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Help with Consumer Affairs

This information applies to England.

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Consumer Affairs is a vast subject, too much to explain here. However, here are a few frequently asked questions.

 

Do shops have to give refunds for returned goods?


This information applies to England.

 

Goods bought from a shop must be fit for the purpose for which they were bought, match any description that is given and be of satisfactory quality. That means that goods should be what you reasonably expect them to be considering the price you paid. If these requirements are not met then you may have a legal right to reject them and get your money back. If you cannot get back to the shop for some days you should telephone and let the seller know that you have a problem with the goods and that you want to reject them and get a refund.

 

If you have kept an item for several weeks without properly checking it out and then discover a problem or fault, you may have difficulty in returning it and getting a refund because you would have had what is called ‘reasonable’ time to use the goods. There is no legal definition of what a ‘reasonable’ time is.

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Do I have to accept a credit note for goods returned to a shop?


This information applies to England.

 

If you take goods back to the seller because they are of unsatisfactory quality, not fit for their purpose or do not match their description then you do not have to accept a credit note, you are within your legal rights to ask for your money back.

However, if you accept a credit note when you were entitled to your money back, you cannot later change your mind unless you can prove that you were forced to accept the credit note by the seller.

If you have taken goods back to a seller because you simply changed your mind about them, for example you did not really like the colour, then you would have no legal right to ask for your money back. If the seller is offering you a credit note in these circumstances they are doing more than is required by the law.

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Someone bought me a Christmas present I don't want. Can I take it back to the shop where it was bought and get my money back?

 

This information applies to England.

 

The shop may agree to give you your money back, but there is nothing in law which says they have to.

 

However, many of the large high-street retailers do have 'returns policies' which give you more than just your basic legal rights. A shop which has a returns policy may offer you a refund, an exchange, a credit note or gift voucher if you have received a gift that you don't like. There may be a time limit within which you have to take the item back to the shop. If a shop has a returns policy, they must keep to it. Look for notices up in the shop telling you about the policy, or ask sales staff if the shop has one.

 

Even if a shop doesn't have a returns policy, they may still offer to take the gift back as a goodwill gesture, particularly after Christmas. This is less likely to be the case with smaller shops which can't afford to have returns policies or provide goodwill gestures.

 

If you want to return a gift, you should make sure that it's in perfect condition and hasn't been used. You should be able to produce a receipt, although some retailers will exchange items without one. If you don't have a receipt, you could try using a bank or credit card statement from the person who bought the present instead. If the gift was bought using a credit or debit card, any refund will normally have to go back on the same card, so if you want to exchange your present for cash, you'll probably have to get the person who bought it for you to arrange a refund.

 

Don't forget that you have rights if there is something wrong with the gift, and the shop must do something about it. You may have to ask the person who bought it to make a complaint on your behalf. However, you can make a complaint yourself, as long as when the person bought it, they mentioned to the retailer that it was going to be given to you as a gift. It would be helpful to have something in writing which shows that the shop was aware of this at the time of sale.

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I bought something in the sales that I want to take back, what rights do I have?

 

This information applies to England.

 

You don't have the right to take something back to a shop just because you've changed your mind about wanting it when you get home. This applies whether you've bought it in a sale or at any other time. However, it's worth going back to the shop to ask if they'll take it back anyway. Many shops, especially the larger high-street retailers, have a 'returns policy', which means they'll allow you to return the item and get a refund, exchange, credit note or gift voucher to the same value instead. There is usually a time-limit for doing this.

 

Remember that shops aren't required by law to let you bring unwanted items back, and that even shops which will normally allow you to do this, might not let you do it for items bought in a sale.

The best way to make sure you can take something back that you don't want, is to come to an agreement with the sales assistant that you can do this before you buy it. If you have made an arrangement of this kind, the shop is obliged to honour it.

 

Of course, if there is something wrong with the item, you will have the right to take it back. Depending on the circumstances, you may have the right to a full refund, to get some of your money back, or to get a repair or replacement. You could also choose to accept a credit note or gift voucher, but you don't have to if you'd rather the problem was sorted out in another way.

 

You have these rights whether you buy something in a sale or at any other time. If the shop tells you otherwise, they are breaking the law, and you should complain to Consumer Direct on 0845 404 0506.

 

However, Some sales goods can be reduced because of slight defects so check things carefully before you buy them. If the fault was pointed out to you before the sale, for example on a sign, label, or by the shop assistant, the shop doesn't have to take the item back. This could be the case even if the fault wasn't pointed out to you, but it was so obvious that you should have noticed it anyway.

If the fault wasn't pointed out and wasn't obvious, you can insist on your rights!

