You bought something. It broke, didn’t work as described, or simply wasn’t what you paid for. Now you’re standing at a customer service desk — or typing an angry email — being told “sorry, we don’t do refunds” or “you’ll need to speak to the manufacturer.”
Here’s the thing: in most cases, that’s not true. The Consumer Rights Act 2015 gives you specific, enforceable rights whenever you buy goods, digital content or services in the UK, and a shop’s own returns policy cannot legally take those rights away from you.
This guide walks through exactly what the Act covers, what you’re entitled to at different points after a purchase, and how to actually use these rights when a retailer pushes back. No legal jargon — just what you need to know before your next difficult conversation with customer service.
What Is the Consumer Rights Act 2015?
The Consumer Rights Act 2015 came into force on 1 October 2015 and consolidated a tangle of older consumer protection laws — including the Sale of Goods Act 1979 and the Supply of Goods and Services Act 1982 — into one clearer piece of legislation. It applies across England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.
The Act sets out the legal terms that are automatically part of every contract between a business (the “trader”) and an individual consumer, whether you’re buying in person, online, or over the phone. It covers three main categories:
- Goods — physical products, from a toaster to a car
- Digital content — apps, downloads, streaming services, software
- Services — anything from a haircut to a building renovation
Crucially, this only applies to business-to-consumer transactions. If you buy something secondhand from a private individual on Facebook Marketplace or eBay, the Act doesn’t apply in the same way — though other protections, like the item having to match its description, still exist under general contract law.
The Core Rights: What Goods Must Be Like
Under the Act, every product you buy from a trader must meet three basic standards. These are often called the “statutory rights,” and they exist whether or not the retailer mentions them.
Satisfactory quality. The item should be free from defects, safe, and durable enough for how it’s normally used, taking into account its price and description. A £15 umbrella isn’t expected to survive a hurricane, but it should keep you dry in normal rain for a reasonable period.
Fit for purpose. The product should do what it’s meant to do, and if you told the retailer you needed it for a specific purpose and they agreed it would work, it needs to fulfil that purpose too.
As described. The goods must match any description given, whether that’s on the packaging, the website listing, or by a salesperson in-store. If a jacket is advertised as waterproof and it isn’t, that’s a breach of contract, not just a disappointment.
If a product fails on any of these three points, you have a right to a remedy — and what that remedy looks like depends heavily on timing.
The 30-Day Right to Reject: Your Strongest Position
This is the part of the Act most people don’t know exists, and it’s genuinely useful.
If a product is faulty, not as described, or not fit for purpose, you have 30 days from the date of purchase (or delivery, if later) to reject it outright and demand a full refund. The retailer doesn’t get to offer you a repair or a replacement instead during this window — the choice is yours, not theirs.
This is a stronger position than most people assume. Plenty of staff will default to “we can send it away for repair,” but within those first 30 days, you’re entitled to say no and ask for your money back instead.
A few practical notes:
- The 30 days is calculated from when you received the goods, not when you first opened the box.
- Perishable goods (like fresh food) have a shorter reasonable period, since they’re expected to go off.
- If you’ve had a free trial extension or the fault only appears near day 29, you’re still covered — act quickly and put it in writing.
After 30 Days: Repair, Replacement, and the Six-Month Rule
Missed the 30-day window? You’re not out of options — the process just shifts.
Between day 31 and six months after purchase, you can ask for a repair or replacement (your choice, within reason — the retailer can refuse if your chosen option is disproportionately expensive compared to the alternative). If the repair or replacement fails, or can’t be done within a reasonable time and without significant inconvenience, you then become entitled to a refund, or a price reduction if you decide to keep the item.
Here’s the part that surprises a lot of shoppers: for the first six months after purchase, it’s assumed the fault was present at the time of sale, unless the retailer can prove otherwise. In practice, that means the burden of proof is on the shop, not on you. You don’t need to bring in an engineer’s report to prove your washing machine was faulty when it arrived — the law assumes it in your favour.
After six months, that assumption flips. You can still claim, but you’ll need to show the fault was inherent (i.e., it wasn’t caused by wear and tear, misuse, or an accident) rather than something that developed naturally over time. This is where things like a laptop’s short-circuiting motherboard tend to be treated differently from a phone screen cracked from a drop.
Goods are covered for up to six years from the date of purchase in England, Wales and Northern Ireland (five years in Scotland), for faults that were present at the point of sale — though the older the item, the harder it becomes to prove the fault wasn’t caused by normal use.
Digital Content and Services: Often Overlooked
Most people know their rights around a broken kettle. Fewer realise the Act also covers digital purchases and services — areas where problems are just as common but far less understood.
