That's a fair answer just never happened that way before so was not expecting it. For example, last week I had plaster work done in my house. Builder quoted £1200, thats what I paid him. In fact every bit of work I get done, the quote is what I end up paying. When somebody tells me he'll do the work for £500, thats what I expect to be paying at the end. If he said it'll be £500 + VAT on top then thats another matter. Basically there is now a blurred line on a verbal quotes.

Hi, I had a gardener come round my house the other week to chop down trees. He verbally quoted me for the work £500 I just had the invoice through the door and it has the work for £500 and and extra £100 for 20% VAT I wasn't expecting this. Surely a quote is total cost. Surely residential people dont also have to factor in VAT from tradespeople. Have messaged back saying I wasn't expecting VAT and in the meantime thought I would ask on here if this is normal and WWYD?

Another thing (sorry for numerous posts on this)> Say I do pay the guy the £25.. does that mean I get to keep the broken Gazebo? I can at least try to flog the canvas which is still in good order.

Are you him? In all seriousness, why wasn't the advice then "I would advise to leave it down until the day of the party" rather than "I have checked the weather, it's pretty secure and should be OK". With hindsight, I would have 100% taken it down until it was needed. But he set it up for me, left me thinking it would be alright and left me to it. I don't think I showed lack of care, it was up for 1.5 days before it blew down!

He (the hire company) put up the Gazebo. He showed me how to bring it down in extreme weather if I needed to. On morning of the day it blew over I checked the setup (hot tub and gazebo) and there was no cause of concern for me to think it should be brought down. If i'd known, of course I would have.

I guess in addition to my argument, I had conflicting advice regarding the Gazebo. If he had stated to take it down and only erect it for the party then I would have followed that advice. He brought it Tuesday, knowing the party was Saturday.... funnily enough, it was supposed to be delievered on Friday morning but he offered to bring it early - on the Tuesday (probably made it easier for him) so if he delivered it on the day we were supposed to get it then it may not have happened

Yes - but also said he has checked whats coming up weather wise and "It should be OK" I checked it Thurs morning and it was still in place and fine. The wind was pretty much the same as when he put it up. Got home from work where I found the frame mangled on my lawn. I am not a gazebo or weather expert so how can anybody have the foresight for it? For all I know it could have been a single gust of wind? Plus, does that mean, if today a bolt of lightning hits the hot tub and breaks that I would also have to pay for that too?

OK an update: My text to him yesterday: His response: Personally, I still feel that I haven't done anything wrong and whilst I understand £25 is not a lot of money, I think the principle of it is where I stand. What would any of you guys do? The bit in the Ts&Cs that applies here:

I'm at work currently, what do you want a picture of? The gazebo frame? See my post reply above for a link to what it should look like and I will get up a picture tonight

I model is pretty much one of these... http://www.gardenstreet.co.uk/draper-concertina-folding-gazebo-3m-x-3m-p3231 The horizontal poles are concertina folding type and the winds caused the stresses here and completely bent the metal poles from their screws (snapped metal in places). So in a word... no!

Pretty much my take on it! I'm gutted in a way because he was a really nice guy and I don't want there to be a sour ending to it. So far he is communicating by text messages and I will undoubtedly run into him when he comes back to get the hot tub

Hi, recently I hired a hot tub from a company online who delivered it for a week of hire and put up a small, open sided gazebo around the tub and secured it in place. I hadn't yet moved or touched the gazebo. The first day was OK, on the second day, I came home from work, and the gazebo had broken free of it's secure fixings and ended up on my lawn. The frame was in a bad shape and clearly could not be used again. I informed the "company" (by all accounts it's just one person) and told them exactly what happened. His response was that I should be charged for it. I still have the hot tub at my house and have just requested a copy of my Ts and Cs (which we didn't get after we had signed and paid the money for). But just from a legal point of view, who has the stronger case?

I sort of got my way. They cancelled the order but I had to pay £9 for the fact they cut the carpet. Ah well, I leave it at that.

OK so here is the section in their T&Cs I have been directed to: b. Cancelling during the cooling off period If you are a consumer you have a legal right to cancel the Contract and return the Product to us during the "cooling off period". The "cooling off period" starts when we send you the Order Confirmation and ends on the expiry of the period of 7 working days beginning with the day after the day on which you receive the product. 'Working days' means Monday-Friday excluding public holidays. You can return any product you have bought exclusively through our site/by telephone as long as (i) it has not been not made to order or (ii) it is in (or can be restored to) the same physical state it was supplied in. i. Made to order Products. Almost all of our sofa Products are bespoke and handmade to your specification and we cannot therefore accept any returns or exchanges unless the Product is defective. As such, once your order has been confirmed by us you will not have any right to cancel the Contract or return the Product after delivery unless it is defective. Please carefully consider your decision to place an order before doing so. We strongly recommend that you visit an ScS store to check the colour, feel and range of other sofa options available before you buy. ii. Products that by reason of their nature, cannot be returned We cannot accept returns of a Product that is not in (or can be restored to) the same physical state it was supplied in. That means you cannot return our carpets, vinyl or laminate lengths after they have been cut and fitted, unless they are defective. You can, however, return flooring lengths uncut, before they have been laid, during the cooling off period. To notify us of your decision to cancel during the cooling off period, either email us at or write to us at A. Share & Sons Limited T/A ScS at 45–49 Villiers Street, Sunderland, SR1 1HA. You will need to return your cancelled Products to us. Please see the returns section below which tells you how to do that. We will pay for returning a Product if it is defective. You will pay our collection charge or (if we cannot collect the Product, the return costs) if the Product is not defective. We will process any refund due to you for the price of the product already paid, and the delivery charge as soon as we can and in any event within 30 days of the date of your cancellation notice.

This is the thing, it's now down to interpretation isn't it. But it is definitely re-sellable that's for sure. As long as I keep everything in an email trail and have it in writing I guess I can only see where this leads.