GALA Bauer invoice is getting more expensive

Hello everyone,

We bought a house last year and completely renovated it. The outdoor facilities were also supposed to be redesigned (new paving stones + garage). Therefore, in September last year, we commissioned a landscaping contractor to remove the existing paving, remove a wall and a gate, excavate for new paving, create a gravel subbase for a garage, and of course for the new paving.

We were given an offer with an invoice amount of €35,000. This was without discounts for forwarding to the bank for financing purposes (the bank insisted on offers to ensure the loan amount was plausible). This offer was then given to us in writing for €25,000 with the same services, which we accepted.

The work then began in September, but it turned out that the soil was not sufficiently load-bearing. I was verbally informed that the costs for excavation and disposal would increase significantly. Initially, I was told verbally that the additional costs would be €5,000, and then a few days later, €10,000. I approved these €10,000. Accordingly, the costs were supposed to rise to €35,000.

The excavation work and the first deliveries of RCL for the gravel subbase for the garage were also completed in September.

An interim invoice of €9,500 was paid and the services of the container service (machine rental, RCL, excavation disposal, etc.) were paid with €8,800. Additionally, €750 was given in cash to the landscaping contractor as a deposit for an excavator bucket. In total, almost €19,000 has been paid so far.

Unfortunately, the building permit for the garage was delayed until the end of the year, so the garage work only began in 2025 and was completed at the end of April.

Now I contacted the landscaping contractor to arrange a date for when the work would continue.

However, they have now announced that the following costs are still outstanding after completion of the work:

- €5,000 gross
- €10,000 net
- Crane for material delivery (€1,700 including tax)
- 3-4 containers of RCL (approx. €1,050)

Altogether, he now wants €7,750 gross and €10,000 net. With the €19,000 already paid, we would now be at €36,750. But the €10,000 net is also included in that, which plus tax is at least €11,900. And to be honest, we know what the craftsman means by the net price and the price on the invoice is significantly higher ;)

So we are therefore at least €38,650 gross, which is almost €4,000 more than that anyway.

When asked how the price could rise again like this, it was justified that with 300 estimated remaining hours the wage alone would be €13,500 excluding tax. However, I was offered a price per sqm via the offer and never agreed to a change to an hourly basis. Also, the crane was never planned at the beginning and is now supposed to be paid for the material delivery.

Now to my question:

What options do I have here? Do I have to swallow the extra cost? Can the landscaping contractor just keep increasing the amount indefinitely?

Thank you very much in advance :)

When I read this, I remember our story here. We also had a clear written offer, which we also accepted in writing. After about 25% of the work, we were supposed to pay almost the full amount, justified by the fact that they had done a few things more than stated in the offer. That's true to some extent; there were a few extra things, so we paid for that as well and would have paid more. Suddenly, however, after about 40% of the work was done, an additional 150% of the original price was to be charged. He himself realized that this was strange and then said that the offer only applied to 1 week of work, not the entire service. Uff. That was really weird and he didn’t show up for the agreed meeting either. We then stopped the payment and he took off and never came back. At some point, something came from the collection agency; I contacted them and explained that this amount (about 6k) had long been disputed, so they ended their activities. Nothing ever came of it again and then we found an individual who gradually did the work alone according to their possibilities. We now occasionally do things with him and it works quite well. The crazy thing is that the same company made me an offer for the [UK dr Holzfassade] and I confirmed that in writing. On the 2nd day of work with two men, I was then told that the screws would not hold and that every rod would have to be glued in with two-component adhesive. What did I do? I said yes, because the work had to continue, and paid an extra €3,000. I can’t give you any advice there, also because every case is different and the protagonists are completely different, so the results vary. For us, it eventually became clear that he had probably completely miscalculated with his offer, which also seemed quite cheap to me, but he said at the beginning that he could manage that. Our construction time was during Corona and unfortunately we got caught like that several times. A garden landscaper was supposed to pave and build a path covering. We were supposed to pay for the materials ourselves, which he would always order. Stupid of me to agree to that because he ordered ready-mix concrete and excavators that then stood around for days, etc. Meanwhile, we removed the path covering because it was done incorrectly and laid it ourselves with nice gravel for €500. One evening, I made him his coffee, handed him €100 for his birthday, and told him not to come back. I simply don’t like working with people who make me feel cheated. During construction with time pressure, you might sometimes have to put up with it, but in the garden, I wouldn't want to deal with that. Maybe it gets even worse afterwards, but maybe you also meet someone with whom it’s fun for the long term. We found two really great people like that whom we call again from time to time if needed.

Gross/net? So undeclared work?

Then it will be difficult anyway.

But to put it briefly: If the provider miscalculated, it is his problem, not yours.

Phew, sounds like your GALA gardener is quite a rascal....

With GALA 1, we got an offer that fit very well within our budget and expectations through his very likeable employee. After signing, we never saw this employee again and then the staff and the extremely annoying boss started working, and after 2 weeks the boss sent us a new offer – from 50k to 90k. We asked why a new offer, we want it as discussed, and he babbled on, difficult difficult, and said he could go down a bit again but then it would be our own fault because then he would have to do everything "cheap cheap," etc.

We didn’t want to go with "cheap cheap" for something under 90k and obviously he lost interest in our garden.

We openly asked what he had done so far and asked him to invoice that and take a break, we paid and later told him he didn’t need to come anymore.

On recommendation, we found GALA 2, a nice small business with only 2 bosses who do everything themselves – very trustworthy and very positive and honest. We still keep in touch with them today.

What can I share with you from my GALA experience – sometimes it’s worth making a cut and searching again. Even if it costs time and a bit of money. As already says, with the garden the time is easier to bear.

Find out what your GALA has done so far, he should get the money for that and then leave.

Was there an order confirmation signed besides the offer? These companies often have "opening clauses" on the last page stating that the actual invoice amount to be charged can still change under "difficult conditions, blah blah blah." And then the site manager shouts from the excavator cabin about what "became more difficult," and the client nods because he only understood half of it, and so it all comes about in the end.

If the offer is based on square meters and you can prove through measurement what he is actually entitled to at first, I would apply that. If there is nothing in the offer or order confirmation about the delivery of building materials being paid for separately, I would politely refuse him that.

Additional expenses due to, for example, non-load-bearing soil are annoying, but one has to be fair. That happened to us. The garden landscaper called me over and showed me the peat lens on which we could not place 320 kg of angle stones. So the soil was removed and gravel put in. We talked about the almost exact costs and shook on it.

An experienced garden landscaper has such costs immediately available because he buys and sells materials and services almost daily.

All you have left is the unknown offer, the actual square meters on site, and the rest is a memory protocol of what you saw, heard, and discussed during the construction work.

Advice like "don't pay anything anymore" or "don't question further, just pay" is not helpful here.

Hi,

thank you first of all for the numerous responses.

I would like to provide you with the offer. But unfortunately, all PDFs are greyed out for me when I want to attach the files.