Refund managers
Ways to get money back on unwanted gifts
We probably all received at least one gift this Christmas that wasn’t quite to our taste. Whether it didn’t fit, you had one already or it was just plain weird, you are probably wondering about your chances of getting a refund on one or more of your presents.
The law says retailers have to accept items for a refund within 30 days of purchase, but only if they’re faulty. If you’ve simply changed your mind – or, as in this case, don’t like what you’ve been bought – shops are under no obligation to give you a refund.
The good news is that many of them will anyway – and many also extend their standard returns periods over the festive season to allow for unwanted gift returns.
James Walker of Resolver, a consumer rights organisation, said Black Friday and increasing competition between shops in the run-up to Christmas had led to better policies on returning goods.
“The concept of the Christmas returns policy does make sense,” he said. “Shops want you to buy early. The emergence of Black Friday in the UK has also helped.
“If you’re buying in the last week of November, under standard returns policies you’re running out of time – so shops have extended their policies in order that people aren’t put off.”
Which shops have the best Christmas returns policies?
John Lewis has an unusually long returns period anyway: the department store chain allows buyers to return items either by post or at a shop up to 90 days after purchase. If you don’t have the receipt or delivery note for the item – which is especially likely if it was a gift – you can return it to a store for a gift card. If you post it, the company will refund the person who originally bought it.
Marks & Spencer has said that anything bought after September 12 can be returned until January 15. Its normal policy gives you 35 days to return unwanted items.
The rules are different for online retailers. By law, they have to give you a refund if you change your mind within 14 days of an order. Again, many of them are making allowances for those who received unsuitable gifts.
Asos will accept returns for anything bought between November 1 and Christmas Eve until January 31 – a generous 90-day returns period.
Check your supplier’s terms and conditions, though, because some items are often totally non-returnable. These exceptions normally include earrings and body jewellery, as well as underwear and swimwear.
If a DVD, game or CD has been opened and its packaging unsealed, shops may also reject the return.
What about broken or damaged gifts?
If an item is faulty, the rules are different again. Shops have a legal obligation to accept returns of faulty goods within 30 days of purchase. This is the law under the Consumer Rights Act 2015 and applies even if you don’t have a receipt – the store still has to give you a refund. If games, apps or music don’t work properly, you can get a refund. If a digital item is partly faulty, you can claim a partial refund, although this is a grey area, said Mr Walker. “Until last year, you had no rights at all, so the new rules are an improvement, but the boundaries of what is right and wrong haven’t been worked out yet,” he said. “To work out the proportion you can claim, look at what features have been lost. If that feature was the main reason for buying it, you can ask for a full refund. If it is a minor feature with a less serious impact, then ask for less.”
What if the shop won’t give a refund?
for example because it has gone out of business, you can go to your bank and claim your money back under Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act, as long as the purchase was made by credit card. The item has to have cost between £100 and £30,000.
Be careful though – some people have been left out of pocket after problems with items supplied by sellers who used intermediary companies, such as PayPal or WorldPay, to process payments. This breaks the direct relationship between the purchaser and seller that is necessary for Section 75 to apply.
In this situation, you might be able to claim back money from the intermediary company. PayPal has its own protection for buyers who don’t receive items or whose items are faulty.
Alternatively, if you paid using a debit or credit card, you can use the “chargeback” process, again by asking your card provider for your money back.