The difference in one table
- Faulty item: the seller has to put it right. This exists nearly everywhere, though the period varies.
- Changed your mind: a cooling-off right. 14 days in the EU and the UK; no general federal right in the US.
- Cooling off applies to distance selling — online, phone, mail order — not to a shop you walked into.
- Where it applies, the seller refunds the outbound delivery you paid, at the cheapest option they offered.
- Return postage is usually yours unless the seller promised otherwise, or the item is faulty.
Which claim do you have? One question settles it
Ask whether there is anything wrong with the item. If there is, it is a defect claim and you are asking the seller to repair, replace or refund. If there is not, and it simply does not suit you, you are cancelling the purchase.
The distinction is not academic. With a defect you have to describe the fault and the seller gets to assess it. With a cancellation you owe no explanation at all, and a seller who demands a reason is overstepping.
Where the cooling-off right applies, and where it does not
In the European Union and in the United Kingdom, buying at a distance gives you 14 days to cancel without giving a reason. The clock runs from when you receive the goods, not from when you order, and sending the cancellation inside the window is enough — the goods can follow afterwards.
In the United States there is no general federal right to return something you have simply changed your mind about. Retailers set their own policies, and a generous one is a commercial choice, not an entitlement. There are narrow federal exceptions, mostly for door-to-door sales, and some states add their own rules.
Elsewhere it varies, and the only honest advice is to read the seller's stated policy before you order rather than assume a right you may not have. That is also why the shop's terms are worth two minutes of your time: where the law is silent, the policy is all you have.
One rule holds everywhere the cooling-off right exists: terms that shorten the period, or make it conditional on unopened packaging, are unenforceable. You agreeing to them changes nothing.
When you cannot cancel
The exceptions are broadly similar wherever the right exists, and they are worth knowing in advance: goods made to your specification, perishables, sealed items unsealed after delivery for hygiene reasons, newspapers and magazines, sealed recordings or software once opened, and travel or accommodation booked for a specific date.
What is not an exception is having unpacked the item and tried it. You are entitled to handle it as you would in a shop. A seller may only reduce your refund where you have gone beyond that and diminished the item's value.
What to do when the shop stalls
Put it in writing, by email, and keep a copy. A conversation cannot be proved later, and every route after this one will ask you to show that you contacted the seller first.
State plainly what you are claiming, quote the order number and the delivery date, and give a deadline. Say what happens when the deadline passes.
When the deadline passes: your national consumer authority, and — if you paid by card — a dispute with your bank at the same time. The two run independently and the bank's window is the one that expires.
A cancellation notice you can copy
- 1Who and whatAddress it to the trading company and address given in the terms. Subject: Cancellation of order [number].
- 2The text“On [order date] I ordered [item], order number [number], which I received on [delivery date]. I am cancelling this purchase and requesting a refund of the price together with the delivery cost I paid, [amount], to [account or original payment method].”
- 3AttachmentsA copy of the order confirmation or invoice. A seller cannot require more than that.
- 4Sending it, and sending the goodsSend the notice inside the cancellation window. The goods follow without undue delay — in the EU and the UK, within 14 days of the notice.
Common questions
- Do I have to return it in the original packaging?
- No. Packaging is not a condition of cancelling, and a term that says otherwise is unenforceable where the cooling-off right applies. It does help the item survive the journey, so use it if you still have it.
- Who pays the return postage?
- You do, unless the seller promised otherwise or the item is faulty — a faulty item is returned at the seller's cost. Where the cooling-off right applies, the seller must also refund the outbound delivery you paid, up to the cheapest option they offered.
- Can I claim without a receipt?
- Usually yes. A bank statement, an order confirmation or an email establishes the purchase just as well. The receipt is the simplest proof, not the only one.
- What if the seller rejects my claim?
- Ask for the refusal in writing. Then take it to your national consumer authority, or to an alternative dispute resolution scheme if the trader belongs to one — most are free to the consumer. If you paid by card, dispute the payment in parallel.
- Does the 14-day right apply to something I bought in a physical shop?
- No. Cooling off covers distance selling. In a physical shop, returns are the retailer's own policy, and a generous one is a courtesy rather than an obligation.
Read next
Safe online shopping: how to pay and what to check firstA practical routine for buying online: how to pay, what to check before you order, and how to keep your route to a refund open.
Your order never arrived: what to do, step by stepYou paid and the parcel never came. How long to wait, when to cancel, and where to go afterwards so that it actually achieves something.