Buying Online
New Regulations have introduced greater consumer protection measures for the increasing number of people buying online and by mail order. Although the practice is still not without its problems due to the anonymity of the web and the regularity of card fraud.
The purchase of goods and services over the internet, by phone or by mail order generally is subject to the same consumer rights as if you had bought the item on the high street. However because you have not been physically face to face with the supplier, these types of purchases are also subject to the Distance Selling Regulations. If you have met the seller at any point (such as to test drive or agree the sale of a car), or if it is with a shop which doesn’t make a habit of selling in this way, you won’t be covered and should look to Sale of Goods legislation instead.
The supplier’s obligations
If you’ve ever ordered a product or commissioned a service over the internet, via email or by phone, then you are doing so under a Distance Selling contract. The supplier must provide you with specific information related to your rights and their obligations under a distance selling contract. This ‘pre-contractual’ information should include: identity of the supplier, description of the main characteristics of the product or service, price, delivery costs, arrangements for delivery, performance and payment, cancellation rights, cost of communication (for e.g. premium rate telephone line), period of validity of offer, information regarding substitute products. This information must be communicated clearly, but not necessarily in writing, before your order is confirmed so that you can be in possession of all the facts should you wish to change your mind. Remember also that the price you see when you ‘add to cart’ is often not the price you end up paying. Any additional costs such as VAT, shipping, handling or administrative fees, customs duties etc that you are responsible for should be clearly set out before you confirm payment.
if you have not received any pre-contractual information (outlining, among other things, your cooling off rights) before you buy, then you should do so before the goods have been delivered. if you haven’t been presented with this information at any time, then this will have important implications for your cooling off period. See our Distance Selling Regulations and your right to cancel section for more on this.
Your right to cancel
One of the most important implications of the distance selling regulations is a cooling off period of 7 working days during which you have the right to cancel and get a full refund. The supplier must provide you with details of your cancellation rights, any duty to return the goods should you cancel, and whether you will have to pay for this. In return, you must provide notice of cancellation in writing, which this must be posted, left at, faxed or emailed to the business address of the supplier no later than 7 working days after receipt of goods.
The supplier must then reimburse you within 30 days without charge (unless you have been expressly informed that you will be liable for a charge) and if you have any related credit agreements, these will also be cancelled.
The work started before the 7 day cancellation period was up!
Unless you have agreed otherwise, goods must be delivered, or services performed within 30 days from the date you submitted your order. If you have commissioned a service under a distance selling contract and the supplier offers to start the work before the end of the 7 day cooling off period, then you can give up your right to cancel, but you must be notified of this and your express permission sought. If the work started with your permission and the supplier has not provided you with the compulsory pre-contractual information prior to their starting, you may still have your right to cancel and get a full refund even though the work has been completed!
Does the right to cancel apply for all goods bought by mail order?
There are obvious exceptions and you will not have the right to cancel with the purchase of the following goods:
- Goods made to a personalised specification
- Perishable goods, such as foodstuffs and flowers
- Audio/video recordings or software where the seal has been broken
- Newspapers, magazines or other reading material (not books)
- Gaming, betting, lotteries
Getting your money back
Under the distance selling regulations, you are quite within your rights to change your mind at any time, return the goods and get a full refund. This means without financial penalty of any kind – such as a cancellation charge or a ‘restocking’ fee. The supplier must also refund any delivery charges paid by you, and any other costs related to the contract. Refunds must be made within 30 days from cancellation, whether or not the goods have been sent back. Any related credit agreements will also cease to exist.
You may be required to pay to return the goods, but you must have been informed of this as part of the pre-contractual information. if the goods are faulty, then under Sale of Goods, the supplier will always bear the cost of returning them.
Returning the goods
Unless you are required to return the goods, and you were informed of this, your only obligations are to make the goods available for collection and to take reasonable care of them while they are in your possession. This is called a duty of care. Where the supplier has made provision to collect the goods, this duty of care expires after 21 days, but where you have agreed to return the goods, your duty of care continues until you do this and could be for as long as 6 months.
Packaging
Under a distance selling contract, a supplier cannot make refunds subject to the goods being returned unopened in their original packaging. One of the principles of the distance selling regulations is to give you a chance to examine the goods at home, not having had a chance to do so in the shop. It would be impossible for you to do this without opening the packaging and trying the product out. Having said this, you will still be under a duty to take reasonable care of the goods while in your possession, and may be subject to certain instructions such as not to wear shoes outdoors, or remove hygiene seals. But you can never be penalised simply because you did not return the goods in their original packaging.
