Spring clean your finances - brush up on your consumer rights.

We lose £4,950 each in our lifetimes on faulty goods we don’t take back to the shops.08-03-2010

The ‘Know Your Consumer Rights’ campaign aims to make sure that shoppers get a fair deal by knowing how and when to take goods back to the shops - a survey for the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) was undertaken as part of that campaign.
The findings also reveal that almost half of shoppers surveyed (48%)* have at least one faulty item at home they wish they had exchanged or had refunded, with almost a third (32%)* possessing up to five faulty items. And it’s male shoppers who are losing the most money. On average they fail to take back £89 worth of faulty goods a year compared to women who are losing £71 a year: a cost of £5,465 and £4,658 in a lifetime respectively.
Fear plays a major part in stopping shoppers from returning goods and from getting a fair deal. Shoppers have the right to return faulty items, but many stores allow returns for unwanted goods even if you have just changed your mind.
Yet more than a third (36%)* of those surveyed feel nervous when they try to return an unwanted item to a store and 40% feel embarrassed (21%)* or intimidated (19%).* Londoners are the most anxious shoppers with more than half (55%)* feeling nervous when taking back an unwanted item, while consumers in the North West are the least nervous (27%).*
Other highlights from the survey of 3,000 people include:
• male and female shoppers differ in the days they prefer to take back goods, with men opting for Monday mornings and women preferring Saturday mornings to hit the high street;*
• when taking unwanted items back to a store, men feel more intimidated than women (26% to 14% respectively) and women feel more embarrassed than men (24% to 17% respectively).
Consumer Minister Kevin Brennan said:
“We want to do all we can to encourage people not to lose out financially because they don’t know their rights.
“Now is the time to brush up on your consumer rights so you can return any faulty or unwanted goods with added confidence. “
The Know Your Consumer Rights Campaign highlights the following Top Tips to consider when returning goods:
1. Returning it to the retailer - when you buy goods, your contract is with the retailer not the manufacturer and you should always go back to the retailer in the first instance to request an exchange or refund. If you have a manufacturer’s warranty you can contact them as well as the retailer. And don’t delay - act as soon as you discover the fault.
2. No receipt required - you do not need a receipt to obtain a refund for faulty goods.  However, you may be required to show proof of purchase with a credit card slip, bank statement or cheque stub.
3. Check at the checkout – although you do not have the legal right to take back goods just because you’ve changed your mind, many stores do offer a ‘no questions asked’ refund or exchange policy. Check the store policy when you buy.
 4. Online is fine - if you buy goods on the internet, you have the same rights as if you were shopping on the high street. In addition, you have the right to a seven day ‘cooling off’ period from the date you receive the goods, with the right to a full refund regardless of the reason for return. Remember though that this doesn’t apply if the goods were personalised for you, or are not in the same condition as when they were delivered.
To find out more about your consumer rights visit Consumer Direct at www.consumerdirect.gov.uk or call 08454 04 05 06