ᐅ Cost increase surcharge for the kitchen after contract signing
Created on: 13 Oct 2021 07:47
E
exto1791
Hello everyone,
Yesterday we received the final offer for our kitchen, and we noticed the following clause in the offer:
"The offer is valid until 28.02.2022. If the kitchen is accepted after 01.03.2022, we unfortunately have to charge a price increase surcharge of 4.5%."
I don’t quite understand this. If I place the order for the kitchen now, I am committing to the price in the offer, so I shouldn’t have to accept any surcharge. We are planning to move in around April/May, so it’s quite possible the kitchen won’t be accepted before 01.03.2022.
The dealer’s response was that the kitchen should be taken into stock by February next year, meaning the kitchen would need to be measured early enough once the plasterer has finished. Then it might still be possible to avoid the surcharge.
We are really very, very happy with our kitchen builder, but I honestly think this is unacceptable. What experiences have you had with this? Is this actually common?
Yesterday we received the final offer for our kitchen, and we noticed the following clause in the offer:
"The offer is valid until 28.02.2022. If the kitchen is accepted after 01.03.2022, we unfortunately have to charge a price increase surcharge of 4.5%."
I don’t quite understand this. If I place the order for the kitchen now, I am committing to the price in the offer, so I shouldn’t have to accept any surcharge. We are planning to move in around April/May, so it’s quite possible the kitchen won’t be accepted before 01.03.2022.
The dealer’s response was that the kitchen should be taken into stock by February next year, meaning the kitchen would need to be measured early enough once the plasterer has finished. Then it might still be possible to avoid the surcharge.
We are really very, very happy with our kitchen builder, but I honestly think this is unacceptable. What experiences have you had with this? Is this actually common?
driver55 schrieb:
No wonder there’s now a surcharge. After all, they have to earn some money.
Okay, it was corrected to 7 cycles. Still, that’s hundreds of euros “planned away”… Wow... either some people here are completely out of touch with reality or they have absolutely zero experience in this field?
I have dealt with this kind of effort as both a customer and a supplier in many different areas, and I would never even consider "collecting the money" after just 2-3 planning rounds. Wow... this is just part of the process? It’s called everyday work?
hampshire schrieb:
The one-month period might be related to a fixed price increase from the supplier, which the kitchen builder would have to absorb. That would create a different basis for negotiation than a general clause that applies after x months in the standard offer. For successful negotiation, it’s helpful to consider the situation of the other party. If you remove some of the emotional aspect and start to take an interest in your business partner, a good outcome will likely result. It’s not that I don’t understand or don’t want to understand the economic background, no question. Primarily, it’s about the manner in which things were handled...
In many other cases, I was informed on time (without having to ask) if something concerning me was coming up.
The planning in the kitchen area was excellent, great, everything wonderful, and we are still very satisfied. It’s precisely for this reason that this “randomly thrown in” 4.5% price increase (wherever it came from) did not suit us. The proposed solutions were not satisfactory, and such practice is certainly not common everywhere. So I am allowed to be upset about it and to react somewhat emotionally, especially since my counterpart in this area clearly did not care at all.
But yes, ultimately a mutually agreeable solution must be found, and I will manage that... Somehow it always works out in the end.
When I started this thread, it was simply about price increases in the kitchen sector (timing of the offer / contract conclusion / delivery), because unfortunately I had not experienced this there before.
In other industries, including the housebuilding sector, it is quite common that after the order is placed with the supplier, no further price increases occur.
Unfortunately, some have digressed here and moved on to topics that have nothing to do with the matter, which I find (as is sadly common in forums) very unfortunate.
But never mind, I am picking out the useful ideas and information for myself 🙂
Once again: we are moving in two weeks, so yes, I have built and everything has gone according to plan, but progress depends on the type of person, their expertise/knowledge level/connections with municipal authorities, and so on. What you are experiencing is a luxury problem (if it stays that way), which will occur in 4-5 months. Suppliers and manufacturers are all struggling, losing jobs, going on short-time work, etc., so it’s quite possible that a sales representative simply overlooked something, or there are other reasons—but there’s no need to be more catholic than the pope!
I could write you a novel about all the things that can still go wrong, especially when I see your building readiness like this...
In this case, the kitchen will be your smallest problem.
It starts at the roof tiles and goes all the way down to the house connections.
I could write you a novel about all the things that can still go wrong, especially when I see your building readiness like this...
In this case, the kitchen will be your smallest problem.
It starts at the roof tiles and goes all the way down to the house connections.
RE-1407 schrieb:
Once again: we are moving in two weeks, so yes, I have built the house and everything went according to plan, but progress really depends on the type of person, their expertise/background/contacts with local authorities, etc. What you’re dealing with is a luxury problem (as long as it stays that way), which will become a reality in 4-5 months. Suppliers and manufacturers are all struggling, losing jobs, going into short-time work, and so on. It’s quite possible that a sales representative simply made a mistake, or there’s some other issue, but you don’t have to be stricter than the strictest authority!
I could write you a novel about everything that can still go wrong, especially when I see your building readiness... The kitchen will be your smallest problem. It starts with the roof tiles at the top and ends with the utility connections at the bottom. That’s true, but I’m of the opinion that one issue is unrelated to the other.
No matter what goes wrong – no matter the extent – it’s always frustrating, and then the focus must be on finding a solution.
The point is: for me, this wasn’t a “graceful” approach nor a satisfactory solution – period.
exto1791 schrieb:
In other industries, including the housebuilding sector, it is quite common that no change orders follow after ordering from the supplier.
Unfortunately, that is absolute nonsense! They might not call it a change order there, but when money is involved, rest assured it gets a name. Whether in the automotive industry, concrete industry, aerospace or shipping, and so on—this is standard practice. Contracts are even terminated and rewritten!
exto1791 schrieb:
Right, but I believe that one thing has nothing to do with the other.
No matter what goes wrong—regardless of the magnitude—it is always bad. Then the focus has to be on finding a solution.
The point is: For me, this was neither a “professional” approach nor a satisfactory solution—period.
I agree with that statement.
Possible solutions: discount for early payment? / measurement before the key date? / skipping a month possible? / upgrading a piece of equipment possible?
RE-1407 schrieb:
Unfortunately, absolute nonsense! They might not call it TZ there, but you can be sure they have a term for it when money is involved.
Whether in the automotive industry, concrete industry, aviation and shipping, etc., this is everyday business.
Contracts are even terminated and redrawn!
I agree with that statement.
Solution: Possible discount? / Measurement before cutoff date? / Skipping a month possible? / Upgrading a device possible? - He already offered us a discount from the beginning, so that is already included.
- Skipping a month sounds good. I will bring it up as soon as I have the construction schedule; then I will have a rough idea if I can use it or not.
- Upgrading a device – yes, that would be a solution if absolutely nothing else works – more like cash in hand 😀
I would definitely try to negotiate the amount then.
As I said, a solution will be found within the next 1-2 weeks 🙂