Home shopping advice

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This page gives you information about your consumer rights:

• your rights as a consumer when shopping from home
• before you decide to buy
• phone selling
• after you buy
• cooling-off period
• further legal rights
• protection for credit card buys

Your rights as a consumer when shopping from homeIf you shop for goods or services from the internet, by phone, mail order, fax or digital television, you have rights to:

• receive clear information
• a cooling-off period
• protection for your credit card against fraud.

The Consumer Protection (Distance Selling) Regulations 2000 apply to almost all types of home shopping. For example, the regulations apply if you:

• order clothing from a catalogue or newspaper advertisement
• order an MP3 player on the internet
• phone to arrange a gas or electricity supply to your home.

The regulations do NOT apply to:

• financial services
• auctions (including ebay)
• vending machines and payphones
• contracts to sell land.

Parts of the regulations do not apply to:

• deliveries of goods such as food or drinks
• transport, accommodation, catering or leisure services provided on specific dates.

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Before you decide to buy

Before you decide to buy, the seller must give you the following information:

• their name and, if you have to pay in advance, their postal address
• a description of the goods or services
• the price including all taxes
• delivery costs (if they apply)
• arrangements for payment
• arrangements for delivery (normally within 30 days unless the contract says otherwise)
• the right to cancel the order and whether you will be responsible for the cost of returning the goods
• for services, how long the contract will last if the service will be provided over a period of time (for example, mobile phone contracts often give a one-year minimum agreement)
• how long the offer or the price will be valid.

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Phone selling

If someone calls you on the phone to sell you goods or services, they must clearly identify at the beginning of the conversation the name of the company they represent and the fact that they are selling something.

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After you buy

After you buy, the seller should send you written confirmation (e.g. by letter, email or fax) of your order and include the information listed, unless this has already been provided in written form - such as in a catalogue or an advertisement. How long the offer or the price will be valid for does not have to be confirmed in writing.

The seller should also give you written information on when and how you can cancel the order, a postal address where you can contact them and details of any after-sales services and guarantees.

If a service agreement has no set finish date or lasts more than one year, for example a phone, gas or electricity supply contract, they must also send you details about when and how you can end the contract.

You should have all this information at the latest by the time that the goods are delivered or, in the case of services, before or soon after the start of the contract.

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Cooling-off period

If you change your mind the law gives you seven working days to cancel an order (and any related credit agreement). There are some exceptions though.

If you decide to cancel, you need to let the seller know within the time limits shown below. This should be done in writing (e.g. by letter, email or fax). A phone call is not enough.

The time limits are:

• for goods - seven working days after the day on which you receive them;
• for services - seven working days after the day on which you agreed to go ahead with the contract.

If you have not been given the information about your right to a cooling-off period, the cancellation period will be longer.

If you cancel, remember that you must take care of the goods and either return them to the seller (or their representative) or make them available to be collected.

If you have paid in advance, the seller must refund your money within 30 days. You may have to pay for the cost of returning the goods.

If you have paid for the goods by a credit agreement, including hire purchase, that the seller arranged, this agreement will be automatically cancelled.

Even if you have opened the packaging or tried out the goods (apart from CD's, DVD's and computer games), you still have the right to cancel for the seven day cooling-off period as long as you have taken reasonable care of the goods.

In these special cases you do not have the right to a cooling-off period:

• Services provided, with your agreement, before the end of the cooling-off period. You must be told in writing before the contract starts that you will not be able to cancel. If you don't get that notice, you will have the same legal rights to a cooling-off period as for other service contracts.
• Goods made to your specifications.
• Goods which, because of their nature, cannot be returned or which will rot or deteriorate quickly (for example, flowers or fresh foods).
• Sealed audio, DVD recordings or computer software which you have opened.
• Newspapers or magazines.
• Betting, gaming or lottery services.

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Further legal rights

Remember, whether you have a seven day cooling-off period or not, you still have the right, depending on the circumstances, to a repair, replacement or a refund if the goods are faulty or were falsely described, as per the Sale of Goods Act 1979 (as amended).

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Protection for credit card buys

The regulations make it safer for you to use your credit card on the internet, over the phone or for other types of home shopping. If someone else dishonestly or fraudulently uses your payment card for any form of home shopping, you can cancel the payment and the card issuer must refund the money to your account. The card issuer will want you to tell them as soon as possible if your card has been lost or stolen or if you find out that someone has used your card details dishonestly.

Please note that this page is only a guide to the law.

If you think the seller has not kept within the law, you should complain to them in the first instance.

Further information



Contact us

• email: ts.es@renfrewshire.gov.uk
• phone: 08454 04 05 06
• call in or write to us at:
  Renfrewshire Council
  Environmental Services
  Trading Standards
  Renfrewshire House
  Cotton Street
  Paisley
  PA1 1BR
  

Alternatively, you can complete the following form and submit direct to Trading Standards:

Consumer Complaint Reporting Form (pdf - 604kb)

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