Consumer rights expert Martyn James has pulled together his ultimate guide on your shopping rights for the Christmas season
Did you have a shopping binge in the sales recently? Or are you still stalling that all-important Christmas shopping?
It’s hard to know if you’re getting a good deal or not in this day and age. But fear not! I’ve put together my ultimate guide to bagging a bargain, ordering goods and all your shopping rights.
How do I know if something is really on sale?
The rules relating to when an item can be classed as discounted are complicated, which means it’s better to just assume that the 40% discount on a new television isn’t the real deal. The same goes for ‘only three items left’ warnings that are designed to get you to commit to buy.
As I often say in this column, never go to the supermarket when you are hungry, and don’t shop in the sales if you don’t know what you want to buy. People who browse online without a clear gift list are the ideal customers for retailers. Shops use a wide array of psychological tricks to get us purchasing before we put too much thought it to whether we are getting a bargain. Play them at their own game with a few quick checks.
Goods are only really worth what you are willing to pay for them. But as a starting point, check out the manufacturer’s recommended retail price (RRP). In reality, these prices are the absolute top end that you might be expected to pay and are often artificially high so they can be discounted. Next, pop the item and brand you are thinking of purchasing in to a search drive and skim through the ‘shopping’ options. You’ll get a good idea of what the current going rate is for what you want to buy. Watch out for shops you haven’t heard of offering suspiciously low prices though. They may be fake.
How can I get a genuine bargain?
There are lots of free price tracker websites out there that monitor the cost of items over a set period of time – usually a year. I use tools like CamelCamelCamel for Amazon products and PriceSpy for other retailers. These sites will tell you if you’re getting a good price on an item in the sale, or whether it was cheaper in the past. You may then get a better deal if you hold fire until it’s cheaper. You can even set price alerts on some sites so you get notified when the price drops to your ideal range.
Why not leave an item in your online shopping basket for a few days. You may find that a discount code or offer of up to 20% materialises in your inbox from the retailer.
You can use online sites like Honey to search for voucher codes. All you need to do is click on the code on the website rather than copying and pasting those annoying codes you may have seen on other sites that don’t work. You can also use cashback sites like TopCashback to get a bit of your money back on purchases.
Is the business legitimate – or based in the UK?
Social media sites are full of shops offering poor quality goods or outright scams. So don’t make an impulse purchase without doing some research on the shop first. Many of the retailers on social media aren’t based in the UK. This doesn’t mean they aren’t legit, but it can mean a long wait for your order to arrive, custom charges and problems returning goods.
Even if a business says it’s based in the UK and has Union Jack flags all over the site, don’t believe them. Check out the ‘contact us’ and ‘returns’ pages on the website. If there’s no address listed, then it’s highly likely they are based abroad.
Every year, I’m flooded with emails from readers who tell me about the rip-off items they’ve purchased from online shops and through social media forums. These range from the sublime to the ridiculous. Dolls house furniture instead of full size items, photos of iPads instead of the real deal, bridesmaids’ dresses that look cheap and are worryingly flammable, the list of complaints is endless.
Online shops are easy to set up and many of the more questionable ones openly steal legitimate photographs of products from genuine retailers or use AI to fake what a desirable item might look like. So don’t make a spontaneous purchase, go online first and search review sites or look for comments from other shoppers about the brand to get a feel for whether the shop has a good reputation.
What if the goods are rubbish?
If the goods or services you order turn up broken, aren’t as advertised or don’t turn up at all, then the law is on your side.
The Consumer Rights Act 2015 governs the bulk of your shopping rights. Prior to this the Sale of Goods Act (1979) offered similar protections.
The act covers goods and services (including digital purchases) and your rights to return and get a refund if they are not of ‘satisfactory quality’, ‘as described’ or ‘fit for purpose’.
- Of satisfactory quality: The retailer must not misrepresent how well the goods have been made, should provide the full service they are selling and should ensure that the goods do what they say effectively.
- As described: The item or service should be as the retailer said it would be. So if you buy a cream leather sofa, it should match the colour, fabric and description given by the retailer.
- Fit for purpose: You should be able to use the goods or services for the purpose they were supplied for. So if you’ve bought a charger that works on all mobile phones, then it should do precisely that.
The law also says that goods must last ‘a reasonable amount of time’. However, it doesn’t specify what that might be.
When can I return goods and get a refund?
Under the Consumer Rights Act, these are the timescales to remember if you have a problem with goods or services you have purchased:
30 days: You are entitled to a full refund if the item you have purchased online or in store is damaged, not as advertised or not fit for purpose within 30 days of purchase. This only applies for companies trading in the UK, though they are still covered even if based abroad. Your refund rights also includes the cost of returning the item.
Six months: If something goes wrong with the goods or services within six months from the date you purchased it you can still potentially get a refund. You must give the retailer one attempt at repairing or replacing the item first. If the problem isn’t resolved, they must give you a full refund.
Over six months: Even over the six months, goods must last ‘a reasonable amount of time’ so you can still ask for a full or partial refund, or repairs and replacements. The responsibility transfers to you to prove that you haven’t broken the goods. Retailers tend to push back on these claims so you might need to compromise unless you feel strongly enough to take the retailer to court. Have a think about what you might accept as a partial refund or alternative replacement.
What about second-hand goods?
The Consumer Rights Act also applies to second hand goods. The retailer must make it clear if there is any damage or wear and tear upfront. It makes sense to have realistic expectations though. Make sure you check out the photographs of the item and ask questions in advance to avoid disputes or disappointment.
What if I have buyers regret?
The Consumer Contract Regulations 2013 gives you the right to cancel contracts when you buy online within 14 days. The law also sets out what a ‘fair’ contract between you and a business is.
The law mainly applies to online purchases and gives you a 14-day cooling off period. However, if you buy on the high street, you are not covered by the law and are at the mercy of the shop’s returns policy.
So if you wake up the day after a shopping binge and regret your purchases, you can cancel them and get your cash back. But there are exceptions to this – and you may need to pay to return the goods if they’ve already been dispatched.
What if there’s a problem with a delivery?
Package delivery companies are responsible for more complaints than almost any other sector – other than retailers. But the rules around missing or damaged packages are really, really simple. Your contract is with the retailer not the delivery firm or the manufacturer.
Any business that sells you goods is responsible for getting them to you intact. This includes fully refunding you if the parcel or its contents are damaged. They must get the parcel to where you have specified. In most cases, that means handing the goods to the recipient.
Retailers are responsible for refunding you if the parcel has been:
- Left somewhere you haven’t authorised.
- Left with an unauthorised neighbour.
- Left in a communal or unsecured area.
- Left outside a door (then goes missing).
Martyn James is a leading consumer rights campaigner, TV and radio broadcaster and journalist.
