Should I get what I paid for?

In March 2017, I paid one graphic designer/communications designer for some services worth P60,000 and I paid him P50,000 upfront.

It has now been more than a year, the ONLY thing he has submitted is a logo, business cards and one editable letterhead. I have not paid him the remaining P10k because we were retrenched last year November and I am unemployed. I need your advice here, Sir. I feel like I should terminate the rest of his services and ask for my money back or find a way to pay the remaining balance. In this case also, what is the best approach because for that long I have been asking for the remaining work but he gets arrogant and I ended up paying extra fees for something that he has promised to do? I think I have spent more than P10k asking for the same services that were covered on the invoice.

I think this all depends on what you agreed that he would supply and what he’s failed to deliver so far. What’s clear is that he has failed to deliver part of what you agreed and I think you need to make it clear that you know your rights and are prepared to demand he respects them.

The good news is that the law is on your side. Section 14 (1) of the Consumer Protection Act says that when “a supplier undertakes to perform any services for or on behalf of a consumer, the consumer has a right to … timely performance and completion of those services (and) timely notice of any unavoidable delay”. Clearly he’s failed to do that. Section 14 (2) also says that when a supplier fails to satisfy this requirement, they must “refund the consumer a reasonable portion of the price paid for the services performed and goods supplied, having regard to the extent of the failure”. In other words if they only deliver half of the work, you’re entitled to half of the money back.

However, there are some problems you might face. Firstly, you might have left this too long to take legal action against him. I’m not an attorney but I know that certain legal claims become ‘prescribed’ after certain periods. He might argue that you’ve left this too long and a court might agree with him. Also, he might also argue that the current Consumer Protection Act, which was passed in 2018 might not apply because you bought his services

before the Act was passed. But let’s not tell him that. Let’s both tell him that you either want what you paid for, or a partial refund.