Card protection
For amounts of money over £100 it is always advisable to pay by credit card. This is because if you run into problems and you can’t get recompense from the supplier, the credit card company has equal liability. However for goods and services paid for specifically in a distance selling context, you are automatically protected against fraudulent use of your payment card – whether this is a credit or debit card. If you ever find an entry on your bank statement for a sum of money that you did not authorise, in relation to something you bought online, over the phone or by mail order generally, you are entitled to 100% of the fraudulent amount to be recredited to you by the card issuer.
Do take care however with advance or pre-payments as these are not protected against fraudulent use, and in any case, the supplier may become insolvent before your goods or services are delivered, leaving you with nothing, and little recourse.
Also see:
- Buying from auction sites and online ‘market places’
- the Distance Selling Regulations
- the Doorstep Selling Regulations
- Problems with deliveries and collections
Related posts:
can you tell me if i have a right to return a purchased/recieved item due to a mistake on my part of choosing the incorrect item?
This is what the company stated on their website;
‘You may return it if it is not as described, or if it simply does not work but you cannot return it if you just don’t like it, so please be sure you want one of these before you order it.’
regards
MEl
If you have bought the item online you have a 7 day right to cancel and get a refund, so what they are saying on their website is misleading. If however you have physically bought the item in a shop, you have entered into a legally binding contract and the shop does not have to refund your money if you simply change you mind – see the latter section of the ‘buying clothing and footwear’ consumer buyer guide. You can only have your money back if it is faulty or was misdescribed in some way – as they have mentioned. Having said this nearly all shops will allow you to exchange the item or give you a credit note, although the shop in this case says you cannot return the item at all, which seems to be very poor customer practice. You should clarify whether ‘return’ means refund or both refund and exchange.
I have recently fallen foul of a free trial period offer which ended up becoming a 6 month subscription to a service i did not want or did I use. The site did not make it clear on the initial page that this trial period would lead to an automatic conversion to acceptance if the trial period was not cancelled. I have also discovered through research that I am not the only one that has been ensnared by this offer by this company.
Could anyone advise of my options in this situation? My view is although I clicked accept (the usual “by clicking you accept these terms and conditions”) that there was no explicit warning or indication of what I was getting into.
Any help appreciated!
kind regards
Kirstie
Unfortunately this is how firms ‘hook you in’ through free trials. Typically you have to provide card payment details so they have it all on file and then if you don’t cancel manually, you are automatically charged. You are right when you say that companies should make it clear, but often cover themselves by putting it in their Ts and Cs and getting you to click in the box to indicate you have read them. This has happened to me and countless people I know, so you are not the only one. It is the same principle as automatic renewal on car or home insurance. If there is no get out clause, I would simply appeal to them, they may give you a full refund or at least some of your money back to cover the remaining term. Good luck.
I have just bought a sideboard online which was badly cracked when I received it. The supplier wants me to pay for the return of the item, I am obliged to do this?
It was also difficult to open the packaging without ripping it and there website says it must be returned in the original packaging and only then will they refund me, are they within their rights to refuse to refund me?
You must be given proper opportunity to examine the items before you accept them (section 35 Sale of Goods Act). If you cannot remove the original packaging how can you do this? What they have stated is therefore in direct contravention of your statutory rights. If you bought it online, don’t forget about your 7 day cooling off period. If this has expired you still have the right to return it if it is scratched as this is in breach of S 14 (provided the seller was a commercial entity and not a personal sale).
I have reently bought a t-shirt through this website, also made sure that I’ve paid the extra for it to arrive within 1-2 working days. It has now been a week and I’ve still not received the goods, not sure if it’s the supplier’s fault or just the delivery company they use which I’ve read somewhere, that is not very reliable. What if I don’t get the goods, is there a case here to get my money back? I was never given a tracking no., just my product order no.
Vivi, it could well be a problem with the courier. request a tracking number so you can see what’s happened to it. if it can be shown that the supplier shipped the goods within 1-2 days then they have fulfilled their obligations, although they should be chasing this up not you. You have made ‘time of the essence’ as a fundamental part of the contract and if the supplier are in breach of this then you have the right to cancel the contract and get your money back. But don’t forget your 7 day cooling off either.
Thanks for your response Catriona,just one more question, if I demand for a refund will I get the full amount inc. P&P or just the amount I paid for the T-shirt?
Vivi, no you will get back the full amount including P & P. See: http://whatconsumer.co.uk/returns-and-refunds/
I placed an order with the ELC on 14th December. I have been advised that the item only left its warehouse today 22nd December and delivery in time for Christmas cannot be guaranteed.
The following information about delivery is on their website.
“Question: If I place an order, how long does delivery take and how much does it cost?
Answer: Our standard delivery service is within 4 working days, excluding weekends and bank holidays to UK mainland addresses.
Delivery to Northern Ireland, the Scottish Highlands and Isle of Man may take slightly longer to reach you (10 – 14 working days). This service costs £4.95.
