Two conversations happen at the counter of every shop, salon and workshop in the country. In the first, a customer wants a refund because something has broken, and the owner is not sure whether they are obliged to give one. In the second, a customer wants a refund because they changed their mind, and the owner gives one anyway to avoid a scene.
In the first conversation the law is clear and the owner usually owes more than they think. In the second there is generally no legal obligation at all. Knowing which conversation you are in is worth real money, and getting the first one wrong is what turns an unhappy customer into a chargeback, a card dispute or a complaint to Trading Standards.
The three things every product has to be
Under the Consumer Rights Act 2015, goods sold to a consumer must be of satisfactory quality, fit for their particular purpose, and as described. That last one carries more weight than people expect — a description given verbally in the shop, in a photograph on your website or in a social media post all count, and a product that does not match it is faulty in law even if it works perfectly.
It is your responsibility as the retailer, not the manufacturer's. Sending a customer to the manufacturer's warranty department for a fault in the first six months is a breach of your own obligation, however inconvenient that is when you are a small shop selling somebody else's product.
The 30-day rule, and the one repair after it
The remedies come in tiers, and the dates matter.
In the first 30 days from the point the customer takes ownership, they have the short-term right to reject: a full refund, with no deduction for use. You do not get to insist on a repair first, and you do not get to offer a credit note instead.
After 30 days and up to six months, you are entitled to one attempt at a repair or a replacement. If that attempt fails, or you cannot do it within a reasonable time and without significant inconvenience, the customer moves to the final right to reject and is entitled to a full refund with no deduction for use. Motor vehicles are the one exception where a reasonable reduction for use can be applied after the first 30 days.
The six-month mark is the pivot. Within six months of delivery, a fault is legally presumed to have been present when the goods were handed over, and it is on you to prove otherwise. After six months, the burden flips: the customer has to show the fault was there at the point of sale. That is why a properly documented repair record is worth keeping — it is the evidence that decides who owes what in month seven.
The customer's right to a refund in the first 30 days is not a negotiation, and it is not affected by a sign on the wall. Your returns policy governs what happens on top of the law, not instead of it.
What you can refuse
This is the half that gets given away unnecessarily. In a shop, there is no legal right to a refund because someone has changed their mind, bought the wrong size, or found it cheaper elsewhere. Nor is there any obligation to refund because a customer has decided they do not like it, provided it is exactly as described and works.
You can also refuse where the customer knew about the fault before buying — a clearly labelled seconds item, or damage pointed out and priced accordingly. Sale and clearance goods otherwise carry the full set of rights: a discount does not reduce them.
The one caveat is your own policy. If your signage or website promises 28 days for an exchange, that promise is contractual and you have to honour it. And a blanket no refunds sign is not just unenforceable, it risks being treated as a misleading practice. The consumer protection regime under the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 came into force on 6 April 2025 and gives the Competition and Markets Authority power to act directly, without going to court, with penalties reaching £300,000 or 10% of turnover where that is higher.
Online sales are a different regime entirely
If you sell at a distance — website, phone, social media DM — the Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013 add a cancellation right that has nothing to do with anything being faulty. The customer has 14 days from receiving the goods to cancel for any reason, then a further 14 days to send them back. You must refund within 14 days of getting the goods back or of receiving proof they were sent, and the refund has to include the basic outbound delivery charge, though not an upgrade to next-day.
Two things soften it. You can require the customer to pay the return postage if you told them so before they ordered. And there are genuine exemptions: personalised or made-to-measure items, perishables, and sealed audio, video or software that has been unsealed. Get the pre-contract information wrong and the cancellation window can extend by up to twelve months, which is the expensive version of this mistake.
For services rather than goods, the remedies are repeat performance or a price reduction — the service must be carried out with reasonable care and skill, and where no price was agreed in advance, for a reasonable price. That is a good argument for writing the scope down in the first place, which is the point of the clause worth adding to every quote.
A worked example
Illustrative figures. A customer buys a £280 appliance in your shop. On day 12 it stops working: they are entitled to a full £280 refund on the spot, and no repair offer is required.
Change one variable. The same fault appears on day 70. Now you may offer a repair or a replacement first. You repair it, it fails again in week 14, and the customer exercises the final right to reject — full £280 back, no deduction for the ten weeks of use they had.
Change it again. The fault appears at month eight, and you have a repair record showing the unit worked normally when it left you. The burden of proof has moved to the customer, and a refund is not automatic.
Now the version that costs you most. The customer bought online, changed their mind on day 6, and you refuse because your website says no returns on sale items. They are entitled to cancel regardless, get the £280 plus the £4.95 standard delivery, and if your pre-contract information did not explain the cancellation right, the window they had was not 14 days at all. The refusal also invites a card dispute, and what a chargeback actually costs you is considerably more than the refund would have.
The policy to write down
Aim for something one page long that separates the two things. First, the legal position: faulty goods get the statutory remedies, and say so plainly rather than in legislative language. Second, your goodwill position on change of mind — a stated number of days, whether a receipt is required, whether you give a refund or a credit note, and which categories are excluded for hygiene or made-to-order reasons.
Then train whoever is on the counter on the 30-day line and the six-month line, because those are the two dates that decide almost every case. Log every return with the date of purchase, the fault reported and the remedy given: it takes seconds, it tells you which supplier is costing you money, and it is your evidence in month seven. Returned stock also needs a decision rather than a shelf in the back — resaleable, repairable or written off — since the cash sat on your shelves doing nothing includes the returns nobody has processed.
Common questions
Do I have to give a refund if a customer changes their mind?
In a shop, no. There is no legal right to a refund because someone bought the wrong size, no longer likes the item, or found it cheaper elsewhere, provided the goods are as described and not faulty. Anything you offer in that situation is goodwill — but if your signage, website or receipt promises a returns window, that promise becomes contractual and you must honour it. Online and other distance sales are different: under the Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013 the customer has 14 days from receipt to cancel for any reason at all, with no fault required.
How long does a customer have to return a faulty product?
There are two key dates. Within 30 days of taking ownership the customer has the short-term right to reject and is entitled to a full refund with no deduction for use, and you cannot insist on repairing it first. Between 30 days and six months you are entitled to one attempt at a repair or replacement, and if that fails the customer gets a full refund with no deduction. Within the first six months a fault is presumed to have existed at delivery unless you can show otherwise; after six months the customer has to prove it was there at the point of sale.
What must I refund on an online order that is cancelled?
Refund the full price of the goods plus the basic outbound delivery charge you charged — you do not have to refund the extra cost of an upgraded or express delivery option. The refund is due within 14 days of receiving the goods back, or within 14 days of the customer providing proof that they have sent them. You can require the customer to pay for the return postage only if you told them so clearly before they ordered. Exemptions exist for personalised and made-to-measure items, perishable goods, and sealed audio, video or software that has been unsealed.
Is a no refunds sign legal in the UK?
No. Statutory rights on faulty goods cannot be excluded by a sign, a receipt, a website term or a verbal warning, so a blanket no refunds notice is unenforceable. It is also a compliance risk in itself: displaying a term that misleads consumers about their rights can be treated as an unfair commercial practice, and since the consumer protection regime under the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 came into force on 6 April 2025 the Competition and Markets Authority can enforce directly without going to court, with penalties of up to £300,000 or 10% of turnover, whichever is higher.
