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
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I bought an item off amazon it all went through smoothly they gave me a delivery date so I thought that was it .but I had an email the next day cancelling my order .saying that their account was compromised so what would I do now have they got to honour my purchise
Hi
I purchased a plan for 2 web sites from godaddy they said it would be easy to build the websites with word press. I manged to eventually learn how to get word press to work and was ready to transfer another web site over to them in order to buid it. They transefered it but wordpress did not work. AFter literally hours of try to get it to work to technical team said they could not get it to work.
They said they could not reimberse me the money as it was 1 week out side of the 28 day refund period.is there any way around this so I can get some of my money back.
Melanie Green
Hi.last night I orderd a pair of trainers but when doing the billing address iy wouldn’t work.so tried fair few times then gave up.woke up this.morning to an email saying transaction complete an am now worried about if thet sent more than one pair as it says I tried 7 times but.I only have one email
Hi
I am looking for some advise.
I bought a jacket from a well known high street retailer, I bought it online and paid via PayPal last November.
The retailer has just called me saying that they had an internal issue with their computers and they have not received payment. They would like payment from me now.
I was completely unaware that they hadn’t received the funds and genuinely didnt scrutinize my statement correctly.
Where do I stand with this as can’t really afford to give the money at present.
Pamela
I bought goods online in November, these were hand made boots and due to the company taking longer than they promised to deliver the boots, I sent an email telling them to cancel my order before my boots had been shipped. They ignored this email and sent them avout a week after anyway, so when they arrived I still did not want them. I asked for a refund and they said I can only return for a store credit (did not say this on their site when I ordered them) so I refused and said under the DSR I am within my right to get a refund for the goods as I had already given notice of cancellation for, before and after the goods had arrived. But they ignored that email too and have subsequently ignored the other 6 emails I have sent to them asking for a return and refund.
So now I am stuck? I paid on credit card and the cost was £98.
Help please, what can I do!?
Thanks
Katie
I bought a pair of Ugg Boots for £35 won. Two days later this item was withdrawn. Why can a seller cancel an ite. But the buyer not.
I want these boots at the price advertised. We are constantly remindid when buying .
This is a legal contract. I would have though a seller and buyer of an item are both in the same contract. I do not want to cancel the contract.i am willing to pay as stated.I do not want to cancel. Please no teems of legal jargon lay mans English will suffice. Black
Hi, I recently ordered a pair of trainers online. When I recieved the they were a different style. When I contacted the company they asked me to keep them. What can I do know?
I bought some items three weeks ago. Nothing has arrived. I’ve emailed several times but no one is replying. There is no number to call and very little information about this company on social media. I think I have been scammed. Who do I report the site to to get it investigated? Closed? Get my money back? They’ve given me a tracking number but nowhere to track it. It’s become clear it’s a scam
Hi my sister order was missing four items and the Tottenham mail order will not investigate what has happened to her missing items
i bought a sony mobile phone in Nov 2016 for xmas,in Feb 2017 it would not charge,i rang sony and they told me what to do to arrange collectionand to go to their website and put the IMEI number in and i noticed it said no warranty.i called them back and the guy told me to wait,after sometime he came back and told me he had validated the warranty,so the phone was collected.Some days later sony said the phone was beyaond economical repair and they offered me a replacement-at £266 including delivery.I said it was under warranty,since then they said because i bought it from a company that trades through e bay the warranty was void,when i proved this wrong they have tried many excuses to get out of replacing it,the last on being that their is no vat details on the reciept can you advise me please.
Hi
I bought 4 bridesmaid dresses online and 3 of them are ok but one is totally wrong. I have emailed the company and told them this and sent photos as evidence but the company are still adamant that we are at fault.
The dress is a size 22 and according to their website the bust should be 45 inches and the waist 38.5 but when we measured the dress the bust was 37 inches and the waist was 35.
The replied to say they would do another dress at cost price but why should I pay for another dress when their measurements are clearly wrong.
I ordered a dress from DressilyMe (March 16, 2017) I paid an extra $29.99 to have the dress rush ordered, the dress was suppose to arrive no later than April 10, 2017. Received the dress on April 11, 2017 NOT only did the dress arrive late it looked nothing like the dress online. I sent their company countless emails about the quality, silhouette, and color along with pictures of the dress that they sent. I told them how I wasn’t satisfied and would like a full refund ( Shipping $18.74) total refund would be $236.27. In order to return the dress I would need a Return Authorization Number, they have yet to email me.
What rights do I have?
Hello i have ordered 2 pairs of trainers online and paid for them on the 5th April 1 has arrived the other hasn’t there is no way of contacting them online or phone is there anything I can do?
I ordered two swimsuits from Best Secret (having successfully ordered from the company twice before) – my husband signed for the parcel which I later opened and the box was empty apart from some tissue paper and company leaflets and air filled bags!!! I directly contacted the Best Secret via email and telephone to try and resolve the problem. I received a reply today – 1 week later after chasing them twice over the phone and email. They are suggesting I didn’t look properly in the box or that the items ‘fell out’ as I opened the box!! On closer inspection the box may well have been opened on its way to me?
Best Secret are suggesting that I now have to contact DHL – but DHL I assume have carried out their part of the contract as they have delivered me my goods? I paid on credit card so will contact them. HELP! what are my rights?!
Regards
Anna Munday
I ordered an exercise plate that came with free DVD worth £9.99 however didn’t arrive company says lost in post they can’t replace as they don’t have that offer bug they do have the items seperatly exercise plate £99 and DVD £9.99 but cannot let me have them at just £99 . My question is they accepted my order and emailed to say the order had left the warehouse so am I entitled to getting like for like replacement at no extra cost as I had a contract with them
I ordered 2 dresses so I could try them and return if not liked. The website said the could be returned at a cost to myself. I emailed the company when received as they are not suitable to ask for an address to return. They said they could only give me an exchange or online credit. I read their terms and it does say that but not clearly evident. I can only contact them by email and await days for a response. They ask for returns within 14 days and if they don’t reply soon that time will be up. Can I ask my credit card company to withdraw payment to them or what else can I do?
Thanks
The courier for my Zara order had stated incorrectly on the tracking information that I had received and signed for my order. ZARA informed me they had reported this to Hermes their courier service and they are currently looking into this. Meanwhile I am still in limbo waiting for goods I have paid for and not received. Please can you confirm my rights ?
I purchased some trainers from a site called 8 lunatics.com,an adidas outlet but coming from china! When they arrived they were totally different trainers from what I ordered. I emailed them twice to say they were wrong&how do I go about returning&getting a refund but they haven’t replied. I paid by credit card. I don’t know what to do next as £72.00 is a lot of money to lose. Can you help please?
I ordered some trainers from 8 lunatics.co.uk,an adidas outlet. When they arrived they were totally the wrong trainers. They came from china! I sent an email to request a refund&advice on how to send the trainers back,got no reply so emailed again&still no response. I paid by credit card. It was around £72.00 which I cant afford to lose. Can you please help? Thank you
I ordered and paid for 3 suits of an internet site 2 weeks ago for next day delivery and still havent recieved my suits ive emailed them 3 times for them to contact me and had no repose ive tried ringing but no answer im really worried ive been stamed do i have a chance of getting my money back i paid by credit card