The customer says the work isn’t right, and won’t pay

Sometimes the complaint is fair. Sometimes it arrives six weeks late, the day after you chase. Here is how to tell the difference, what the law actually says, and what to do next.

Written for UK sole traders and tradespeople. Last updated 7 September 2026. This is general information, not legal advice.

The timing tells you a lot

A real complaint usually turns up quickly and is specific. The tap drips. The second coat was missed in the back bedroom. It comes with a photo, and it comes before you have asked for money.

A complaint that surfaces for the first time after your third reminder, is vague about what is actually wrong, and grows every time you answer it, is usually about cash rather than quality. That does not mean you can dismiss it. It means you should get it in writing quickly, because vague complaints tend to shrink the moment someone has to put them in a sentence.

You get the chance to put it right first

This is the part most tradespeople do not know, and it matters more than anything else on this page.

For a private customer, the Consumer Rights Act 2015 says at section 49 that you must perform the service with reasonable care and skill. If you fall short, section 55 gives the customer the right to repeat performance: you come back and finish the job properly, at your cost, within a reasonable time.

Only then does section 56 give them a price reduction. And section 56(3) is explicit about the order: a customer can only demand money off if repeat performance is impossible, or if you were asked to put it right and failed to do so within a reasonable time.

For a business customer the Act does not apply, but the Supply of Goods and Services Act 1982 implies much the same duty of reasonable care and skill, and the practical answer is identical: offer to put it right, in writing, and keep the reply.

What to do, in order

1. 1. Get the complaint in writing, and make it specific Ask them to tell you exactly what is wrong and where, with photos. Not “the job is a mess”. Which room, which fitting, what is defective. This one request resolves a surprising number of disputes on its own.
2. 2. Offer to inspect, and offer to put it right In writing, with dates. This is the remedy the law expects you to offer, and refusing to offer it is the fastest way to lose an argument you would otherwise win.
3. 3. Ask for the undisputed part now If they are unhappy with one radiator on a £4,000 heating job, the other £3,800 is not in dispute. Say so plainly and invoice accordingly. It separates a genuine complaint from a stalling tactic within about a day.
4. 4. Put your record together The quote or spec, any agreed variations, photos on completion, sign-off if you have it, and every message since. If this ends up in front of a judge, the question is whether the work met reasonable care and skill, and that is decided on evidence rather than on who is more annoyed.
5. 5. Only then decide whether to escalate A dispute does not delete the debt. It gives them a defence they would have to make good. But going to a claim while you have never offered to return is a bad hand to play.

Two things not to do

• ×Do not go back and rip your work out. It is a common piece of pub advice and it is dangerous. Once materials are fixed to someone’s property they are generally no longer yours to take, and removing them can turn a civil argument about £2,000 into an accusation of criminal damage. Take advice before you touch anything.
• ×Do not go silent and then explode. Six weeks of nothing followed by an angry message reads badly to everyone who sees it afterwards, including a judge. Steady, dated, reasonable messages are worth more than one furious one.

If the complaint turns out to be fair

Go back and fix it. It is cheaper than the alternative almost every time, it is what the law asks of you first, and it usually gets the invoice paid in the same week. A defect you put right quickly is a story the customer tells favourably. A defect you argue about for two months is a review.