My son is an artist and was commissioned to paint a family portrait early last year. He prepared mock ups of the painting given the clients brief and the client then chose a different mock up. My son has an email trail that shows him telling the client that he wouldn't recommend the chosen mock up because the composition wasn't correct however the client advised him to go ahead. The painting was completed and delivered to the client, who was overall pleased but asked for a minor adjustment to be made to a small part of the painting. My son did this and returned it to the client. He heard nothing for 2 months and received no payment. After 2 months he sent an email to the client with a payment reminder. The client emailed back to say that the person who he had commissioned the painting for did not like it and he therefore was not going to pay for it. He asked my son to take it back, remove some of the subjects and place it all on a smaller canvas, then he would perhaps come to an agreement to buy it. Despite the difficulty involved in this my son did it. He then received an email from the client saying that due to the amount of time that had passed he was going to enforce his statutory rights under the consumer credit act and cancel the painting as it wasn't what he had asked for. He did however acknowledge in his email that my son was an excellent artist. My son has therefore been left heavily out of pocket. He has spent money on materials and over 100 hours of his time.
Is the client able to do this. Does the consumer credit act apply given that this was a commissioned piece and would my son have much chance of recovering his money through a civil action in the small claims court (Scotland)
Is the client able to do this. Does the consumer credit act apply given that this was a commissioned piece and would my son have much chance of recovering his money through a civil action in the small claims court (Scotland)