What the law actually says
The Consumer Rights Act 2015 consolidated decades of UK consumer protection into one statute. For services specifically, it implies three terms into every consumer contract — whether or not anything was written down.
Reasonable care and skill
The work must be done to the standard a competent provider in that trade would meet. Sloppy, unsafe, or amateurish work breaches this term.
Reasonable time
Where no completion date was agreed, the service must still be performed within a reasonable period. Indefinite delays breach this term.
Reasonable price
Where no price was fixed in advance, you only have to pay a reasonable amount — not whatever the provider later invoices.
What you can demand when a service goes wrong
- 1Repeat performance: the provider must redo the inadequate work at no extra cost to you, within a reasonable time and without significant inconvenience.
- 2Price reduction: if repeat performance is impossible, refused, or not done in reasonable time, you can demand a reduction in price — anywhere from a small amount up to a full refund, depending on how serious the failure is.
These are statutory rights. A provider cannot contract out of them — any term in their contract trying to remove or limit these core rights is unenforceable.
Things said before you booked count too
Information a trader gives you about themselves or the service — in a quote, on a website, or verbally — becomes a binding term of the contract if you relied on it when deciding to book. If a builder says “we’re Gas Safe registered” and they’re not, that misrepresentation is itself a breach.
Rights vs the ability to enforce them
The Act gives you strong rights. The practical problem is enforcement: a reluctant trader can ignore letters, forcing you toward chargebacks or the small claims court, which take weeks. This is the “enforcement gap” — the difference between having a right and being able to use it quickly.
Platform service guarantees exist to close that gap. The Gera Action Warranty doesn’t replace your Consumer Rights Act protections — it sits on top of them, giving you a documented, capped, fast resolution path so you rarely need to invoke your statutory rights through a court at all.