Digital content (apps, e-books, games, software, streaming subscriptions) must be of satisfactory quality, fit for purpose, and as described — the same three standards as physical goods. If a paid app crashes constantly or a download is corrupted, you’re entitled to a repair or replacement, and if that’s not possible, a refund. If faulty digital content damages your device — say, a buggy update that bricks your tablet — you may be entitled to compensation for that too.
Services — building work, hairdressing, car repairs, home removals — must be carried out with reasonable care and skill, within a reasonable time (if no time was agreed), and for a reasonable price (if no price was agreed). If a builder does a shoddy job, you can ask them to fix it at no extra cost. If they can’t or won’t, you may be entitled to a price reduction reflecting the reduced value of the work, or in serious cases, compensation.
This is particularly relevant for UK homeowners dealing with tradespeople, where verbal agreements are common and things can get messy if the work goes wrong. Getting a written quote before work starts makes any later dispute far easier to resolve.
How to Actually Use These Rights (Without It Turning Into a Fight)
Knowing your rights is one thing; getting a retailer to honour them is another. A few things make this smoother in practice.
Keep your proof of purchase. A bank statement, order confirmation email, or receipt is enough — you don’t need the original packaging in most cases, despite what some staff will tell you.
Put it in writing. Phone calls get forgotten. An email or a written letter creates a paper trail and references the Act specifically — something like “under the Consumer Rights Act 2015, I am requesting a full refund as this item is faulty and within 30 days of purchase” carries real weight.
Know the difference between the retailer and the manufacturer. Your contract is with the shop you bought from, not the manufacturer — even if the packaging says to “contact the manufacturer” for faults. Retailers sometimes try to redirect you here, but legally, it’s their responsibility to sort it out.
Escalate calmly if you’re refused. If front-line staff won’t budge, ask to speak to a manager, or follow up via the company’s official complaints process. For larger disputes, Citizens Advice and the Consumer Ombudsman can offer free guidance, and in genuinely stuck cases, the Small Claims Court is an option for amounts typically under £10,000 in England and Wales.
Watch out for common pushback. “No refunds on sale items” and “we only offer store credit” are frequently stated but don’t override your statutory rights when goods are genuinely faulty — these policies only apply to changes of mind, not to faults.
(If you’re dealing with a specific dispute right now — say, a car that developed a fault within weeks of purchase, or a builder who’s left a job half-finished — it’s worth reading a more detailed guide on that particular scenario, since remedies can vary depending on what you bought.)
Frequently Asked Questions
Can a shop refuse a refund by pointing to their own returns policy? No — not for faulty goods. A shop’s own policy (like “no refunds after 14 days”) can offer you more generous terms than the law requires, but it cannot take away your statutory rights under the Consumer Rights Act 2015. If an item is faulty, not as described, or not fit for purpose, your legal rights apply regardless of what’s printed on the receipt.
What’s the difference between a faulty item and simply changing my mind? The Act gives you strong rights when something is genuinely faulty, not as described, or unfit for purpose. If you’ve simply changed your mind about an item bought in-store, you have no automatic legal right to a refund — that’s down to the retailer’s goodwill policy. Online purchases are different: under separate distance selling rules, you generally have 14 days to cancel for any reason.
Does the Consumer Rights Act 2015 cover secondhand goods? Yes, if you bought from a business (like a used car dealer or a secondhand goods shop) rather than a private seller. The standard is adjusted for age, price and condition — a ten-year-old car is expected to have more wear than a new one — but it still needs to be of satisfactory quality for what you paid.
Can I get a refund for a faulty item bought as a gift? The right to reject generally belongs to whoever made the purchase, not the recipient, since the contract was between the buyer and the retailer. In practice, many retailers will still help the gift recipient, especially with a gift receipt, but strictly speaking the original purchaser holds the legal claim.
How long does a retailer have to complete a repair? The Act doesn’t set a fixed number of days — it says repairs or replacements must happen within a “reasonable time” and without “significant inconvenience” to you. What counts as reasonable depends on the product; a two-week wait for a specialist part might be fine, but leaving you without a fridge for two months generally wouldn’t be.
Key Takeaways
The Consumer Rights Act 2015 exists to make sure you’re not left out of pocket when something you’ve bought turns out to be faulty, misdescribed, or simply not fit for purpose. The headline points worth remembering: you have 30 days for a full refund on faulty goods, six months where the burden of proof sits with the retailer, and up to six years to claim in total. The same protections extend to digital downloads and services, not just physical products.
If you’re currently stuck in a dispute with a retailer who’s quoting their own policy at you instead of the law, start by putting your request in writing and referencing the Act directly — it resolves more disputes than people expect. And if it doesn’t, Citizens Advice offers free, practical support on the next steps to take.
