Do we pay vendor for giving an estimate (no work done)? -

We have a small business. We had to do a minor update to our website, submitted a request for this to our site hosting company. They quoted $90. Then they said it will actually take 10 hours for $1000 total ( as it was a 5 minute work, I found out it would take this long for the developer to LEARN how to do it. There was no guarantee that she would be able to figure it out anyway, and the update had to be done at once. We found somebody else to do the update (it really took 5 minutes).Do we have to pay the $90 to the hosting company for the time it took them to give us an outrageous quote? It doesn t seem fair as no work was done.I want to see what you all think before I start fighting it.

did you agree to pay them initially? is there any type of signed agreement? we need a little more info i think But basically if they didnt render any service you dont owe them any money

Some companies give free estimates, and some don t. Most of those who don t, deduct the cost of estimate if the job is actually done. It is always a good idea to find out if there is any charge before getting the estimate. $90 might seem outrageous for the 5 minutes spent on giving the estimate, but they may be able to fight it, depending upon their policy with regard to estimates.

I can see no possible reason you should be required to or expected to by the company. A quote is supposed to be for the possibility of generating business and not a business transaction in itself, unless specifically stated beforehand. Meaning that unless they stated before giving you a quote that a quote would cost you $90 (which it doesn t sound like they did), then they have no grounds to charge you.

It takes alot more work than you may think to give an estimate for a software job. How does the change impact other parts of the software? How will it impact any custom changes to your application? They have to construct sample screens and logic to construct a design document. This all takes time. Now, they should have told you that there will be a charge upfront, if they did not, then i would protest. Else, there is a lot to giving an estimate. I was the VP of a software company. Good luck.

Absolutely not! As someone in the service business (web design), I have never expected to get paid for giving a potential client an estimate.

It s unclear from your post whether the $90 was for the quote or if $90 WAS the quote (for the work). Pay in the first scenario but not in the second.

If they gave you a quote, and they charge $90 for a quote, yes. There does not need to be a written agreement that they will be paid for their services. Absolutely not! As someone in the service business (web design), I have never expected to get paid for giving a potential client an estimate. Your personal practices have no bearing on the agreement between this asker and the other party.did you agree to pay them initially? is there any type of signed agreement? we need a little more info i think But basically if they didnt render any service you dont owe them any moneyThey clearly rendered a service by providing an estimate.