Consumer rights

Many of us have bought something only to later decide it's unsuitable or unneeded. Yet shops are under no obligation to take your goods back, just because you've changed your mind, only when they're faulty.

The exceptions to this are when buying on the internet, mail order or financial agreements, when you often have cancellation rights.

But even when you don't have rights, plenty of companies do still give refunds. These are mainly high street stores with returns policies allowing you to simply take back whatever you want within a set timeframe. You're less likely to be able to change your mind for a service contract that's started, though.

These goodwill policies have encouraged more and more customers to expect this as a right, even though it doesn't always apply.

This doesn't mean you can't ask, though. Shops would rather keep customers happy than be sticklers for the rules. They consider all customers to be potential clients who will use their services or buy their products again and again.

Sorry, that's an urban myth. Shops don't have to sell anything to you if they don't want to, regardless of price. Yet deliberately misleading you is criminal.

• First let's look at a genuine mistake – a £50 jacket racked up in a long line of other coats all at £500. Here, you have to accept the shop's error. If it does take your money and later says that it shouldn't have though, it doesn't matter – the contract's made and it's yours.

• However, if the shop was intentionally misleading – let's say it ran a price promotion promising lots of goods at dirt-cheap prices that fail to emerge, or you complained and it put the goods back on the shelf at the same price – then it's a potential criminal offence and Trading Standards officers can send in their heavies to investigate.

• Online is where things get slightly more tricky – your rights are the same, but when the retailer's deemed to have "accepted" your order is much less clear-cut. There's no overarching rule and it's a point which hasn't yet been fully settled in law.

  Don't think it's simply when you enter your card details – it could be when you get a confirmation email, some retailers reserve the right to cancel right up until delivery and others even include a specific clause in their T&Cs to cover price glitches, saying they don't have to sell if the price was low due to an error. So it all comes down to checking the T&Cs and seeing at what point the contract becomes legally binding.
  

Finally, if you spot a mispriced mistake, don't be afraid to haggle. Although it doesn't have to, the retailer may sell it to you at the knock-down price as a gesture of goodwill.

On the surface, the answer is no as you've no contract with the seller – it's the person who pays for the item who has the contract and will need to sort out any problems.

Yet for faulty items this can be overcome either with a gift receipt, or (if the shop doesn't offer one) if the buyer tells the seller they are passing on the rights by "conferring the benefit of the contract" under the Contracts (Rights of Third Parties Act) 1999.

In plain English, this means you need to make it clear – ideally in writing – you're buying for someone else by stating their name or giving a particular description, such as them being a family member, eg, getting the store to write "this is a gift for Martin Lewis" on the receipt at the time of purchase. This extra term then becomes part of your contract too.

Therefore if the item turns out to be faulty, you as the recipient (with a gift receipt) should be able to return the item for a refund (though the retailer may insist that the payment be refunded to the same card).

However if the gift was bought online and you simply don't want it, rights under the Consumer Contracts Regulations only apply to the original purchaser, so the store may insist that they be the one who return it.

As with other rights, stores do often provide over and above their obligation. Yet there's no harm in remembering to tell them it's a gift if you buy an expensive present for someone.

Your statutory consumer rights always apply. A trader can offer different rights if it wants, but only as long as they are on top of your statutory rights.

Yet some companies do try to say your statutory rights are not valid because there's a term in your contract that says so; for example them stating "We do not provide refunds", "We are not responsible if you are injured" or "We are not liable for property left unattended". These are called exclusion clauses.

If there are exclusions, your contract should also include the words "this does not affect your statutory rights", to show that written terms are not as important as consumer laws.

Companies try to get away with these terms in their contracts relying on lack of knowledge and consumer apathy to put consumers off making a claim. But exclusion clauses are often invalid and you can still complain.

While it may sound reasonable for loss or damage to be a consumer's responsibility, and in many cases it is, providers are also responsible for providing a reasonable duty of care for you or your possessions. So, for example, while they wouldn't be responsible if a member of the public swiped your bag while left unattended, they would be at fault if the bag was locked away where only their staff had access to it.

In most cases, you need to take action yourself following the steps in this guide. But it's a good idea to report suspected problems to your local Trading Standards office as it could also be a criminal offence to try to exclude something – see our How to complain guide for full help.