Hi, I engaged a building designer/drafting services firm in Tas to develop concept plans for my house renovation, but have now been invoiced for double the amount originally quoted.
Here is what happened:
They are now saying that all of the $3k quoted hours had been accounted for at the time of the face-to-face meeting re the first set of concepts, and they 'assumed' that I understood that their subsequent work on revised concepts would be at additional cost.
However none of this was communicated to me, despite the fine print in their quote document clearly stating that "Client will be notified if and when design and drafting hours begin to exceed estimated costs".
They are sticking to their guns and I now have a face-to-face meeting set up for end of this week to determine the way forward.
What are my rights in this case? I am happy to pay the $3k as that is what I originally agreed - I am not disputing that. But I do dispute the additional $3k charges that were incurred without me being informed.
I'm also annoyed that they were going to charge me $3k for concepts that were never affordable within my budget (I have spoken to two builders, from the drafting firms' own list, who have both confirmed the design wouldn't be affordable in my budget).
thanks in advance for any advice provided
Here is what happened:
- They quoted me an initial cost of ~$3000 for a set of concepts which I accepted and paid the deposit for.
- I sent them a design brief two weeks before their initial site visit with my renovation budget clearly stated in red 14-point font (and repeated again in the accompanying email).
- The first set of concepts they sent me was clearly not affordable within my (cleared stated) budget. I set up a face-to-face meeting, argued the point, they agreed to provide revised concepts to better meet my budget.
- Over subsequent weeks/months (with some gaps in between while waiting for responses from builders etc) I liaised with them to refine these concepts, working with a builder to check affordability along the way.
- Now they have sent me an invoice for $6000, double the original quote.
They are now saying that all of the $3k quoted hours had been accounted for at the time of the face-to-face meeting re the first set of concepts, and they 'assumed' that I understood that their subsequent work on revised concepts would be at additional cost.
However none of this was communicated to me, despite the fine print in their quote document clearly stating that "Client will be notified if and when design and drafting hours begin to exceed estimated costs".
They are sticking to their guns and I now have a face-to-face meeting set up for end of this week to determine the way forward.
What are my rights in this case? I am happy to pay the $3k as that is what I originally agreed - I am not disputing that. But I do dispute the additional $3k charges that were incurred without me being informed.
I'm also annoyed that they were going to charge me $3k for concepts that were never affordable within my budget (I have spoken to two builders, from the drafting firms' own list, who have both confirmed the design wouldn't be affordable in my budget).
thanks in advance for any advice provided
