Customer Asking for Paint Invoices

L[Deactivated] on 14/11/2019 - 17:43
Last edited 15/11/2019 - 08:53 by 1 other user

So, long story short I own a painting business.

At first I quoted a customer $6000 to do some interior painting where he would pay for the paint, however he didn't want to so I quoted him $7500 which included paint. So I assume he thinks most of the $1500 is going towards the paint, even though I mentioned that we would roughly spend around $1500 because I didn't really know how much I would spend.

Now that we've completed the job, he's asking for the paint invoices because he thinks we haven't spent $1500 on paint (note, we didn't spend $1500 on paint, we spent approximately $600), are we obliged to provide him with the invoices?

I was thinking of just deducting around $500-900 from the quote, even though the customer agreed on $7500.

If anyone has had any experience in dealing with this situation, I'd appreciate a response. Thanks.

Education & Work

Comments

  • frostman on 15/11/2019 - 16:11
    -3

    overcharging for product purchase by 50-100 is ok given it's costed you time and fuel to get it.
    but $900? get a grip

  • ruddiger7 on 15/11/2019 - 16:46
    +1

    What brand of paint?

    Unrelated note, some morons quoted my brother in law that they would use Dulux Vivid White only to find out later when visiting the house that all the paint tins were some random luxury paints brand not listed in the quote.

  • Webber000 on 15/11/2019 - 16:51
    +1

    At no point did you offer to do it for $6000 plus the cost of you getting the paint. Therefore there is nothing to refund.
    The customer accepted your quote of $7500 total.

    In future you may be able to get your estimates more accurate, but you will always need to load them (and not just charge the exact cost of the paint) as you accept a lot of risk when doing it.
    If you had needed to do an extra coat of paint then you would not have been able to charge them more would you? Sometimes you win, sometimes you loose.

    In my experience the person getting the paint usually also gets the brushes, rollers, masking tapes and dust sheets. But regardless, the simple fact is the customer agreed to the price quoted and also specifically chose not to get the lower price getting the paint themselves.

    Issue them a bill / invoice / receipt for the $7500 they accepted.

    I've never heard of a plumber using less pipe so refunding some, or an electrician doing the job quicker than they thought so refunding some, etc.
    Equally, the plumber never gives a receipt for the actual cost of the pipe he bought.

  • Eeep on 15/11/2019 - 17:40
    +2

    Quote is a quote , they accepted it they pay the full amount
    Markup on material is normal and they were happy with the amount. Amount also included the inconvenience of purchasing, transporting and time taken.
    Did you do any other work that would be classed as variations ? Patching holes or repairing any damage ?
    Consider the markup as a “warranty” so in the next 2/3 years if the paint peels off or flakes that you come out and fix it . (Not due to damage done by customer or negligence such as holes in roof causing gyprock to warp and paint peeling

  • Repi on 15/11/2019 - 19:03

    Accepting the quote is voluntary, but once it's accepted that is the price. The customer wouldn't pay more if OP had lost money on the paint purchase, so why should he pay less now. I get that sometimes, seems to be always the same Nationality, never had an Aussie ask. Next they will be asking how much for cash. You can give them any discount and do the worlds best job they will never be happy

  • Blitz001 on 15/11/2019 - 19:20

    Just scan the reciept into photoshop and adjust prices and quantities.

    • stumo on 15/11/2019 - 19:52
      +1

      ms paint

      • Skramit on 16/11/2019 - 15:04

        With hand written text with the highlighter tool

  • Kkuba on 15/11/2019 - 19:51
    +1

    If I went to a dealership for a new radiator, and they quoted me one value if I supplied parts and another value if they supplied them, I should have no right to question the price they paid for the radiator they are supplying.

    A supply service comes with mark up.

    It is up to you how much you are comfortable marking it up, and up to the customer whether they agree on the price prior to the work being carried out.

  • loopy18 on 15/11/2019 - 20:07

    If he agreed to the total figure then no need to show him. He should have asked more questions before accepting your quote. Don't be silly with giving away your margin. That's what negotiations are for.

    If it was a conditional acceptance, for example, labour plus whatever the cost of the material/paint then that's a different story.

