Return or exchange goods

Purchase with a right to return or exchange – things to think about 

• It’s up to the store to decide if they want to offer the right to return or exchange. The store also decides on the rules for there return policy. 

• Make sure you know what applies when you purchase a product and that it is clearly stated on the receipt. 

• Save the receipt. 

What does a purchase with right to return mean?

A purchase with right to return simply means that you can return something purchased to the store and get your money back. The store decides on if they want to offer the option to return the item and how many days after the purchase this will be offered.  

What is the right of exchange? 

The right to exchange means that you can return a product to the shop and choose another product instead. It is the store who decides if there is a right of exchange and how many days after the purchase this will be offered. 

At times when you want to exchange what you purchased the store may offer you a credit note, which you can use which you can use later to buy something else from the same shop. With a credit note you don’t get a refund of the money paid as you would if the shops return policy gave you a right to a refund. 

The shop decides its returns policy for refunds or exchanges 

There is no law that gives you the right to return goods for a refund or to exchange them. The possibility of a refund or an exchange is up to the individual store to offer or not. The store has the right to decide for itself what its policy will be and the terms it wants to offer. For example some stores offer a the possibility of returning the item for a refund within 30 days, while others do not accept any returns. 

Stors may also have terms and conditions returning an item for a refund or exchange. For example, you may not be allowed to return or exchange the product if you have opened the packaging.

If you have paid by card, you cannot get a refund in any other way than to the card you paid with.

What is the difference between a "purchase with right to return" and a statutory “right of withdrawal”? 

Sometimes people confuse a store offering the right to return with the statutory right to reconsider and withdraw from the purchase, but these are two different things. 

The right of withdrawal is a statutory right you automatically have if you purchase something at a distance, i.e. without dealing with someone while being physically at the company’s business premises. Purchasing online or from a telemarketer are two examples of this. You also have the right of withdrawal if someone from the company comes to your home and your agreement to purchase is made there, referred to as off-premises sales. The right of withdrawal is governed by law and is not something companies can decide for themselves. 

For items purchased in person in a store, you will not have any statutory right of withdrawal. However it is common for stores to offer customers the possibility to return what they have purchased and get a refund or exchange the item. There is however no law requiring shops to offer money back terms or a right to exchange. 

You always have a statutory right to claim redress if a product is faulty 

If the product you have purchased is faulty, you always have the right to claim redress. This applies irrespective of whether the store’s returns policy offers an explicit right to return the item within a certain number of days. 

How to lodge consumer complaint