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We commissioned a traditional letter carver last year, to make our parents' memorial headstone for us.
After providing a small sketch of one of the flowers he would be carving and a tiny rough sketch of the whole flower decoration, inside the drawn outline of a headstone (no lettering), we accepted his quote and paid a third deposit, as requested. We did ask for a scale drawing first, which would have shown the whole design (including the lettering) but he said this was not part of his process (other letter carvers had provided this).
After we paid the deposit, he applied for and received all permissions required from the Local Authority. Ordered the stone. Drew the flower decoration on the stone (which we were taken aback by, as the quote stated this would be drawn full size on paper first for our approval. We were disappointed it didn't look very much like the sketch of the single flower he had drawn before we commissioned him but he said he was limited by the coarseness of the wax pencil he used to draw on the stone).
He then drew one line of full size lettering onto paper and drew several edits afterwards. After that, he drew the whole of the inscription full size on paper. He agreed with us that it didn't work, so he redrew the inscription on paper again. We were still not happy with the edit, as it didn't look like a very professional job to us.
We now have serious doubts about going any further, so before going back to him, I sought a professional opinion from a renowned letter carver and his wife (a specialist calligrapher). They confirmed that it didn't meet professional standards, ("showed a poor knowledge of letterform and spacing" was the most damning comment).
There is nothing in the quote he provided about conditions of cancellation. It just states the work involved, the total cost and one third deposit to be paid on acceptance of quote.
My question is, if we say we want to cancel, could he charge us anything for the work completed so far, in addition to the deposit? If he did and we argued that the drawings were not done with 'reasonable care and skill', (the relevant clause from the Consumer Rights Act), we can't prove that, because the couple who gave us their professional opinion do not want their names mentioned. It was really difficult to find any letter carvers to agree to give their professional opinion in the first place. Even the Lettering Arts Trust did not want to do so.
The third deposit we paid, was around the price that other letter carvers had quoted us just for the cost of the stone. They itemised all the costs. The letter carver we commissioned didn't itemise the costs in his quote, so we don't know how much he paid for the stone. If he kept the deposit and did not charge us anything more in addition, we would not feel out of pocket, as long as he released the stone to us, so that we can commission a different letter carver.
Would he be within his rights legally to charge us for the work completed so far (in addition to the deposit already paid)?
Thank you.
After providing a small sketch of one of the flowers he would be carving and a tiny rough sketch of the whole flower decoration, inside the drawn outline of a headstone (no lettering), we accepted his quote and paid a third deposit, as requested. We did ask for a scale drawing first, which would have shown the whole design (including the lettering) but he said this was not part of his process (other letter carvers had provided this).
After we paid the deposit, he applied for and received all permissions required from the Local Authority. Ordered the stone. Drew the flower decoration on the stone (which we were taken aback by, as the quote stated this would be drawn full size on paper first for our approval. We were disappointed it didn't look very much like the sketch of the single flower he had drawn before we commissioned him but he said he was limited by the coarseness of the wax pencil he used to draw on the stone).
He then drew one line of full size lettering onto paper and drew several edits afterwards. After that, he drew the whole of the inscription full size on paper. He agreed with us that it didn't work, so he redrew the inscription on paper again. We were still not happy with the edit, as it didn't look like a very professional job to us.
We now have serious doubts about going any further, so before going back to him, I sought a professional opinion from a renowned letter carver and his wife (a specialist calligrapher). They confirmed that it didn't meet professional standards, ("showed a poor knowledge of letterform and spacing" was the most damning comment).
There is nothing in the quote he provided about conditions of cancellation. It just states the work involved, the total cost and one third deposit to be paid on acceptance of quote.
My question is, if we say we want to cancel, could he charge us anything for the work completed so far, in addition to the deposit? If he did and we argued that the drawings were not done with 'reasonable care and skill', (the relevant clause from the Consumer Rights Act), we can't prove that, because the couple who gave us their professional opinion do not want their names mentioned. It was really difficult to find any letter carvers to agree to give their professional opinion in the first place. Even the Lettering Arts Trust did not want to do so.
The third deposit we paid, was around the price that other letter carvers had quoted us just for the cost of the stone. They itemised all the costs. The letter carver we commissioned didn't itemise the costs in his quote, so we don't know how much he paid for the stone. If he kept the deposit and did not charge us anything more in addition, we would not feel out of pocket, as long as he released the stone to us, so that we can commission a different letter carver.
Would he be within his rights legally to charge us for the work completed so far (in addition to the deposit already paid)?
Thank you.
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