I Thought That Was Included in the Quote
Five words that can turn a perfectly good job into a surprisingly long conversation.
Most tradies have heard some version of it.
The job is underway. Something small comes up. The customer asks, “While you're here, can you just do this as well?”
It doesn't seem worth stopping everything over. You talk about it, agree on what needs doing and get on with the job.
Then the invoice arrives.
“Hang on. I thought that was included in the quote.”
And now two people can remember the same conversation completely differently.
The problem usually isn't the extra work
Most of these arguments don't start because somebody is trying to rip somebody else off.
They're often much simpler than that.
A small change was discussed verbally. Everyone understood it at the time. Nobody wrote it down.
Three days later, one person remembers:
“Yep, I told him that would be extra.”
The other remembers:
“No, I thought he said he'd take care of it.”
Good luck proving either version from memory.
Small variations still deserve a small record
You don't necessarily need another mountain of paperwork every time something changes.
But you do need something.
A quick message can be enough:
“Just confirming we're adding the extra power point discussed this morning. That's outside the original quote and will add approximately $___.”
Now everybody knows where they stand.
The customer gets a chance to say yes or no before the work is done, and the tradie isn't trying to reconstruct a conversation when the invoice goes out.
Record it while everybody remembers it
That's the important bit.
Don't rely on remembering to document the change tonight.
Tonight becomes tomorrow. Tomorrow becomes Friday. Then you're staring at the job wondering exactly what was said.
A thirty-second record made when the decision happens can save a thirty-minute argument later.
It doesn't need to turn the job into a courtroom.
It just needs to answer three simple questions:
What changed? Who agreed? What does it mean for the job or price?
That's usually enough to stop “I thought that was included” becoming the final conversation on an otherwise good job.
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