Difficult Customers: The Written Quote That Stops Most Trade Disputes Before They Start

Think back to the last customer who turned awkward. Chances are the row was about something nobody wrote down. They thought the price included making good the plaster. You thought it was obvious it did not. They thought you would be finished by Friday. You said roughly a week.

Neither of you was lying. You just had two different jobs in your heads. The fix is boring and it works: get the job out of your head and onto paper, or onto a text, before you start.

First, the job itself, in plain words. Not just rewire kitchen, but which sockets, which circuits, whether the old cable comes out, and who makes good afterwards.

Second, the price, and whether it is a fixed quote or an estimate. If it is day rate, say the day rate and roughly how many days. Third, the timeline: when you start, roughly when you finish, and what could move it, like a part on order.

Fourth, what is not included. This is the line most trades skip and the one that saves the most arguments. Skip hire, decorating, parking, materials the customer is supplying. If it is not in the price, say so.

Then one rule for extras. Anything new that crops up mid job gets its own price, sent by text, and the customer replies yes before you do it. A two line text in the van takes a minute and stops the bill turning into a row at the end.

The Consumer Rights Act 2015 fills in the gaps for you, and not always in your favour. Section 49 says every service must be done with reasonable care and skill. Section 52 says that if no time was agreed, the work has to be done within a reasonable time.

Section 51 says that if no price was fixed, the customer pays a reasonable price for the service, and no more. So if you never gave a figure, you are arguing about what is reasonable, not about what you meant.

Section 50 cuts both ways. Anything you say or write to the customer about you or the job can become part of the contract if they relied on it. Tell them it will be done in two days and that can count. Write down what you actually mean, and nothing you cannot stand behind.

If you agree a job face to face somewhere that is not your business premises, which for most trades means the customer's kitchen, that is an off-premises contract under the Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013. The customer gets 14 days to cancel, counted from the day after the job is agreed.

Here is the part that bites. If you never give them the information about that right to cancel, regulation 31 stretches the cancellation period by 12 months. And regulation 36 says that if the cancellation information was not given, a customer who cancels pays nothing for work done during the cancellation period, which by then could be the whole job.

To start inside the 14 days, regulation 36 says the customer must ask you to, and for a job agreed in their home that request has to be on a durable medium, such as a text, an email or a signed form. There is an exception for a visit the customer asked for to do urgent repairs, but it does not cover extra work on top of the repair.

In practice: send the quote, the cancellation information and a line asking them to confirm they want you to start straight away, all in writing. It is a few minutes of admin that protects the whole job.

Some will, even with everything written down. Stay calm, keep it in writing, and go back to what was agreed. A reply like, here is the quote you accepted on the 3rd, the extra socket was priced by text on the 6th and you said yes, ends most arguments on its own.

If it goes further, Citizens Advice has free guidance for consumers and businesses, and a big dispute is worth an hour with a solicitor. This post is a plain English summary, not legal advice.

The written record starts before the quote. It starts when the customer first gets in touch and tells you what they want. If that call is missed, or taken up a ladder and forgotten by teatime, you are already guessing.

Nero Engine answers every call and message 24/7, takes the customer's name, number and what the job is, and sends it straight to your phone in writing, with your reviews at the top of the page for anyone checking you out first. It is £299 a month, one extra job a month covers it. Not happy after the first thirty days? You get your money back.