Joules falls into administration - your refund and shopping rights

If you're looking to shop for less, see our Cheap Online Shopping guide to learn top techniques, and consider using cashback sites and cashback credit cards to get maximum value - though only borrow if you can afford to meet repayments in full each month. 

You can still buy online and in-store at Joules - but some returns won't be refunded depending on when you bought the item

Joules mainly sells women's, men's and children's clothing, shoes and accessories. All of its 132 stores and concessions, as well as its website, will remain open for now.

You can continue to buy goods and place orders online; currently all new and existing orders will be delivered as normal. But be warned; if you place an order and Joules stops trading in the meantime, you may be left out of pocket. 

You also need to be aware that if you buy something and later decide to return it because you don't like it or it doesn't fit, you'll only have 14 calendar days to do so - down from the previous 30 days.

In addition, depending on when you bought your item you may not be able to get a cash refund either as:

• Online or in-store purchases bought on or before 16 November can only be returned for a gift card or in exchange if the item is in original condition.

• Online or in-store purchases bought on or after 17 November will be eligible for a full refund back to your original payment method, as well as exchange or gift card if the item is returned in its original condition.

The above applies even if your item is faulty or damaged. Under consumer rights laws, where goods are faulty you should be offered a repair, replacement, or refund. See our Consumer rights guide for more on this.   

Gift cards will still be honoured - so use them quickly 

Any valid gift cards will continue to be honoured, which means you'll still be able to use them both in-store and online. So if you've got any, use them now while the retailer is still trading. Technically, when a firm goes into administration it doesn't have to fulfil all its promises, such as honouring gift cards.

You will, however, no longer be able to buy new gift cards either online or in-store.

If you're unhappy about not getting a cash refund, you can try getting your money back from your card provider   

If you were hoping for a cash refund for faulty or unwanted goods, or an order you placed hasn't arrived (though Joules says it is still delivering these for now), you may be able to get your money back if you paid using a debit or credit card:

• If you paid on credit card: Under Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act, if you pay for something costing between £100 and £30,000 on a credit card, the card firm's equally liable if something goes wrong. See our Section 75 guide for more details. 

• If you paid with a debit card: Under chargeback – which isn't a legal requirement, just a customer service promise – your bank will try to get your money back from the bank of the firm you purchased from. Though be aware that even if you're paid, the firm itself can sometimes dispute it with the bank and the money may later be clawed back. You typically have 120 days from purchase to submit a claim. See our Chargeback guide for full info.

If you're not covered on plastic, you can usually try to claim the cash from the administrator by becoming an 'unsecured creditor'. But here, you become another person on the administrator's list of people it owes money to with no guarantee of getting your money back. 

If you have any further questions or are unhappy, get in touch with Joules

Joules' administrator has confirmed that the store's customer service team is still in place, so you can contact them via the usual channels if you have a problem, either by emailing joulesteam@joules.com or submitting a request on its website