Charged More for a Fixed Price Job

happyhammer on 04/04/2022 - 15:59

Hired a guy through air tasker to clean gutters and trim 2 hedges 1-2m. (He has 5* reviews good completion rate). I had multiple images and long description. $350 all up.

He started doing the hedges and then 1 hour in said that he didnt have the right equipment and it would take him 5+ hours to do the hedges alone as thicker than he thought. I said that's the job listed and why I hired someone in the first place. He said he would only do it if I paid him $100 more cash on the spot as it wasn't worth his time. Obviously as an ozbargainer I couldn't do that and said let's just cancel it and I'll find someone else, after some back and forth he reluctantly agreed.

I use a lot of contracters on the house and generally find they go above and beyond for the fixed price. I'm a contractor (research) and said that I often do more or less hours than I thought the job was going to be and don't ask the client for more $ as that's the life of fixed rate quotes.

Thanks for reading here's the question: Am I an ass, for sticking to the original price even though it was bigger than he realised? Is fixed always fixed? Should I have given him gas money or met him half way with more $ as he also started saying about how he had to drive here very far etc.

Would be good to know for future situations as there is a fine line between being taken advantage of, for both parties.

Home & Garden

Comments

  • BewareOfThe Dog on 04/04/2022 - 16:01
    +40

    He should have at least said it will cost more, before starting..

    • BewareOfThe Dog on 05/04/2022 - 11:49

      The 1st time, we had a guy come out to do the garden, he said before coming that he may need to revise the quote, when he has a physical look. We agreed that it would take longer when he arrived, and paid them accordingly.

  • Hithere on 04/04/2022 - 16:07
    +31

    If the guy had changed their quote before they started you would have had the option of accepting the new quote or not.

    It's too late once they started the job to decide it's harder than they thought or they didn't have the right equipment. It's not your problem OP.

    It's also a way some less than scrupulous contractors virtually blackmail a client into paying more than agreed.

    You did the right thing, good on you.

  • Xyzzy on 04/04/2022 - 16:10
    +4

    They must be monstrous hedges.

    No, you're not being an ass.

    Not unreasonable for him to say the job is bigger than anticipated and say it will cost more, given it can be hard to gauge the size of a job just from photos - but he should have done this first thing - not an hour into the job.

    • jellykingdom on 05/04/2022 - 09:28
      +2

      I was thinking the same thing. 5hrs to do 2 hedges?? You should use that other Ozbargainer from the other day who reckons it takes 10min to mow his lawn, he must be a master gardener

  • GG57 on 04/04/2022 - 16:15

    Am I correct in assuming that you now have hedges that have been trimmed in part?
    And you don't have anyone else to do (finish) the job?

    If it were me, I probably would have negotiated a middle ground and paid him some of the additional $, just to get it done. But I would only have paid that when he arrived back with the right equipment to complete the job, not before.

    BTW, what is "…gas money…"?

    • AJW on 04/04/2022 - 16:23
      +2

      gas money = fuel money

      • Brian McGee on 04/04/2022 - 16:59

        Nah, it's so he can get a dodgy chinese or taco bell on the way home.

    • brendanm on 04/04/2022 - 16:28
      +8

      BTW, what is "…gas money…"?

      Contractor must drive an LPG falcon?

      • AustriaBargain on 04/04/2022 - 17:26
        -1

        Gasoline.

        • brendanm on 04/04/2022 - 20:21
          +8

          I'm well aware of what op meant, however we are in Australia, where it is called petrol, and LPG is called gas. Things aren't funny when you have to explain them.

    • happyhammer on 04/04/2022 - 17:41
      +2

      Yes I'm now the stubborn guy with a funny looking hedge and have to get someone else.
      Still principal right :)

      • miwahni on 04/04/2022 - 22:11
        +18

        Principal wrong. Principle right.

  • hikaru78 on 04/04/2022 - 16:23
    +6

    Pretty sure thats the whole point in setting the price. Next time just report it to air taskers. Nobody forces people to take the jobs

    • Love a bargain on 06/04/2022 - 06:18

      Should still report him and leave an honest review now

    • Euphemistic on 06/04/2022 - 19:35

      Airtasker is built around a prearranged price. It’s also used by people desperate for cash with limited skill in working out their true costs. Things like forgetting they need to cost travel time or Airtasker fees into their price.

