Skip to site navigation

Accessibility Options

Font size

Colour scheme

Buying services

 
If you ask a trader to carry out a service for you - repair a TV, fit a carpet, dry clean your clothes, fit double glazing etc. - the law says that it must be done:

With reasonable care and skill 

This means that the work must be carried out properly and to a satisfactory standard. For example, if you have new windows fitted they should not start leaking because they were fitted incorrectly.

Within a reasonable time 

This means that the work must not take an excessive amount of time. If you agreed a set time with the trader, the job should not take longer than this.

For a reasonable charge 

This means that the trader must not charge an excessive amount for the work done.

Estimates and quotations

You may have been given either an estimate or a quotation:

An estimate can go up or even down but should not change greatly from the original price given.

A quotation is a fixed price for an agreed job and cannot change at all.

Buying goods

If goods are supplied as part of a service - for example, new tiles fitted to a roof, an exhaust fitted to a car - then the buying goods rules apply. 

A to Z of Services

Consumer Direct