    Don't make it complicated for no reason. My 2c, I'm sure not everyone will agree.

  • [Deactivated] on 15/11/2019 - 20:39

    I think if they agreed then there's really no need. If it was me, I would knock off a couple of hundred. If it had cost you more than $1500, would you have charged them extra?

  • ihbh on 15/11/2019 - 21:15
    +2

    If anyone has had any experience in dealing with this situation, I'd appreciate a response. Thanks.

    Pay me $900 and I'll write you out an invoice for paint for $1500 and you can show it to your client.

  • kiwimex on 15/11/2019 - 21:50
    +1

    Cost of paint $600 plus your margin roughly 30% Paint = $800
    Cost to source paint and go and pick up 1-2hrs plus expenses, (fuel, maintenance, insurances) $250.00
    Cost of administration to rewrite quote and resend $100

    Total cost to revisit quote and supply of paint $1150.00 add to this GST

    Total incl GSt $1265

    Your $1500 is a fair price.

  • burningrage on 15/11/2019 - 22:21
    +1

    Price agreed is deals done.

    No right to see supplier tax invoice.

  • No ONE on 15/11/2019 - 23:15
    +1

    Tell them to bugger off and pay the invoice in full. Paint invoice is none of their business.

    They agreed to your quote for full paint job, that's what you are obligated to pay.

  • qwerty on 15/11/2019 - 23:41

    I dont understand how you dont get trade discount on paint and just supply the retail invoice to the customer

    • kiwimex on 17/11/2019 - 15:16
      -1

      If you charge retail after paying trade you will be out of business in a flash, too many folks think trade discounts are massive when they can be quite small. I work in a trade and I charge minimum 30% above the cost of an item as a bare minimum….some items I will mark up 300-500 %

  • sillyguy on 16/11/2019 - 00:57

    Just wonder what kind of paint job costs $6000 for labour only and how long it would take to finish the job giving the paint supplies only cost $600…

    • apsilon on 16/11/2019 - 08:09
      +1

      Prep takes longer than the actual job and labour always costs more than materials (though non paint materials would be in this charge I assume). You don't just walk in and start slapping paint on the walls.

  • FittyFitty on 16/11/2019 - 07:28

    OP, revisit your markups in the P&L; if you don't have one, you should, as simple as need be.

  • ashpete02 on 16/11/2019 - 08:11

    And if it had gone the other way, you'd be loosing money and not asking the client for more as you misquoted, this is why a quote is generally always more than the hourly rate + consumables. Kindly explain this to the client… quote is a quote, they accepted it, so that's the price. Seriously can't believe these type of people act in this way, it's completely unacceptable from a tradesman point of view. Don't budge on the price, you just made a little profit, well done - that's business!

    Had they asked for an estimate, instead of a quote - well different story….

  • adamhoc on 16/11/2019 - 09:01

    From a business standpoint you have every right not to show your client any of your purchase receipts.

    Think.about this very simple, if you hired a lawyer or accountant for a task, will you ask for their personal pay slip to check their cost? Running a business has overhead and cost of goods if that (profanity) customer could have minimum understanding on such a matter.

    Beside, you've given him two choices with or without supplying materials. It was the client's choice for the 7500 option. The only move I can suggest is to offer him 100 discounts to secure your google ranking.

  • DarkOz on 16/11/2019 - 09:15

    You quoted $1,500 extra to include paint and he accepted it. That should be the end of the matter. You don't have to show him how much the paint is worth or offer him a refund of the difference when the paint costs under $1,500. What happens if you had bought the paint for $2,000? Will he pay you the extra $500 you spent?

  • hypie on 16/11/2019 - 11:04

    Refund $400 for good will, provide him with a quote for job plus paint. The agreed price was $7500. It is irrelevant where you got the paint from or how much you paid. Potentially you have confidential special rates on paint because you are a business, they don't need to know that.

  • 000lynx on 16/11/2019 - 11:47
    +1

    Wow. people these days.

    You offered him to buy the paint himself. He was too lazy to do it, so asked you to give him a price with painting included. So you did.

    You have done the job now. I assume he is happy with your work. The end of story.

    He has no right to ask you to give him a refund. The price is the price.

