Your consumer rights this Christmas
Jim Martin outlines your rights according to law, including the Consumer Rights Act, Small Claims Court and warranties
If Father Christmas is about to bring you a shiny new gadget for Christmas, or you’re buying one for someone else, you’re probably not thinking about what to do if there’s a problem. The new Consumer Rights Act covers things like faulty products and late deliveries, and we explain the law so you know how to return a product for replacement or refund.
Computers and gadgets do fail from time to time, so it’s important that you know your rights. Almost
all products come with at least a year’s warranty but, depending on exactly when the problem arises, you might need to deal with the retailer rather than the manufacturer itself. In October 2015, the new Consumer Rights Act became law and it replaced the 1979 Sale of Goods Act, Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations and the Supply of Goods and Services Act. Here’s what you need to know about it.
Consumer Rights Act: Defects and faults
As a private buyer and customer, you have legal rights which apply whether you buy a product face to face, online, by phone or mail order, and whether it’s purchased from a business or an individual trader for profit. However, they don’t apply if you’ve bought something from a private individual who sells things only occasionally, such as through eBay or Gumtree. The seller must not do or say anything that misleads you into buying, and they must describe the goods accurately. If they don’t, you may have some recourse. The watchwords, however are Buyer Beware.
Like the Sale of Goods Act, the Consumer Rights Act lays out what you should expect from products:
The product must match the description. What you buy must exactly match the content, specification and quality suggested by advertisements, the sales description and product packaging. If it isn’t, you can return the product for replacement or reimbursement of the amount paid. If this is the case, however, it’s
important you do not use or interfere with the product, since this may be interpreted as you having accepted it as supplied. As an example, you wouldn’t drink two-thirds of a pint of milk before returning it because ‘it tastes funny’. The product has to be fit for purpose. In other words, it has to do what the seller says it will do and, if you have specified to the seller a particular use, it must do that also. The product must be of satisfactory quality. Would a reasonable person, who has taken into account the description of the product and its price, find the item acceptable? The product should also work for a reasonable amount of time (taking into account price and usage), and be safe to use.
What is reasonable, though? Tech electrical goods are usually reliable, and any defect or fault that was present from the outset may not become apparent until after some use. Even the best products will eventually begin to fail due to wear and tear.
How long a particular product should last cannot be laid down by law because there are too many variables to consider, including the build quality, and how often and under what conditions it’s used. You could ask the seller for an estimate of its useful life at the time of purchase. Alternatively, you can obtain an expert’s view of the cause of any failure before you make your complaint.
You should always return a defective product to the retailer, or wherever you bought it. Ideally, the fault will appear in the first six months because the seller will need to prove that any faults that
develop within the first six months are not due to a manufacturing problem. If they can’t, they are obliged to give you a refund or a replacement. After six months, it’ll be down to you to prove a manufacturing fault is to blame.
Most tech kit will last longer than six months, and we’d expect a tablet to last considerably longer. In our experience, frequently used laptops in the
iPad&iPhone office last around three years before some kind of failure. This doesn’t mean a retailer will repair or replace your laptop if it goes wrong after two years, though. A laptop that’s used only on a desk at home and never gets moved is likely to last a lot longer than one that’s taken on a daily commute and roughly handled.
Consumer Rights Act: 30-day return period
You might be unfortunate enough to receive a faulty or non-working product, or simply decide you don’t want it. Your rights are not the same in both cases. The good news is that you are now entitled to an automatic refund if you return unused products to a retailer within 30 days. The only exceptions are custom-made items, digital content which has been downloaded or the seal has been broken on a DVD, music or software. It doesn’t apply to perishable items, either, but we’re talking about gadgets and tech kit here.
Return products to a bricks and mortar store
If you’re not satisfied with a purchase due to a defect or fault, you can ask the person or business
that sold it to you to put things right. The seller can choose whether to repair or replace the item, but you must act within 30 days of the date of purchase. You are not obliged to demonstrate that the seller was responsible for the fault.
If the fault occurs after 30 days but before six months, the seller has the option to replace or repair (so long as a repair does not take too long). If the repair or replacement fails, then you can ask for a refund or a partial refund if you want to keep the product.
However, you are entitled to a refund (either full or partial) if:
The retailer cannot repair or replace the product The cost of repair or replacement is
disproportionate to the value of the product A repair or replacement would be very
inconvenient to you The repair would take an unreasonably long time
Note that this right to a reject products doesn’t apply to digital products such as games, music, apps, and so on, which you buy and download – unless they are defective or unfit for purpose. It’s down to the retailer to decide if you can cancel and have a refund. Amazon, for example, allows you to cancel ebook purchases if you act quickly.
Some retailers offer a return period longer than 30 days, but remember that the Consumer Rights Act applies only if the product does not match the description, is unfit for purpose or is not of satisfactory quality. You have no legal right to return an item if you’ve simply changed
your mind or your circumstances have changed. Don’t assume you can return clothing if it’s the wrong size, although the vast majority of stores will allow this.
In fact, most High Street retailers have a returns policy which allows you to take back an unwanted item for a refund or a credit note. Obviously, it must be unused and in perfect condition so can be resold. Certain products can only be returned for a refund if they’re unopened, although this doesn’t apply if they’re defective.
