If you have paid for a consumer service (e.g., a haircut, make a wedding cake or provide transportation), the commercial entity providing the consumer service has a legal obligation to exercise reasonable care and skill. If during the course of providing the consumer service, or upon completion of the consumer service, you discover that the commercial entity has failed to exercise reasonable care and skill, Bermuda’s consumer protection legislation entitles you to ask the commercial entity to either:

Provide additional services to amend any observed issues at no additional cost; or

Ask for a discount to account for the commercial entity failing to exercise reasonable care and skill in delivering the consumer services specifically requested.

Bermuda’s consumer protection legislative framework states that, upon discovery of a commercial enterprise failing to exercise reasonable care and skill in providing a consumer service, the default position is to allow the commercial entity to provide the consumer service again at no additional cost to the consumer.

Alternatively, depending on the severity of the damage caused due to the poor quality of service it may be worthwhile to negotiate a discount on the original sales price. However, depending on the harm caused by the commercial entity, and the nature of the consumer service provided, it may not be possible to provide the consumer service again due to the fact that:

• It is not possible to provide the service again (i.e., a bad haircut);

• It would take too long to get the service done again (i.e., production and delivery of a new wedding cake on the day of the wedding); or

• It would be very inconvenient for you to get the service done again.

• In circumstances where the commercial entity is unable to re-do the consumer services, the default position is for the commercial entity to provide the affected consumer with a full or partial refund of the consumer service.

It is at this stage that Consumer Affairs communicates the necessity to inspect all consumer services provided at the time of completion and exercise caution when communicating your satisfaction of work performed.

If you inform the provider of a consumer service that you are satisfied with the quality of their consumer services at the time of the completion, you will lose your ability to pursue a claim against the commercial entity in the future if you later discover they failed to exercise reasonable care and skill. Prior to communicating your satisfaction of work performed it may be worthwhile to obtain the opinion of a qualified third party.