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Do I have to accept goods that are not exactly what I ordered?

 

This information applies to England.

 

If you have ordered a particular item and this is not the item delivered you do not have to keep it. You should write to the seller explaining that you do not want these goods because they are not what was ordered and that you will not be paying for them.

 

You can ask the seller to replace the item with the one originally ordered and arrange for the unwanted item to be collected. Alternatively you could return the goods to the trader and claim back the cost of doing this.

 

If the seller has agreed to have the unwanted item collected then you must take good care of it until it is collected. That means, for example, that if you have an unwanted goods awaiting collection you should not leave them outside a front door where they may be damaged or stolen.

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Can I get a deposit back if I decide to cancel the service/goods I ordered?

 

This information applies to England.

 

You may be able to get your deposit back if it was put down as part-payment. You should remember that the trader is entitled to compensation because you have broken the agreement for goods or carrying out a service so keeping part or all of the deposit might be reasonable if the trader has spent money based on your order.

 

If you change your mind and it seems reasonable for the trader to keep the deposit because they have already spent money based on your order then you do not have to pay any more than the amount of the deposit.

 

Deposits can be refunded if the trader has not kept their side of the agreement or if you and the trader agree beforehand that the deposit would be returned in particular circumstances.

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A builder I hired is taking a very long time to complete the work - is there any way that I can make him finish the job?

 

This information applies to England.

 

When you hire a builder to work for you, you are buying a service and are entitled to expect that it should be done with the care and skill you would expect from a tradesman. That means that any walls built should not crack or roofs be leaky.

 

You do not need to have agreed a time scale before the work is started but you can expect it to be carried out within a 'reasonable' time. There is no legal definition of 'reasonable' but it would not be reasonable to expect a builder to build a complete house in two weeks or reasonable for it to take three months to build a barbecue.

 

If you think that the builder is taking an unreasonable time, you could begin by keeping a diary of the times that the builder is doing your work and photographs of the stages of the work as it is going on. This could be used as a form of evidence if you decide to take legal action. If you talk to the builder about your concerns and this makes no difference it would be a good idea to write to the builder (keeping a copy of the letter) setting out what you want. If this still makes no difference then you may be able to take court action.

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The item I have bought has a guarantee - what exactly does this cover?

 

This information applies to England.

 

A guarantee is extra protection over and above your legal rights when you buy an item. The seller does not have to give you a guarantee.

 

Guarantees given free with goods bought on or after 31 March 2003 must be written in clear English and be available for you to see. The conditions of the guarantee are legally binding.

 

In some cases a guarantee allows you to have faulty goods repaired or replaced. Giving a guarantee does not mean that the seller can ignore your legal rights as a customer, for example, your right to get your money back in certain circumstances if there is a problem with the goods.

 

If a trader tries to ignore a customer’s legal rights they may be committing a criminal offence.

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I bought an item in a sale which is faulty - can I ask for my money back?

 

This information applies to England.

 

You have just as much right to expect the item that you are buying to be of good quality as if you had bought the item before the sale. The only difference with sale items is that if they were clearly marked as 'shop soiled' or imperfect you would not be able to ask for a refund because you would have been aware when you bought the item that it was not going to be perfect.

 

All legal rights still apply to goods bought in a sale. They must be of good quality, fit for the purpose you are buying them for and as described on packaging or labels. That means that if a saucepan is described as non-stick the egg you are frying should not stick to it or the 100% cotton blouse you buy should be exactly that.

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I have been sold a faulty car but the dealer refuses to discuss the matter - what could I do next?

 

This information applies to England.

 

If the trader will not speak to you then the next course of action you should consider is to write to the trader (remembering to keep a copy of the letter) setting out the problem and letting them know what action you would like them to take. You should allow the trader a reasonable time to respond to the letter - perhaps 14 days which will allow them to look in to the problem and to get back to you. It may be a good idea to send the letter by recorded delivery as an assurance that the letter reached the trader.

 

When the deadline is up, if the trader still has not made any attempt to put right the problem then you could consider taking court action against the dealer.

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I bought an item from a private advertisement in a newspaper but it is faulty - what rights do I have?

 

This information applies to England.

 

You have very few rights when buying privately. Items are usually sold as seen which means that you should thoroughly examine the item before buying it. It is a good idea to take someone with you as a witness and, depending on the item being bought, you should ask the seller to demonstrate it so that potential problems may be identified.

 

The only real protection you have when buying privately is that the item being sold should be as it is advertised. That means it should match the description given in the advertisement. For example, if someone went along expecting to buy a leather coat and it turned out to be “leather-look PVC” then the item does not match the description because it is not leather.

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