If a gift ordered online is not what you expected, find out how to get redress
In an ideal world all our presents would be perfect.
But if yours aren't, do not despair. We cannot help you return the chunky jumper your relative so lovingly knitted, but if a bought gift did not match your expectations, we will explain how to get redress.
Rejection: the retailer’s responsibilities Surveys this year suggest that seven in 10 of us planned to do some or all of our Christmas shopping online.
If a gift bought online is unwanted it can usually be returned, thanks to the Distance Selling Regulations.
This law applies only to sales made online, over the phone or by mail order, and the important thing to know is the time limit.
The customer has seven working days starting the day after receipt of the goods in which to reject them.
You do not have to return the goods within this time period, though, and don’t let the retailer bully you into believing you have to.
The regulations do not specify a time limit for the return of goods, although you should try to do this as soon as possible.
What you must do within seven days is inform the retailer that you are rejecting the goods.
This has to be in writing – by email or letter, a phone call will not do. You are entitled to a full refund including the original delivery costs.
Whether the goods have arrived with the retailer or not, the rules state that the customer must receive their refund within 30 days.
Do not hang onto them, though: the company can take legal action to recover its goods.
Some retailers try to charge a restocking or admin fee, or insist the goods come back in their original packaging but this is illegal. In the case of goods that have hygiene seals, such as earrings you should not remove the seals when examining them.
But retailers cannot demand the goods are sent back ‘as new’.
Rejection: the buyer’s responsibilities Don’t get carried away with that last rule.
