What a "factura" is a factura? Car repair cost in Poland.

Imagine your car breaks down. Turns out it needs a new alternator. You want to shop for best quote. 2-3 garages give you written quotes. You take it to the cheapest. Work is done. You get an invoice with a breakdown of parts, labour, tax, etc. After you pay you get a receipt of payment. ...Have you noticed? As you drive off you have 3 pieces of paper: a quote, an invoice, and a receipt. Each reads the same price. What country are you in? US?...UK?. Thats right!. Alas, not so in Poland. Here, we have a factura. Which to all tradesmen means either of the three, depending on who you talk to. Unfortunately, apart from saving paper the idea of one piece of paper doing all three things has no advantages. As I have noticed having moved to Poland last year, tradesmen are all given to the most annoying habit of hiking the final price when it comes to paying for the job. No ones gives written quotes, and without any remorse you get told, time after time, " Oh an extra piece of pipe, extra 3 bricks, extra can of paint " are to blame that you now have to pay 50, or even 100% more than what you had been told it would!!!. No written quote, no sense of keeping to the agreement. What is the way to prevent being gazumped like this? Does any one know of any way to deal with this? Where does the law stand on that? And above all, what in the world is a role of a factura? Thanks for any tips..Sylvio

If you don't speak polish and are assertive people will.rip you off in Poland. It's like that anywhere in the world really but in Poland we have a lot of what we call cwaniaczki - smart asses...

Quotes (oral or written) for the small projects you mentioned aren't necessarily a guarantee.

Therefore you should clarify with them beforehand if their prices are only an estimate or a guaranteed final price.

If they say it is the final price then tell them you agree and won't pay any more once you accept the work was done satisfactorily.

Also let them know that if the work requires more supplies or time to complete than they originally factored in then they should inform you before continuing so you can agree to it or not.

Another thing to consider is if they told you when presented the bill that there was a need for extra time or materials than original thought then are the final costs reasonable. They should be able to demonstrate to you what extra work was done. For instance, if they needed to replace a pipe and when doing so more of it broke to due age and deterioration then yes costs for the extra time and materials may be reasonable to complete the job. Your position shouldn't be that they gave you a quote but when the work was more involved than anyone could have realized that they should essentially do the extra work or use extra materials at no additional cost to you.

And always inspect the work. If they said more was required but it is obvious it wasn't done then tell them you will only pay the original quote.

So ask for one. It's called a faktura proforma.

and therefore we never waste a time for such thing like a quote. During a private investigation (family, friends) we find out who is solid and has reasonable prices. Additionally this is a safety valve defending us (tradesmen) against smart asses (like you) who are good yapping monkeys and catch the slightest word. I always ask people which way they want to go, everything (materials) from the top shelf, top brands or cooperation. I will fight for good prices with all my knowledge but expect a reward.