What does 'removal' mean? Dispute advice please

[Andy Allen]

Why does so many people get upset with customers (even if they ain't yours)? The customer is always right.

If you regularly dispose of waste created by your business (tiling) you must register as a waste carrier (£154 for 3 years). You will then have to pay the local authority to dispose (our local rate is £47/tonne sorted waste, £115 unsorted). There are a number of alternatives - and all my customers get quotes that include trade terms and conditions including:

· Waste disposalis charged as an extra in our quotes. The contractor is happy to moveand bag (if possible) all waste generated from the work, to place in a suitablelocation on the premises (or garden) so the customer can dispose of itappropriately (at local recycling centre) and have no waste charge applied. Weare also happy to arrange for skip hire. Our charge includes bagging, transport,licensing and disposal of rubbish. Please note that we separate our waste forrecycling, and ask your support not to allow waste mixing of the bags whilst weare not on site (e.g. throwing sandwich wrappers or tins into rubble sacks) –the costs of disposing of unsorted waste is currently £115/tonne.

So I recommend making waste disposal policy very clear to customers - I find a lot of them expect you to include disposal but don't understand what it costs us. I recently had a new carpet - and the fitter wanted to charge me £75 to dispose of the old carpet. So that became my "standard" disposal fee. Of course a hippo bag might be cheaper...

Try telling phil hobson the customers always right. .

 

[smoothound]

Shows the importance of a well worded contract/quotation documentation - and more importantly good discussion before project start. Phases like 'removal of tiles and disposal of waste' etc are useful - but having a chat about exactly what's included is still important since most text is open to interpretation

You can opt for a very detailed technical T&C document that's been checked by lawyers - but that usually means loss of plain english and hence doubt as to what precisely is being specified or excluded. So for me it boils down to reasonably explicit plain language in the doc - and a good clarification discussion before a project starts.