Difference between revisions of "If You're Not Happy with a Service"

This script discusses what you can do if you buy services that are unsatisfactory.  

Your contract is with the person or company who provides the service. (If a person is an employee of a company, your contract is with the company only.) Your rights and obligations depend on BC law and the terms of the contract. A contract does not need to be in writing. It can be a verbal contract.  

Look carefully at guarantees and warranties in your purchase contract. For example, a painter might guarantee that your house won’t need repainting for five years. But guarantees and warranties are often so vague, or buried in so many qualifications, that they may not be worth anything to you. If the service provider makes any promises or guarantees, get them in writing—before you sign the contract—and make sure you understand any limits on them. If your painter, for example, has a standard guarantee that excludes brickwork, and you don’t like that, discuss it. If the painter says, “Oh, don’t worry, I’ll guarantee your brickwork too”, don’t just accept that. Change the term in the contract to say the guarantee includes brickwork, and get the painter to initial the change.

These implied terms are that the service provider must:

So, if you hire someone to perform a service for you, and the person performs the service poorly, you can sue the person for breaking an implied term of the contract, even if you had no written agreement and didn’t talk about the quality of service.

To avoid misunderstandings and arguments, it’s best to have express terms, not implied terms. Implied terms are broad, and different people can interpret them to mean different things. So if it’s important that the job be done by a certain date, set the date. If you don’t, the service provider only has to get the job done within a reasonable time. And that may be longer than you want. Also, include in the contract what will happen if the service provider doesn’t live up to the contract.

Oral contracts are much harder to prove, so make sure your agreement is in writing—especially if it involves a lot of money. Even though an oral contract is legal, it can be very hard to prove. It can also lead to misunderstandings about what you and the other side expect.  

Make sure that the written contract has all the terms that are important to you, and don’t leave any term in the contract just because it’s a standard term. If a term doesn’t apply to you, cross it out, initial the change and get the other side to initial the change too.

If you pay cash, you’ll have no evidence that you paid the service provider, and no recourse if there’s a problem.

If you have a written repair estimate, the person doing the repairs cannot charge you for work that isn’t described in the estimate, unless you consent to it. But if you have a dispute with a person, you may have to pay the bill first and go to court later. That’s because some repair people can put a “repairer’s lien” on the thing they repaired and keep it until you pay the bill. Or, the repairperson can sell the item to pay for the repairs.

==In some cases, you may be able to sue==

==Remember, complain promptly==

==More information==

*Check with Consumer Protection BC. It has a list of resources and links for consumers. You can also phone Consumer Protection BC at 1.888.564.9963 for help.