Refunds in the UK: 14 days online, less in a shop

The distinction that even long-term residents miss: a shop does not have to take back something you bought in person, but an online seller does. Changing your mind is enough. No reason needs to be given.

How long do you have to cancel an online order?

Buying online, by mail or by phone is distance selling, and it has its own rules.

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You have 14 days from receiving the item to tell the seller you are cancelling. Then another 14 days to send it back. The seller must refund you within 14 days of getting the item back.

Three lots of fourteen days — three separate clocks, not one.

What the refund covers besides the price

The seller cannot deduct fees from your refund unless the item has been used or damaged.

They must also refund the cost of standard delivery if you paid it. Choose expensive express delivery and you get only the standard cost back; the difference stays with the seller.

And this matters: you may handle the item at home as you would in a shop. Try it on, take it out of the box, see what it looks like. That does not count as using it.

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What cannot be returned even online

Some goods only have to be accepted back if they are faulty: personalised or custom-made items such as made-to-measure curtains; perishables like frozen food or flowers; newspapers and magazines; unwrapped CDs, DVDs and computer software; and sealed items that cannot be returned once opened for health or hygiene reasons, underwear for instance.

And if you bought it in a shop?

Fewer rights here. The seller does not have to refund you simply because you changed your mind about size or colour. Nor if you knew the item was faulty when you bought it, or broke it trying to repair it yourself.

But a sale does not reduce your rights: a discounted item carries exactly the same protection as a full-price one. A "no refunds" sign in a British shop is illegal — misleading customers about their rights is prohibited.

A fault appears later: who proves what

The key date is six months. Return an item within that window and the seller must repair or replace it unless they can prove it was not faulty when you bought it. After six months the burden flips: proving the fault becomes your job.

The overall limit for a claim is 6 years (5 in Scotland).

On warranties: the right to a free repair or replacement does not depend on one. The warranty may have expired; the law has not.

If the seller disagrees

Proof of purchase need not be a receipt: a bank statement or the packaging will do. Returns, though, are only accepted from the person who bought the item.

When it cannot be settled, call Citizens Advice: 0808 223 1133 in England and Wales, weekdays 9am to 5pm. They advise and can refer the complaint to Trading Standards. Scotland has Advice Direct Scotland; Northern Ireland has Consumerline.