A customer worked through a quote of ours and came back with a sharp question: given the VAT, surely the figure covered four loads rather than three?
He was reading it carefully, which is exactly right, and the confusion was ours to clear up. Here is how a clearance quote is built.
The parts
The base rate and the first load. Booking secures the crew for the day and one load. This is the single largest number on the quote.
Additional loads on the same day. Half price. That is not a discount for negotiating; it is how the pricing works, because the crew and the journey are already paid for. The second and third loads cost the same as each other.
Set-charge items. Mattresses, fridges and freezers, tyres, paint, and upholstered seating under the POPs rules. These are charged per item because the disposal sites charge us per item. They are listed separately so you can see them.
VAT on the total. Prices we quote are shown plus VAT and we are VAT registered — the invoice carries the number and full company details.
Where the confusion usually comes from
Two places.
If you take a total that includes VAT and divide it by the per-load rate excluding VAT, you get a load count that is too high. That is what happened to the customer above.
And "from £695" is the first load, not the whole job. A firm quoting a bare starting figure for a three-bedroom house is quoting the entry price, not the price.
What you should be able to see
Ask for the quote to show: the number of loads expected, the per-load rate, any set-charge items itemised, and VAT separately. Any legitimate firm can produce that in a sentence. If the answer is a single number with no working, ask again.
And on the day
The team leader confirms the load count after the walk-round, before anything is lifted. If it has changed from the estimate, up or down, you are told then rather than at the end.