Funeral Director charging more for headstone work than I signed for?

[ODC]

Re: Funeral Director charging more for headstone work than I signed for?

You obviously know very little about resetting headstones Salsmoss

[Geebs]

Re: Funeral Director charging more for headstone work than I signed for?

You obviously know very little about resetting headstones Salsmoss

Resetting of a headstone is immaterial, it means nothing to the point that I signed a legally binding contract for £200.66. They then sent a bill for £467.96 for "extra" work which I did not know about, authorise or agree to. No matter how you look at it, this is wrong, I aint gonna roll over and accept it.

[ODC]

Re: Funeral Director charging more for headstone work than I signed for?

Resetting of a headstone is immaterial, it means nothing to the point that I signed a legally binding contract for £200.66. They then sent a bill for £467.96 for "extra" work which I did not know about, authorise or agree to. No matter how you look at it, this is wrong, I aint gonna roll over and accept it.

I suggest you read my replies. Nowhere did I suggest you roll over and accept it. I did suggest you speak with the Funeral Director and try to sort it out amicably.

[Geebs]

Re: Funeral Director charging more for headstone work than I signed for?

I suggest you read my replies. Nowhere did I suggest you roll over and accept it. I did suggest you speak with the Funeral Director and try to sort it out amicably.

Had they sent me a letter apologising for the extra cost, and suggesting a monthly payment I would of been inclined to accept it. Instead they send a bill and request immediate payment. This IMO is bad business, they know they are in the wrong. But lets not get carried away with minor details here. The fact is, is the document I "signed" and agreed to a legally binding contract for the sum of £200.66? Can they increase that fee without my authorisation and still be legally entitled to it? Those are the 2 main questions that I need answered.

[ODC]

Re: Funeral Director charging more for headstone work than I signed for?

Have you actually spoken to the Funeral Director about this unexpected bill? Your legally bindind contract was for the additional inscription. As I have said on several occasions they should have contacted you before completing any other works. Equally I feel there is some onus on you to check exactly what the other charge is for and why you were not told about it.

[Geebs]

Re: Funeral Director charging more for headstone work than I signed for?

Have you actually spoken to the Funeral Director about this unexpected bill? Your legally bindind contract was for the additional inscription. As I have said on several occasions they should have contacted you before completing any other works. Equally I feel there is some onus on you to check exactly what the other charge is for and why you were not told about it.

I dont beleive there is any onus on me, it is upto them to justify the extra charge and why they did so without my permission. I have sent them a cheque for £150.66 the balance which I agreed to, along with a letter telling them I do not accept any extra charges, as they have done so without my authorisation.

[ODC]

Re: Funeral Director charging more for headstone work than I signed for?

I dont beleive there is any onus on me, it is upto them to justify the extra charge and why they did so without my permission. I have sent them a cheque for £150.66 the balance which I agreed to, along with a letter telling them I do not accept any extra charges, as they have done so without my authorisation.

Well obviously thats your choice but IMHO the whole matter may well have been sorted out with a simple phone call.

[salsmoss]

Re: Funeral Director charging more for headstone work than I signed for?

Geebs, do this now and reply later so we know that what has happened to you is deception, call trading standards for advise on this. Lets see what they have to say

[ODC]

Re: Funeral Director charging more for headstone work than I signed for?

Geebs, do this now and reply later so we know that what has happened to you is deception, call trading standards for advise on this. Lets see what they have to say

Do you actually know what the offence of deception actually is. ?

[MissFM]

Re: Funeral Director charging more for headstone work than I signed for?

ODC you obviously know the industry and how extra charges might be incurred - but surely Geebs is absolutely right in that he made a deal with these people and has paid in full according to their agreed prior contract? If this extra work were necessary surely the FD would have informed him/given him the opportunity to agree to it, in advance?

It isn't confrontational to pay the agreed sum but ignore unexplained extra charges - surely it is up to the FD to present cast-iron credible evidence that further money is owed (if indeed it is) and to do this in a rational and amicable way? It really isn't reasonable for anyone to just bung extra charges onto an invoice without prior agreement or justification and expect it to be paid without question. As salsmoss says, in any other field this would be (rightly) regarded as fraud.

[MissFM]

Re: Funeral Director charging more for headstone work than I signed for?

whoops - my last post crossed with many of yours - sorry

[wales01man]

Re: Funeral Director charging more for headstone work than I signed for?

I have been following this thread since it startedhas been some interesting posts not least the ones about a bag of sand and cement to fix the headstone if indeed it was loose,
one thing that was not made clear at the start was the price to do the work a Quotation or an Estimate there is a difference also were there any Terms and Conditions attached to the original price?.
On the face of it the price agreed is the price to pay so i dont see that the customer has to contact the FD its up to them to contact the customer if they feel they have a right to more money,will watch this with interest but my hope is the payment is final

[Geebs]

Re: Funeral Director charging more for headstone work than I signed for?

Nothing on the signed document says its an estimate or quatotion. It says "Order Form", with details I entered in a previous post.

I dont think I'm being unreasonable to reject there claim for an extra charge, as I didn't authorise it. I havent budgetted for any extra charges, and simply dont have the extra money even if I wanted to pay it. I'm not trying to get out of paying a bill, I've now paid what was agreed. I should have been notified of any extra charges before work was done. Maybe they do this on purpose, assuming the customer will just pay the bill without fuss. No doubt many people have just paid, but not me, I like to fight for my rights.

[wales01man]

Re: Funeral Director charging more for headstone work than I signed for?

Geebs,
Stick to your guns you paid the bill thats it .No doubt someone will disagree?

[ODC]

Re: Funeral Director charging more for headstone work than I signed for?

ODC you obviously know the industry and how extra charges might be incurred - but surely Geebs is absolutely right in that he made a deal with these people and has paid in full according to their agreed prior contract? If this extra work were necessary surely the FD would have informed him/given him the opportunity to agree to it, in advance? Yes as I have repeatedly said

It isn't confrontational to pay the agreed sum but ignore unexplained extra charges - surely it is up to the FD to present cast-iron credible evidence that further money is owed (if indeed it is) and to do this in a rational and amicable way? Just as it would be reasonable to expect Geebs to lift the phone to query the bill. It may well be a genuine error, it does happen even with Funeral Directors It really isn't reasonable for anyone to just bung extra charges onto an invoice without prior agreement or justification and expect it to be paid without question.As I said the bill should have been queried As salsmoss says, in any other field this would be (rightly) regarded as fraud.

Salmoss does not appear to have a grasp of the law. It would only be Fraud or deception if this was a deliberate attempt to claim money for work that was not done or needed. IMHO Salmoss strikes me as someone who has had a run in with a FD at some stage.