** We’re currently offering FREE standard delivery on all orders over £100. **
Dependant on the size and weight of your order, we may be able to offer you our Express Delivery service, which will be with you within 2 working days, excluding weekends and bank holidays to UK mainland addresses. Regrettably this service is unavailable for delivery to Northern Ireland, the Scottish Highlands or the Isle of Man. This service costs £7.95″.
They have not complied with their own timescale and I have contacted them to say I expect a full refund and to keep the item if it is delivered after Christmas. Am i within my rights?
Norma, if ELC cannot stick to the timescale and perform the contract within the stated time, they must inform you and allow you to withdraw from the contract. However, this aside, you can simply change your mind under the distance selling regs and get a full refund up to 7 days after the item has been delivered.
3 months ago i purchased a “sparkle” rug via ebay from a home furnishings website. (It was not an auction style listing but a buy it now). From the first day the rug has shed a number of “threads” each day. Initially i put this down to “newness” but the threads continue to come loose (i kept them and now have well over 500!) and the rug is looking very shabby and almost bald around the edges. I contacted the company and they accept that some loss of threads can occur but so far they have only offered me a partial refund of £40. Am i entitled to a replacement rug?
Many thanks,
Elaine
Elaine, your purchase does fall under Sale of Goods legislation, so you have the same rights as you would having bought this in a shop. As it is obvious that a repair will not make any difference, you are within your rights to request a replacement. If they cannot, they should refund you.
Hi, Back in September I ordered a large pushchair package from Two Left Feet, I have received all items apart from a foot muff, which was promised to me by the end of November, since then I have sent numerous e-mails to them with no response at all. I have even requested that they just refund me the money, but no contact has been made by them. I am now at my wits end as I have no idea what to do next. What can I do to try and get either, the foot muff or my money back. Any help would be greatly appreciated. THANKS
Hi, I bought a guitar workstation for £287 on the 10th Jan from the dv247l.com website, paying by credit card the money was debited straight away. I went away for two weeks the following day and when I returned on Monday I found they hadn’t delivered the item so I emailed them regarding the status of my order. I finally got a response on wednesday saying the product was out of stock and they would ship as soon as they received it. I then received another email from them today (Thursday) saying that their suppliers had increased the cost of the item so I would now have to pay another 250 pounds if I wanted it or I could choose another product from their website if I didn’t want to pay extra.
I was wondering if the can do this, it seems strange that they can take my money and then 19 days later tell me that actually they made a mistake and I have to pay nearly double if I want it. The T&Cs on their website says that when they take the money this is just a pre-payment and that the contract only starts when they decide, is this legal?
Any help would really be appreciated as they are trying to push me to accept their terms
Thanks
Hi, I purchased quite a large number of electronic items online, and paid nearly 20 pounds for an express “next day” delivery. The products turned out to be unsuitable and although the company has agreed to refund for the goods under the DSRs they claim that this was a separate service under a separate contractand therefore the DSRs do not apply and it is non refundable. Here is the quote from T&Cs on website:
“The cost of the delivery charge shall not be refunded as it is provided under a separate contract. Items made or cut to customer specification may not be returned in accordance with the Distance Selling Regulations 2000″
Is this right? what do you think?
Jason, Your cooling off period begins with the day on which contract are concluded and ends 7 days after delivery. The conclusion of a contract is when your order was accepted, which on many websites means when the item is actually despatched. Therefore technically you are not within your cooling off period. However, as contracts have not been concluded, no contract exists, and the website have no reason to hold on to your money. Ask them for a refund in full within 7 days or you will start small claims proceedings.
John, Under the DSRs the initial delivery cost must be refunded along with the cost of the items. However, if you ‘upgraded’ your delivery from the standard, this represents an additional service, and does not come under the DSRs if it was made under a separate contract. However, the supplier must have provided you with the written notice of this before the item was sent. If they did not, they cannot make this legally enforce this claim.
I purchased a set of wheels second hand on Ebay. On examination one of them was cracked and dangerous, unsafe to use.
The seller (an ebay shop) told me I would have to return them for a refund, which I did at a cost of £85. The seller refunded the original amount, but is refusing to refund return shipping. Where do I stand?
Mike, if the goods are faulty, you have the right to a repair, replacement or refund at no additional cost to yourself. Therefore the supplier must refund your shipping costs also.
Hi,
I recently bought a pair of boots which arrived after I went away on holiday. On my return I found they didn’t fit. I was outside of the company’s stated timescale for stating a return was required. However the boots are unworn and in their original packaging. I have sent a perfectly reasonable email asking if they could refund my money and have sent the boots back to them and all they sent in reply was a copy of their returns policy with no other communication.
Where do I stand?
