Goods that are bought from a shop must be fit for the purpose for which they were bought, match the description that is given of them and be of satisfactory quality. This means that goods should be, within reason, what you expect them to be considering the price you paid. If these requirements are not seen to then you may have a legal right to reject them and get a refund.

If you cannot get back to the shop you should telephone or email to let the seller know that you have a problem with the goods and that you want to reject them and get a refund.

A credit note does not have to be taken if the reason for the return of the goods is as the above, but if you do accept a credit note then you cannot later change it for a cash refund. If you are returning items because you simply changed your mind about them, then the seller has no legal requirement to provide a refund.

In this circumstance the bigger retailers rather than the smaller businesses are likely to offer you a credit note. Other times the consumer will create a problem, for example a hole, and claim that it happened before they bought it. If you have kept an item for several weeks without properly checking it out and then discover a problem or fault, you may have difficulty in returning it and getting a refund.

This is due to what is known as ‘reasonable’ time to use the goods. However, there is no legal definition of what a ‘reasonable’ time is and this can lead to problems for both the consumer and the seller.