Consumer rights | Returning gifts

We have all been there, that jumper from Uncle Tom with a reindeer on it just will not cut it and its four sizes too small, the electric car you bought online goes left when it should go right, for most of us at least one of the gifts we have bought or received over Christmas needs to be returned but what are our rights?

It does depend a lot on when and how they were bought and the reason for return.

One of the biggest problems is leaving the shopping to the last minute. The office of fair trading state that on line retailers have up to 30 days to deliver an item, so you may want to think again about last minute on line shopping, so unless you were guaranteed Christmas delivery, you cannot be certain of a refund but you do still have your normal rights.

So let's take the case of the reindeer jumper, nothing wrong with it, except the design and it is too small, well unfortunately a shop does not need to give you a refund for either of these reasons, so long as it is as described and is fit for purpose.

Thank fully most shops set their own policy on this and it is always worth asking, to see if they will refund or exchange.

As a point worth mentioning, if the shop does have a policy it will not affect your legal rights.

In law the contract was originally between the shop and the gift giver so you may need to produce a receipt but technically it's still not your contract, the best way for protection is if the buyer asks the shop for a gift receipt (this is a receipt but without the cost of the item), or write on the shops receipt and their receipt that it's a gift and the recipients details, this way the rights are now transferred to the recipient of the gifts.

But what happens if we cannot find the receipt, or you can't bring yourself to ask for it and admit that you hate the gift? Well it comes back to give it a go rule, the seller does not have to give you a refund, but the seller does not have to give a receipt when selling an item, likewise you do not have to when returning it, but you should show proof of purchase, and unfortunately that blows your cover as you will need to get it from your friend! But remember they do not have to give you a refund, so I suggest a very polite approach!

Now the problem with those faulty goods; first you must be within the 'deadline', and this bit can change quite a lot, but if you are within the time period, you will be able to ask for a refund as the goods are not fit for purpose.
lots of Traders will offer to fix the item rather than refund, if you take this option and it breaks again from the 13th December by law you will be able to insist on a refund.

But do not be fobbed of by a retailer telling you to contact the manufacturer, the contract the buyer has is with the retailer, and no one else.

Credit Notes

Going back to the situation where you just don't like the gift, bite the shops arm off for a credit note, as they do not have to do anything for you, however if the goods are faulty, the shop must offer to give you your money back.

On line shopping.

When you shop on line you have more protection that you would in the high street, one of the biggest differences is that you have seven working days from delivery to cancel your order irrespective of the reason (from the 13th December this will be extended to 14 days), a refund should then be forth coming within 30 days, be warned that there are a few exceptions, so check, but they are the logical ones, you can not return an opened DVD for example, or a personalised a gift, or perishable things.
But the contract is the same as before, the contract exists between the buyer and seller, so any refund will be re-credited back to the buyer.

Time Limits.

This is a big one with gifts, as most gifts are bought in advance and kept wrapped up until the big day and therefore any 7 day rule is useless, lots of retailers understand this and extend their returns policy over the festive period, if a retailer has a returns policy then any time limit should be in the policy. If the goods are Faulty however then the time limit changes to a, 'reasonable amount of time', the story here is don't delay, and if the goods are dangerous you must report it to trading standards, as an offence may have been committed.

The great things about credit cards!

If your purchase is over £100 and the seller goes bust, your credit card company are liable so you will be eligible for a refund, and if your purchase never shows up, or has a fault you can ask your card company to obtain the refund for you, you must start this process within 120 days.

Purchases under £100 are not covered, but many card companies have options which can offer protection, so check.

You may wish to engage the services of a solicitor, if you do, use the search facility selecting consumer law.

Handy number.


For Trading Standards you should contact the CAB first on 08454 04 05 06