Gemma, if you bought the boots online, you have 7 days to send them back for a full refund. if you miss this window, you must rely on the retailer’s returns policy, and they are under no legal obligation to let you return the boots at all unless they are faulty. See:
http://whatconsumer.co.uk/do-shops-have-to-give-me-my-money-back/
I recently bought some items from an online retailer for which I selected 1st class postage. After a week I have not received the items and on further reading of the retailers website I discovered this information :
“Royal Mail First Class – This is normally the lowest cost form of postage. Orders received by 3pm will, where possible, be dispatched same day. Delivery typically takes 1-2 days but is not guaranteed. With this postage method you have no insurance or guarantee and if the goods should go missing in the post Fast Lad Performance is not liable for the loss.”
They claim (via email) the order was dispatched on a Monday but had still not arrived by the Saturday. I’m still waiting on a reply from the company in question with regard to the missing items but what are my options ? do they have to prove they sent it ? am I now out of pocket due to the royal mail ?
Si
Hi
I purchased a travel cot online and it arrived within a week of purchse. Upon opening the packaging I noticed small tears in the fabric and that one of the sides looks broken (without seeing the insides of the tubing I cannot be sure of this). I informed the seller within the 7 working days notice of the faults. The seller is asking for proof from me of the fault and is insisting I E-mail photos. They are advising that they will ‘act on my behalf with the manufacturer’ once this proof is received.
Can I insist that they collect the item and provide full refund? Their requirements seem extremely unreasonable.
Thanks!
Regards
Carol
Hi
I was wondering if you could help with some advice. I recently bought something online from a legitimate online shop. The item I bought was, I have to say, under-priced (I suspect they put the wrong price on). Anyway I thought I’d buy the product and see what happened expecting that they would refuse the payment. However, they didn’t, they accepted the payment, gave me an order ID and a confirmation email including a recepit and delivery address. A few hours later I got another email from the shop saying that, “due to techincal difficulties your order has not been processed and a full refund made to the card which was used for the purchase. Please accept our appologies for any inconvenience.” I was just wondering where I stand with this? I would have expected that once they had accepted payment and given me an order ID that they would have formed a legal contract with me for the item? Is this true. I guess they probably cover themselves in the T&C’s but it seems odd that they say the order has not been processed due to technical difficulties after accepting payment and giving me an order ID which would clearly state to me that the order had been processed… Any thoughts/advice would be much appreciated.
Best regards,
Antony
bought a laptop used from ebay, business seller but an auction and not a buy it now.
it has a hard drive fault which i had not discovered for about 10 weeks due to only using for light browsing. tested the hard drive with software and it found 56 errors which cause blue screen crash when reached by a prog. Seller has told me ‘good luck’ trying to fix after initially seeming interested in emails.
he more or less called me an idiot who should not be trying to fix the problem.
can i do anything?
Hi,
I purchased a Polo shirt from a Website called Ammo clothing back in April and paid for next day delivery, it is now the 2/06 and the item still has not arrived. I have been in contact with the seller (by email only, they will not give me a telephone number!) and they keep giving me different dates and excuses each time. I have been offered a free additional polo shirt for the delay which I have agreed to but that was over 4 weeks ago! I dont particularly want a refund as I like the Polo shirt and the free aditional polo is obviously an appealing gesture, what rights do I have?
thanks
Dear consumer forum
In April I ordered and paid for 3 products from an online perfume store. In May (11) after checking on the site and emailing them I was emailed back eventually to say it had been dispatched – it is now June (15) and after continually emailing them still no delivery, What are my options – can I cancel the order and get my money back??
We recently booked a hotel room online for 2 nights.
The site only ever showed one price which, as we had put into the search “2 nights”, we assumed this was the total cost.
At no point during the transaction did the site show a total/final cost and full disclosure of what was included Inc Taxes Supplements etc.
This meant we thought we were paying one price but in fact this was the price per night and we had to pay double.
If they had provided us with a final price we would have realised it was too high and not confirmed payment.
We have contacted the company involved and we can not receive a refund as it was a prepay room. They said that their site is clear however obviously we don’t think so.
I have purchased many things on line and book countless hotels rooms and they all show a total/final cost before confirmation of payment.
Is there anything we can do?
hi, just wondered if you could help me, i was looking at a website for the symptoms for the stomache bug when this website came up for true white saying a mom in middlesbrough got white teeth using true white system costing $3.87 postage for a 10 day trial. so i thought i would have a try paying $3.87 postage from my debit card, i placed my order saturday and i tried to phone them monday to cancel the order but the phone number did not exist and the is no E-mail adress for them.i started to panic and look on the internet to find that this is a scam. people thought they were paying $3.87 when the company was taking out more money than what was agreed.i recieved an email of true white letting me no my order was placed but there was no reply address. would i be able to close my account before the money is taken out. many thanks