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Buying Goods – Your rights

By law, goods you buy must be:

-of a satisfactory quality
-fit for a particular purpose
-as described
-installed correctly, if installation was agreed as part of the contract

If the goods you receive aren’t of satisfactory quality, fit for purpose, don’t match or aren’t installed correctly, you have 30 days to return them and get a full refund.

You will have fewer days to return the goods if they are highly perishable, for example food items.

If you ask for a repair or replacement during the 30 day return period, you will have the rest of the period or seven days (whichever is longer) to check if you are happy with the repair or replacement and to decide if you want to keep it.

You don’t have to give the trader lots of chances to repair or replace the goods. If after just one failed attempt at repair or replacement, or the repair or replacement isn’t given to you within a reasonable time and without significant inconvenience, you can claim a price reduction or reject the goods and get a refund.

If the repair or replacement isn’t suitable, available or provided within a reasonable time and without causing you significant inconvenience, you can choose to keep the goods or to reject them.

If you choose to keep the goods, you can ask for a discount on the price of the goods, usually called a ‘price reduction’. The discount can be any amount, up to the full cost of the goods, but it must be reasonable given the circumstances of your claim.

If you reject the goods and return them, you can claim a refund. Your refund can be reduced to take into account any use you have had from the goods, but it can’t be reduced if you have held onto the goods simply because the trader has delayed collecting them. Nor can your refund be reduced where the goods are rejected within six months of getting them, except where the goods are a motor vehicle.

You can’t claim:

-for any damage you cause
-if you were made aware of the fault before you bought the goods
-for any obvious fault you would have seen if you examined the goods before you bought them
-if you change your mind about the goods you’ve bought
-for faults that appear as a result of fair wear and tear

Goods older than six months

If you’ve had the goods for six months or more, you must prove the fault was there at the time of purchase or delivery. Some faults won’t appear until sometime after delivery, and in these cases it is enough to prove that there was an underlying or hidden fault at that time.