      Then, if you’ve accepted the job online and turn up and then refuse to do the work you get a black mark on your profile. A poor profile means you won’t get offered the job in the first place.

      So no, you aren’t forced to do it, but if you want to keep working on Airtasker you sort of have to do it.

      • hikaru78 on 06/04/2022 - 21:53

        At the same time my last mowing guy was a complete waste of time. Sent photos and the guy didn't show first day. Showed up 3 hours late the second day. I realised he probably under quoted so offered extra to finish the job. Guy quits 50% into the job and says he can finish it next week. Asks to be paid in full. Said nope zero until finished. (Contacted air Tasker who told me not to pay)Next week comes along no show. But asks to release money Second weekend comes in finishes job to 90% still doesn't finish demands I release money. I released the cash just to get rid of him. He has good reviews god knows how. Showed up to do a lawn with a 15in bottom of the range mower. Job was quoted as a bag and remove they guy ended up cutting and dropping everywhere. Then sent me abusive messages for giving him a bad review. Serves me right for not cancelling the job when he no showed

        • Euphemistic on 07/04/2022 - 06:04

          Airtasker is a bit of a lottery - for both sides.

          As described elsewhere, I got a lawn mowing job off it. Turned up and the place was massively overgrown but would have been an ok price if it was a regular lawn mow.

  • tallkid123 on 04/04/2022 - 16:34
    +3

    Not an ass at all.

    I've freelanced at a fixed rate and it just comes down to prior experience in being able to determine how much work is required to complete the job.

    The airtasker miscalculated but probably should've just sucked it up since it was only an extra $100.

  • apsilon on 04/04/2022 - 16:45
    +7

    I've occasionally misquoted a job. As long as the job was as described and the error was mine I sucked it up and completed it as quoted. Anyone who doesn't should be shown the door.

    Just how big are these hedges that they were going to take 5+ hours? Did he just bring scissors?

    • [Deactivated] on 04/04/2022 - 16:53

      our neighbours have hedges that take that long

    • happyhammer on 04/04/2022 - 17:45
      +1

      They are monstrous. (I moved in recently).
      They divide me from neighbours on both sides. One is 3.5 m tall and the other is 5-6m. He gave up on the 3.5m one so I'm not sure how it would have gone if he tackled the other one. He just had normal ozito etc. I was very presice in the description about the job as I really don't want to do it myself!

      • apsilon on 04/04/2022 - 17:55
        +1

        5-6m tall, yeah I can see why he had trouble. You said 1-2m above but I'm guessing that's how much you want taken off, whereas I thought that's how tall they currently were. At that height a trimmer isn't going to be able to handle the inner branches/trunk, just he light stuff on the outside.

      • nubzy on 04/04/2022 - 18:06
        +2

        At that height it will be an expensive job, you need a quality telescopic hedge trimmer such as Stihl HLA85/86 and ladder work. You can expect to pay $120 per hour at a minimum, most will prefer to provide a fixed price quote after seeing the hedges.

      • BewareOfThe Dog on 05/04/2022 - 11:45

        Did the time include recharging the 18v batteries?
        Sounds like he is just starting out, or he has misplaced too much gear in the past.
        We have a hedge that is 2.5m high, and doing it with a normal Ryobi Pruner on a ladder can be a bit dangerous. (I'll get the extension one day).

  • lakers1222 on 04/04/2022 - 16:57
    +6

    Good on you for standing your ground. Sounds like he tries to rip of fall his clients, and you didn't fall for his BS

  • garetz on 04/04/2022 - 17:18
    +6

    A fixed price is a fixed price, if he didn't like it he shouldn't have accepted the job. You are out of time and effort yourself.

    You should always value your own time much more than anyone else.

