The 30 Day Return Rule: UK Consumer Rights Explained

Ask most people what the 30 day return rule is and you will get a confident but slightly wrong answer. There are actually two separate 30 day rules floating around UK shopping, plus a completely different 14 day rule for anything bought online, and mixing them up is how people end up accepting a repair when they were entitled to a full refund. Here is what the law actually says.

Your Legal Right: 30 Days to Reject Faulty Goods

Under the Consumer Rights Act 2015, if something you bought turns out to be faulty, not as described, or not fit for purpose, you have an automatic short term right to reject it within 30 days of taking ownership, meaning delivery, or the purchase date if you bought it in store. Within that 30 day window, you do not have to accept a repair or a replacement if you do not want one. A full refund is your right, and the retailer cannot insist on fixing it instead.

This only applies to faulty goods, not goods you have simply changed your mind about.

After 30 Days, But Within 6 Months

Once the initial 30 days has passed, the retailer gets one chance to repair or replace the item. If that attempt fails, or you reject the goods within six months of purchase, you are still entitled to a full refund. It is only after six months that the retailer can start making a deduction from your refund to account for the use you have had.

The Completely Different 14 Day Rule

If you bought something online, by phone, or by mail order, a separate right kicks in under the Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013. You can cancel and return the item within 14 days of receiving it for any reason, including simply changing your mind, and get a full refund including standard delivery costs. This has nothing to do with the item being faulty. It exists because you could not physically inspect the item before buying it.

This 14 day right does not apply to goods bought in person in a shop.

What a Shop's Own 30 Day Returns Policy Actually Is

Confusingly, plenty of retailers advertise their own 30 day, 45 day, or even 100 day returns policy for change of mind purchases, completely separate from your statutory rights above. This is goodwill, not law. Shops are not legally required to accept a return for an item you simply do not want anymore if you bought it in person and there is nothing wrong with it. They choose to as a customer service policy, and they set their own terms, including whether you get cash back or store credit.

Always check the retailer's specific returns policy for change of mind purchases, since it can be shorter, longer, or come with conditions like needing the original packaging or tags still attached.

Practical Takeaways

• Faulty item, bought any way, within 30 days: you can insist on a full refund, not just a repair
• Faulty item, between 30 days and 6 months: the retailer gets one repair or replacement attempt first
• Changed your mind, bought online: 14 days for a full refund, no fault needed
• Changed your mind, bought in a shop: whatever the retailer's own policy says, and only that

Keeping the Receipt That Proves the Date

Every one of these rights depends on proving when you bought something, and a paper receipt or an email confirmation is exactly the thing that gets lost the moment you actually need it. Orlo reads your receipts automatically and reminds you partway through and near the end of the standard 30 day window, so the decision to return something stays yours to make, not one made for you by a missing date.