What examples does eveyone put on their quotes/invoices etc relaying to terms and conditions. Because from what ive read in an earlier post, it makes no dif what we put down coz we dont have a leg to stand on anyways :twisted: So whats best practice to have on our paperwork thats 'legal' and actually 'works for us' Suggestions?
Don't agree that we don't have a leg to stand on. We had, on one occasion, full benefit of our terms & conditions when a client tried to gazump us on materials agreed. He'd paid his first payment and then started to demand more for the same price and threaten us. We cancelled his order and paid him back his payment, excluding the "cancellation" charge - as mentioned in our T&C's. In the end, after he submitted this case to the small courts and a mediator was appointed, it was the T&C of trading that won the day for us! Best practise does not start with your Terms & Conditions really, in my honest opinion. It starts with being upfront and straight forward what your client can expect from your materials and services. This means also, and I know this is not common in this trade, to specify services and materials in your quotations and order confirmations (see the story above, that was another item that helped us win this case). In your quote and not in the "small print" state what your normal practise is. For instance, we don't touch skirtingboards (long story ;-)), rooms need to be empty before we start the installation and existing floorcovering removed by client. Next, state your terms of payment: xx amount on order, xx amount on delivery, xx amount on completion of the job. (This also helps to scare away the time wasters and customers from hell who try to avoid paying anything upfront.) When the client accepts your quotation: PUT EVERYTHING IN WRITING AND LET THEM SIGN A COPY. On this order confirmation you repeat all your terms (some can be on the back indeed as "small print" - or print out a separate page but mention near the sign area the client also signs to accept the T&C attached with the letter), send two copies to the client (add a SAS envelop for convenience) and in the letter ask them to sign one full copy and return this to you. There are plenty of examples of correct T&C of Trading, have a look at Business Links' website. Every business is different, so T&C's can't really be copies of other businesses. If you find a good copy, go over it and change (add/edit) items you think are relevant to your business. If you want I can email you an example of both our quotes and order confirmation template and standard T&C.
I think that "Goods and materials" belong to the supplier,not customer until all monies totally paid and complete can and has as i have seen in the past.If you mean on the other hand that if you fit ie a "LVT" supplied by the customer and the subloor is fitted by the customer meaning that you labour only and something goes wrong then you might have a problem,it may be caused that you should have made sure that any installation with your relevant experience will be up to standard and correct allowing you to be responsible for the end result.
It was goods and materials i was meaning mate Im not a fan of customers prepping themselves tbh Too many variables that might be missed if they did it themselves ie moisture/bitumen etc Not worth my headache At least if i do it all myself they get a full guarantee from me as well as the manufacturer :smile:
