What a chauffeur quotation should actually say

"Executive saloon" is a category, not a vehicle. It can mean a current S-Class or a nine-year-old car of a similar shape, and both are legitimately sold under the same phrase. A quotation that names the model tells you what you are getting; one that describes a class leaves it to whoever allocates the car on the morning.

This matters most on the occasions where the car is part of the point. For a Tuesday airport run it is largely academic. For a wedding, an anniversary or a client collection, a quotation that will not name the vehicle is a quotation that has not committed to one.

A quotation should state the pick-up time and, for an airport departure, what it was calculated from. A pick-up time with no reasoning behind it is a guess dressed as a commitment. Ask which check-in cut-off it was worked back from, and whether it allows for the desk queue and security.

On an arrival, the quotation should say where the chauffeur will be. "Meet and greet" appears on almost every quotation in the trade and means at least three different things. Inside the hall with a board, or a phone call from a car park, are very different products at similar prices.

A quotation should state the price and confirm what it includes. What it should not do is make a claim about tax treatment that the business is not in a position to make. Our figures are quoted figures and the written quotation confirms the final price, what it includes and any applicable tax, which is the accurate way to put it.

If a quotation from anybody makes a specific tax claim, that is a matter between you and them, and it is worth being sure it is right rather than assuming. It is the one line on a quotation where a casual phrase can turn into a real problem for somebody later.

For a nine-mile transfer at eleven in the morning, none of this matters much. The figure is small, the risk is small, and interrogating a quotation for a short daytime journey is a poor use of anybody afternoon. Take the price and get on with your day.

Where it does matter is anything with a deadline attached, anything with a long waiting element, anything where the vehicle is part of the occasion, and anything expensive. Those are the four cases where a difference of twenty pounds between two quotations is not the thing that should decide it.

And if a quotation answers all five questions clearly and is still the more expensive one, it may simply be the more expensive one. Not every gap has a catch in it, and an operator running properly costs more than one that is not.

• Short daytime transfers: take the figure and move on
• Deadlines, long waits, expensive cars: read it properly
• Ask whether the work is being passed to somebody else
• A clear quotation that costs more may simply cost more