  • Muzeeb on 04/04/2022 - 17:33

    NTA

  • nubzy on 04/04/2022 - 17:37
    +3

    This is the problem with Airtasker. It is VERY difficult to judge a job based on photos alone and many clients can be misleading by using old photos. We have done some tasks on there which ran over in time significantly. Never asked for more money, always completed the task regardless. In most cases the clients would recognise the large amount of effort involved and pay a bonus of their own accord, or ask for bank details and do it that way to save fees. With Airtasker, contractors really need to set a time limit and stipulations with their offers otherwise it's easy to screw yourself over. Lots of bargain hunters on there too who want everything done for nothing. It's hard sometimes. Yes he should have stuck to the quote and I would never demand more money, but if there really was more work involved it would be fair and reasonable to pay for it IMO.

    • happyhammer on 04/04/2022 - 17:51
      +3

      Ye I agree on the prediction of the job. I had photos and full description, but it's hard on any quote. I think the issue comes that I listed them combined. He specialises in roof cleaning and obviously underestimated the hedges. I lost faith with his overall rudeness and atitude and when I gave my contracting analogy above, he stated going on about how I was inside in the aircon and he was outside! I didn't want someone I don't trust then up on my roof doing dodgy things.

      • nubzy on 04/04/2022 - 18:02

        Totally understand that. He sounds dodgy. I would never talk to a customer like that.

      • funnysht on 04/04/2022 - 18:21
        +1

        if you had photos then yes dodgy

  • funnysht on 04/04/2022 - 18:21
    +6

    Right thing- most air taskers usually go beyond to get the good review. My one last did way more than asked and didnt ask for anything extra. So yeah dodgy guy- not sure how he got all the 5 star reviews- maybe his friends?
    does it say how long he's been working for

  • afoveht on 04/04/2022 - 18:54
    +1

    I just did my hedges today after not doing for a while. Thought it would be like every other go but I must say, it was a killer. Very easy to underestimate how hard it is. Not saying he's right to charge more mid-flight, but they are not as easy as they may initially look. But if he does that regularly he should know that too.

  • [Deactivated] on 04/04/2022 - 18:55
    +6

    Maybe find a real Gardner that comes and has a look before quoting the job, instead of dodgy don off airtasker lol, op obviously looking for cheap.

    • happyhammer on 05/04/2022 - 08:32
      +2

      Agree, I think combining the tasks was the problem. Altho I think everyone on this site is looking for value for money right. Plenty of good jobs from airtasker in the past

      • BewareOfThe Dog on 05/04/2022 - 11:51

        We have had 2 different guys through air tasker over the years. Both were fair, and received repeat work.
        1st guy has moved out of the area, so back to square one.

  • Euphemistic on 04/04/2022 - 20:10
    -4

    Airtasker isn’t a great platform. Setting a fixed price from a few photos and trusting a description is difficult. Not surprised this guy cut his losses.

    Holding people to a price might be the ozbargain way, but you also need to recognise that as a business you can’t keep taking it on the chin when you arrive and find out its going to take a lot longer or more materials.

    I did a few Airtasker jobs between other employment. It’s really hard to judge a job without seeing it. I did about half a dozen jobs and it was 50/50 wether I did well or scraped by on a job. I got undercut on plenty of jobs too, either by people who didn’t value their time well or those who wanted in cheap, then hoped for extra cash bonuses on the job (I got at least one cash bonus, but didn’t ask for it)

    I did one ‘lawn mow’ job that was like a jungle. My equipment wasn’t up to it, but I felt I priced it and had to do it, worked out about $20/hr not including travel time there. a few weeks later the guy message and asked me to come and go again and I had to tell him no.

  • dogboy on 05/04/2022 - 07:22
    +3

    I am still amazed at the price of $350. Seems crazy expensive to trim a couple of hedges and clean gutters. How can that take more than 2 hours??
    Also, whatever you do don't use Jim's Gardening. They are bloody hopeless.

    • [Deactivated] on 05/04/2022 - 08:43

      My neighbours hedges are 40m long and 3m tall and that's just our side of fence, goes along another fence 20m plus other shrubs too, like too see you do that in 2 hours lol
      You must be the airtasker guy
      Also Jims is a franchise they are not all the same

  • cameldownunder on 05/04/2022 - 08:37

    Whatever you can sleep with.

  • The tiger on 05/04/2022 - 09:49
    +3

    You are perfectly right. He should have a look at the condition of the job before he started , and negotiated a fresh charge if he was not happy with the sum originally offered.

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