Returning faulty goods

  • If you receive faulty goods and wish to return them, the Regulations are in addition to your other legal rights.
  • So, if your goods are faulty and don’t do what they’re supposed to, or don’t match the description given, you have the same consumer rights under the Consumer Rights Act (which replaces the Sale of Goods Act from 1 October 2015) as you have when purchasing.
  • Any terms and conditions that say you must cover the cost of returning an item wouldn’t apply where the goods being returned are faulty.

Cancelling goods/products

  • Your right to cancel an order for goods starts the moment you place your order and ends 14 days from the day you receive your goods. If your order consists of multiple goods, the 14 day period runs from when you get the last of the batch. This 14 day period is the time you have to decide whether to cancel, you then have a further 14 days to actually send the goods back.
  • You should get a refund within 14 days of either the trader getting the goods back, or you providing evidence of having returned the goods (for example, a proof of postage receipt from the post office), whichever is the sooner.
  • A deduction can be made if the value of the goods has been reduced as a result of you handling the goods more than was necessary.
  • The trader has to refund the basic delivery cost of getting the goods to you in the first place, so if you opted for enhanced service e.g. guaranteed next day, it only has to refund the basic cost.

Cancelling Services

  • You have 14 days from entering into a service contract in which you can cancel it.
  • The trader shouldn’t start providing the service before the 14 day cancellation period has ended, unless you have requested this.
  • If you request a service starts straightaway  In this instance you will still have the right to cancel, but you must pay for the value of the service that is provided up to the point you cancel.
  • If the service is provided in full within 14 days  The right to cancel can be lost during the cancellation period if the service is provided in full before the 14 days elapses.

Cancelling digital downloads

  • The Consumer Contracts Regulations contain specific provisions for digital content.
  • Trader mustn’t supply digital content, such as music or software downloads, within the 14 day cancellation period, unless the consumer has given their express consent to this happening.
  • The consumer must also acknowledge that once the download starts they will lose their right to cancel.
  • If a consumer doesn’t give their consent, they have to wait until the cancellation period has ended before they can download the digital content.
  • This is to ensure the digital content is what you want before downloading it.