He was a complete cowboy!
Firstly, there is the assumption that the supplier will act with ‘reasonable care and skill’. This causes the greatest number of disputes and complaints simply due to the subjective nature of what is reasonable, and for this reason a court will take into account the nature of the service, the nature of the supplier and all other relevant circumstances. For example, if you opt to pay less to have a trainee cut your hair and you were aware of this, you would have little come back should that trainee do a poor job. If, on the other hand, you believe you are buying the services of an award-winning professional, your expectations are going to be much higher. Where substandard work has been carried out, you may well have incurred greater potential costs to have the work put right, so it is not enough simply to ask for your money back. In such circumstances, it may be more appropriate to pursue a claim for damages.
What about contracts for services?
- They are taking forever to do the work!
- It cost me a fortune!
- The price was significantly higher than the estimate
- The job was done as a ‘foreigner’. Do I have any rights?
- How much can I claim in damages?
Got father in law to complete block drive, told us it would cost £600, including materials. He was unable to get the correct materials so we purchased them – these cost £380. He is now trying to charge us another £400 for his time. The job he has done is very poor and he has cut many corners by just laying the block on sand with a bit of cement. When we mentioned to him about the quality of his work he went mad and was very abusive. Do we have to pay him the rest of the money?