No retailer can be made to comply with this type of agreement unless their terms and conditions of sale, which you have accepted, include the right to return unwanted products. You can either look on your receipt, on the retailer’s website, on a notice in-store, or you can call its customer service line to check the details of the policy.
How to return items bought online
Since 2014, the old Distance Selling Regulations have been replaced by the Consumer Contracts Regulations. These state that you have 14 days – not 30 – to decide whether or not to return a product. That’s two weeks from the date you received it, but you can cancel an order right from the moment you make it.
You then have a further 14 days to actually return the item to the retailer. You can expect to get a refund within 14 days of the retailer receiving the goods back, or within 14 days of your providing evidence of sending them back. The retailer doesn’t have to refund the cost of express shipping costs – only the basic postage cost.
The items don’t have to be faulty: it’s your right to cancel the sale for any reason. However, the retailer may not give you a full refund if the product’s value has been affected by you using it, scratching it or otherwise damaging it.
In essence, you can ‘handle’ products just as you would in a shop, but no more than that.
As with buying from a physical shop, many online retailers will give you longer than the minimum 14 days to change your mind, so check the terms and conditions to see if you have more time.
The regulations also cover undelivered products. They state that the seller must deliver the product to you within 30 days (unless otherwise agreed). If delivery is not made within a reasonable amount of time you can cancel and request a full refund.
What about gifts?
With Christmas coming up, chances are you’ll give and receive gifts. That’s the good news. The bad news is that – as a recipient – it’s unlikely that you have any direct rights. These are held only by the buyer: the person who agrees the sale with the seller.
If there’s a problem with the gift, ask the person who bought it for the original receipt, or request that they return the product. If you ever buy something as a gift, you should ask the shop to provide a gift receipt. This means the rights will be transferred and the recipient can return it. If the person who bought your gift didn’t do this, they will probably have to return it themselves.
Some retailers offer an extended returns period to cover Christmas, so check this when you buy.
If you’re buying early and the returns period will be up before your recipient has a chance to open and test the product, it’s a good idea to do that yourself. Better to have an open box and a working product than a pristine, sealed present with a defective product inside.
Of course, if the item is faulty, you can still return it after the standard returns period, but it’s still a good idea to do it quickly are you’re not automatically entitled to a refund after 30 days.
Buying on credit and lenders’ obligations
Buying on credit provides additional protection if a product is unsatisfactory. Note that this applies only if it was purchased using a credit card (Mastercard or Visa, for example), and not with a debit card (Electron, Switch/Maestro, Visa Debit, for example).
When you pay for an item costing between £100 and £30,000 on a credit card, your credit supplier is brought into the purchase contract: the bank pays the vendor, and you pay the bank. You have exactly the same rights against the credit provider as you do the product vendor, which means you can claim back your money through the bank if the supplier suddenly goes bust.
Buying on finance, whereby you get the product now and pay later, can provide similar protection. Your rights here are governed by the terms of the financial agreement you sign. Read the small print!
Manufacturers’ warranties
Most products come with a manufacturer’s warranty that provides a separate agreement between the manufacturer and the buyer. In the event of a
manufacturing fault, the warranty will usually offer repair or replacement during a specified period from the date of purchase, although as we said above, if the fault becomes apparent within the first six months you can return it to the retailer for a full refund or replacement.
You rights under the warranty are dependent on the terms provided by the manufacturer, which can be as wide or restrictive as it likes. Some require the product to be returned to the seller; others may send prepaid packaging or provide a telephone contact number to discuss your options. All will require proof of purchase, so it’s important to keep your receipts – even if they’re sent via email.
A small number of companies require the item to be returned in its original packaging, so be sure to keep this for expensive purchases such as PCs and laptops if you have the space available.
It’s worth noting that although some manufacturers provide a two-year warranty, the contract is often made with the original buyer only. If you’ve bought a product second-hand, it’s possible that you won’t be covered should anything go wrong.
Read the warranty statement included with the product, and note that you may need to follow some conditions if you ever want to invoke it. Most request that the buyer registers the warranty with the manufacturer by returning a supplied form by post, or by providing their details online or over the phone. In return, some manufacturers extend the warranty period by six- or 12 months.
There may be other benefits, too. Some warranties will extend to any person in legal
possession of the product, while others let you transfer the warranty to a new owner.
If the warranty doesn’t address this point, it’s advisable to check with the manufacturer whether it’s possible to transfer the warranty to someone else. If you’re buying a used product within the warranty period, you should also check for the right to transfer.
Where a product is still under warranty, it may be easier to claim under this than deal with the original seller. This will be your only option if the seller has gone bust and you didn’t purchase the product using a credit card, but it can also be useful if you live some distance from the shop or the seller is purposely being difficult.
Always check whether a warranty requires certain actions to remain valid. For example, you might need to service the product at stipulated intervals, or report a problem within a certain amount of time. Failure to follow all the conditions may invalidate the warranty.
Products that fail outside warranty
A question we’re often asked concerns what you should do if a fault develops just outside the warranty period. The manufacturer has no obligation to assist, but some will take pity on you so it’s worth making contact. Stay calm, and be polite and prepared to compromise.
There may be an unadvertised discretion available to customer-service employees to assist in certain circumstances. Some companies operate policies such as this to keep customers happy – if they refuse to help when your warranty