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Know your retail rights - Distance selling rules
Distance shopping is booming. Buying goods and services from the comfort of your own home has never been more popular.
But do you know what your rights are? Ed Bailey, a solicitor at Barr Ellison and specialist in Internet and E-commerce law, explains:
"Generally speaking, the legislation surrounding distance shopping is more pro consumer than shopping on the high street.
"If you are buying goods over the internet, for example, you have seven working days from the day after the goods arrived to notify the supplier that you're sending them back. You don't have to give a reason and the goods don't have to be faulty. Provided you notify the seller in an appropriate fashion (and e-mail is usually sufficient) then you can return what you've bought with impunity.
"Equally, once you've let the supplier know that you don't want the product any more, then providing you look after it properly, there's no time limit by which you have to get the goods back.
"Even better news is that the supplier has to refund you within 30 days of your cancelling the order or saying you're going to return the goods. This applies even if you haven't actually sent them back yet.
"In terms of delivery of the goods, the supplier generally has 30 days to comply unless they stated that there would be a longer delivery period when you placed the order. Any longer and you are entitled to demand a refund.
"Contracts for services are also covered by the rules and can often be cancelled within seven working days.”
There are caveats. Certain types of purchases are excluded, including travel, catering and accommodation services, as are goods made to order and perishable goods. It is worth noting that you are unlikely to be able to reject downloaded products once they are on your computer. Purchases via auction are also not covered.
"Crucially, the distance selling rules only apply to business to consumer sales, not business to business sales”, says Mr Bailey.
"If a customer does cancel a contract, the supplier has to refund all sums paid for the purchase, including delivery costs.”
For further information contact Ed Bailey .
The information given in this article is of a general nature only and should not be considered as advice applicable to any particular situation for which specific request should be made to us.
