write a letter about it, as we are friends........

AS said, we'd sit down, discuss it and sort something out between us. I'd admit i'd ballsed up a little, my friends would understand and we'd sort something out.

Can't be much of a "friend" if he's writing you a sh1tty letter straight away. Wheres the matey phone call joking about why your bumming him ???

So ok, you' made a mistake, but it doesn't sound like a "friend" to me. Hence why you never do work for mates, as it always goes wrong, and as your friends, you kind expect more.

Legal side you should have covered, moral side, sorry but it doesn't read like a "mate" at all. Mates would understand a mistake, people who are only after something would write a nasty letter.

I'll let you decide which you feel you "friend" comes under. To me its no longer s friendship, there-for I would deal with it as I would any client.

You don't get anywhere in the legal world by "being nice." Least not all the ones I worked in.

I think you`ve made the right decision Ed...

In honesty if I was quoted £150 for something then received a bill for £300 I`d be wanting to know why. I think as someone has already said you have to accept you made a mistake and learn from it.

[Biker Biggles]

Originally Posted by Ed

Thank you all for your comments. I tried not to let it show in my post but I am hopping mad.

My inclination is to take it on the chin because the time it takes to argue over £150 is simply too great and it obviously means a lot to him to 'win'. This bloke and his wife were very close to us some years ago - we used to babysit their then very young children, we even held daughter's birthday party here when her mother was ill, but as their kids have grown up we have rather drifted. We confronted this issue a few years ago but they said that as their kids were now teenagers and Sophie was (at the time) only 6, we couldn't expect teenagers to want to know. So we have drifted and we are not as close as we once were.

On the contractual side - if I refused to back down and they applied to the Solicitors Regulation Authority for a remuneration certificate (basically, an independent review of the file to determine is it worth the bill) I'd have no chance cos I didn't send a revised estimate.

What annoys me is that he knew I was doing a discretionary trust and knew it was a lot more work. Now it seems as though he hasn't even read the bloody thing. I think I will write a slightly hurt letter to say that as I didn't send a revised estimate they are entitled to insist that the bill is in accordance with the estimate, send a credit note for the original and issue a revised invoice for the lower amount, and see how much they send.

As for the friendship - well as stated it was drifting and now I feel utterly shafted.

Seems you already know this is the right thing to do.Put it down to experience and move on.

No no no

Ed provided an Estimate.. its just that...

There is nothing wrong with increasing your bill, unless its mine..

Cheers

Alex

I have not read anyone else's response as I don't want to be influenced on what anyone else has said.

You are stuck between a rock and a hard place. You made the error in the first instance as you did not notify them of the additional costs. You gave them a price and as far as they were concerned that was the price they would have to pay. I am not surprised they are contesting the charge you have given them.

If I were you I would feel obliged to take it on the chin and accept that I had made an error that has cost me. You are doing if for a friend and sometimes friendship is worth more than the money. I understand you are running a business and there are lost profit implications, but if the business can take the hit, I would agree with the friends to charge the original fee. I can't comment about the manner in which your friends have complained about what you have done though, I don't know them. It would be a wild guess and assumption to make a comment about that.

Alex - I am obliged under the costs rules to notify a client if the estimate becomes too low. No escape from that, the rules are there to give clarity in precisely this sort of situation. I am just so disappointed with these people, I didn't expect such a whining letter that complained so much, and that said 'there was no discretionary trust' - there is one, and it just goes to show that (a) he hasn't listened to a word I said and (b) he hasn't read the document. Next I'll have a complaint that it wasn't what he wanted.

I dunno. Perhaps I have no reason to complain, cos I didn't follow the rules and so I have only myself to blame. You try to run a business at a profit, provide employment for people, and then this sort of thing happens. It's just madness, I am making a whacking great loss on these wills as it is. Rightly or wrongly, it leaves me feeling very sore.

Edit - just read Ape's post. This is what I have done Simon. But do they value the friendship - such as it is - at more than £150?

Moral of the story is always be crystal clear and never be embarrassed to talk money.

Edit no 2. On a completely unrelated topic, I've just lost a resi conveyancing job. I quoted £425. Client agreed, then changed his mind cos he's found a firm in Derby that will do it for £250. I don't know how anyone can do the work at that price. Peanuts and monkeys I spose. I'm having a bad day.