M&Co falls into administration - here are 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 in-store and online at M&Co for now

M&Co appointed Teneo to handle the administration process on Friday 9 December. The Scottish retailer, which sells women's, men's and children's clothes, as well as homeware, will continue to trade both online and in store for now. Currently, all new and existing orders will also be delivered as normal. 

The brand's and intellectual property rights have, however, been purchased by clothing brand AK Retail. However, AK Retail hasn't purchased M&Co's stores and all 170 will now close in April.  

Some returns won't be refunded depending on where you bought the item

M&Co's new rules on refunds apply regardless of whether you purchased items before or after it went into administration on 9 December 2022:

• If you bought your item online, you will receive a full cash refund if it's in original condition. You have 14 calendar days to notify M&Co you want to do so, and another 14 days in which to return goods. If the item is faulty, you'll either be offered an exchange or full refund.

• If you bought your item in-store, you will only be able to exchange it for another item of the same value. You have only 14 calendar days to return it. If the item is faulty, you'll either be offered an exchange or full refund.

Where items aren't faulty, a retailer legally only has to accept returns for goods purchased online. Here you have 14 days to cancel the order after receiving it, and a further 14 days to send most goods back for a full refund. See our Consumer Rights guide for more on this.

Under consumer rights law, where goods are faulty you should usually be offered a repair, replacement or refund. If these rights aren't being upheld by the retailer, you can complain to the administrators, or try to get your money back via alternative means - see below for more on this.

Gift cards will only be valid until 12 February and you'll need to spend twice the value to use them

If you have a gift card, you can no longer use it online but you can still use it in-store. However, you have less than a week to do so, as any unspent gift cards will become worthless on 13 February 2023.  

You'll also only be able to use your gift card if your purchase is double the value on the card - for example, if your gift card is worth £25, your overall purchase will need to come to at least £50 for you to be able to use it. 

If you're unhappy about this, you can try to get your money back as we outline below - though there are no guarantees. Administrators are allowed to change gift card Terms and Conditions when a firm goes bust and whether you can claim for their original value isn't guaranteed. 

How to try getting your money back

If you were hoping for a cash refund for faulty or unwanted goods, an order you placed hasn't arrived, or you want a refund of your gift card's value, 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 cash back. 

If you have any further questions, contact M&Co

As M&Co is still trading, if you need any further help you can contact its customer services team, either via its online form or by calling 0333 202 0720.