    I think its very generous of you to refund him anything, so I think select an amount you are satisfied with taking into account Good will and the reputation you want to leave this customer with about your business

  • justwii on 16/11/2019 - 12:25

    In b4 next customer ask can they have the remaining paint if there's any left.

  • dbun1 on 16/11/2019 - 14:53

    No need to supply invoices. Agreement was for $7,500 to paint the house including paint. Customer was given a lower price based on labour only.

    Only justification for supplying invoices is if the agreement was that paint was going to be charged on a “cost plus” basis.

  • [Deactivated] on 16/11/2019 - 15:52
    +7

    UPDATE:

    All was well with the customer. I gave him a good will discount of $500 which I feel was fair on both parties.

    Thanks again for all the responses.

    • [Deactivated] on 16/11/2019 - 22:48
      +2

      Disappointing that you caved in to this customer demands by giving a discount. This idiot will continue doing the same to others in future.

      The lessons this idiot should have learnt from his experience were

      a) Trade people always charge for their time. Your vehicle does not run on air and you do not buy supplies whilst sleeping.
      b) Businesses take a risk by providing a fixed price. If they under quote they wear it. There was no agreement to refund excess so bad luck.
      c) The customer had the choice to compare with other painters. They were lazy so bad luck.

      I would not surprised if the same w*nker calls up his car/home/health insurance companies annually and demands a full refund because he has made no claims. LOL

    • legendary-noob on 17/11/2019 - 13:54

      Wasn’t really necessary but you’re kind enough by offering a consolation.
      Do hope your business continue to do well.

  • Punda on 16/11/2019 - 16:11
    +3

    I reckon he scammed you in the first instance by saying no paint, then when you requoted with paint he knew the exact amount you allocated towards paint.

  • deanosh on 16/11/2019 - 16:49
    +3

    If the paint receipts totaled $2500 would the customer be willing to give the additional $1000?? Not a chance… I hate this style of bargaining and the company i work for regularly cops this from their extremely well off client. Jobs we lose on…too bad. Jobs we win on they ask to see the hours to scale back to 10% margin. Absolute robbery

    • aligind4h0us3 on 16/11/2019 - 20:13
      +1

      Sounds like your company should be dropping them as a client if you aren't making any/much money on them.

      • [Deactivated] on 16/11/2019 - 23:00

        Exactly. Not a very bright business that allows their clients to dictate their own profit margin.

        If the client does not like the prices the company charges (taking into account the losses they occasionally occur) then management/owners should tell them to jump. Clients such as this are not loyal but complete cheapskates (in a bad way) who will dump the company services once they find a even cheaper sucker.

  • Dubsys on 16/11/2019 - 21:09
    +4

    Nah, you told them that they could pay for the paint or give you $1500 to source it.

    They chose to spend the extra money for you to source it.

  • [Deactivated] on 17/11/2019 - 12:41
    +1

    Our builders and painters with our current renovation works all charged about 30% mark up if they had to buy products or materials to do the job. That seems fair although we bought pretty much everything ourselves to save the money. A >100% markup does not.

    If I were your customer I would also be asking for the details and I wouldn't be happy to pay the full price and if you wouldn't negotiate on something more reasonable than you wouldn't be returning for further work with us.

    But then I'd have asked what your markup is when I told you to get the paint/materials yourself not just agreed to the quote.

  • LlamaOfDoom on 17/11/2019 - 14:07

    Cost +20%.
    Charge for equipment consumables too if they can't be reused if its an off-standard colour.

  • Eeples on 19/11/2019 - 23:08

    Has the customer paid any money up front?

    I find it odd to do $7500 worth of work without receiving any money.

  • 2Poor4Ozb on 25/11/2019 - 11:23

    You make one customer happy, you'll gain more in a long run, they have families, friends, friends of friends that are potentially new customers. It's hard to find a honest decent tradesman or any other business and when you find one you recommend it to your families and friends when they need one.

  • mini2 on 28/11/2019 - 10:43

    Most businesses buys their stuff cheaper as a trade customer than retail so I don't know what's this bloke's problem…

    If he doesn't like being jipped then perhaps supply their own paint though problems further down the track would become interesting.

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