This is what you need to know about the Consumer Rights Act 2015 and how to apply it to reinforce your legal rights.
It is a common myth that you only have 30 days grace to act, whereas the 30-day rule applies to rejecting the goods. This does not affect your consumer rights.
The Consumer Rights Act 2015 gives you a ‘short-term right to reject’ faulty goods within 30 days and demand a full refund, no questions asked. The onus (burden of proof) is on you to prove it is faulty within 30 days.
The Consumer Rights Act 2015 replaced three major pieces of consumer legislation, namely;
- Sale of Goods Act
- Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations
- Supply of Goods and Services Act
The purpose for doing so was to simplify, consolidate and modernise consumer legislation and to give consumers clearer rights when purchasing goods and services.
CONSUMER RIGHTS ACT 2015 – CRITERIA
All products should be;
- Satisfactory quality
- Fit for purpose
- As described
- Last a reasonable length of time
A trader must perform the service with reasonable care and skill.
This covers all trades including plumbers, hairdressers, takeaways and restaurants.
If you discover any faults within 6 months of ownership, the presumption is that the fault was there from the outset.
The onus is on the retailer to prove otherwise.
You need to give the retailer one opportunity to remedy the same fault. You have the right to reject the goods and demand a full refund without deductions if this fails. The only exception on deductions is for vehicles where you have had use of the vehicle for more than 30 days.
If 6 months has elapsed, the onus is on you to evidence that the fault was there at the time of purchase.
UNFAIR TERMS AND CONDITIONS
The Consumer Rights Act 2015 creates a ‘fairness test’ to prevent consumers being placed at an unfair advantage. Key terms and conditions need to be transparent, fair and balanced.
S62(1) Consumer Rights Act 2015 states that an unfair term of a consumer contract is not binding on the customer.
The Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 also reinforces this. This legislation considers such practices unfair if they cause a consumer to take a different decision than they would have otherwise made if they had not been given false information or put under unfair pressure to proceed. The focus is on misleading and aggressive actions and omissions.
If you had no alternative but to agree to the T & Cs, a Court would likely consider that you have been put under unfair pressure to do so.
OTHER LEGISLATION
There are other pieces of legislation you can refer to such as S75 Consumer Credit Act 1974.
You don’t need to buy a warranty. The Consumer Rights Act 2015 gives you better cover for free.
You can find out more about how to resolve complaints and motoring disputes in my book.
Your legal rights gives you better protection than any warranty.
I bought a new Kawai piano which was delivered to me 5 months ago, there is a harsh metallic sound on several lower keys when playing repeatedly while pressing the pedal. I contacted the dealer and sent the video to the dealer but he just said it’s normal and cannot be adjusted. So I contacted Kawai Japan and they referred Kawai UK to contact me and Kawai UK said “I can hear the metallic sound you describe. However, fortunately, this is not due to a faulty part on the instrument. This will not be resolved by tuning, however, can be adjusted by voicing – technicians do not automatically do this with tuning so please do specifically ask for this from your technician.” after reviewing the recording. Following this advice, I contacted a technician through the Piano Tuners’ Association and shared the recording. He confirmed: “Yes, can clearly hear what you are talking about.” Voicing was then carried out, and the technician attempted to address the issue by loosening the felt. However, the harsh metallic sound persists. Kawai UK also replied: “We can hear the noise you describe, however this is part of the sound of this instrument’s character and set-up and does not indicate a fault with the instrument or components.” Finally, Kawai UK arranged a technician to check out the piano and replaced two strings but the metallic sound still exists. They didn’t seem to respond anymore, please advise what can I do further under the consumer right act. Thank you.
I purchased a £40K range rover evoque 2.5 years ago, it developed a fault which was sorted out by the dealer land rover jaguar. Then the fault reappeared and we had to purchase a new battery at £450 and less than a month later it has done the same thing. I have spoke to Land rover and they have offered me a part exchange at market value but say there is nothing else they can do. The car will be going back to them but there is obviously a fault with the vehicle. What can I do and what are my rights as a consumer?
A small issue of a bar of chocolate missing from an Uber eats delivery. They are refusing to refund me £2.75 because they have refunded missing items before! This was over a year ago! Items were missing then too!
Hello,
I purchased a car (on finance) and it has developed an engine fault after just short of 5 months. Car is covered under manufacturer warranty, however i have had to wait 6 weeks for them to look at it and now a further 2 weeks and 2 days of them trying to fix the fault but so far have not been able to.
What rights do I have… its starting to feel like the car is never going to be repaired. Do I have rights to request a full refund so can start a new car deal elsewhere?
Hiya, I bought a 2nd hand Car from a dealer on the 20th June and on Sunday it caught alight due to an engine failure, it is now an insurers write off.
Problem is that the insurers have offered me £850 less than i paid for it £5,017.50 offered for a Car that i paid £5800 for.
Question is, I am better to pursue the dealer for a full refund rather than take the hit or just accept the offer and move on.
If i do accept the offer can i then ask the Car dealer to reimburse me for my loss ?
Thanks
Andy
Requiring third engine for my Landrover Discovery. The first engine was replaced now the 2nd engine has gone after 2 years 7 months covering 39000 miles. Been told to pay for third engine. However now online this is a common problem that Landrover are fully aware of this manufacturing and design fault.
What rights do I have to ask for a third replacement engine?
Hi So i purchased an iphone charger lead from Halfords in December 2022. It has now broken ( it has frayed ) and wont charge my phone, but the man at the Halfords store wouldn’t give me an exchange because he says its not normal wear and tear on it!
Surely im covered under some kind of guarantee because its only just over 2 months old!
Thank you
Hello, I was wondering whether you could help please. I purchased a laptop in October 2022. In January this year whilst in use, the charger blew and started smoking. I sent it to be looked at by their service department, with the laptop (they requested this). I have just had an invoice for £133 to cover labour and repair because, as they state “it is not an manufacturing issue”. They have given me three choices- a) to pay for the repair B) not accept quote and pay £45 return fee or c) not accept quote and they dispose of it. They have given no indication of the fault, i’m still within the 6 month period. The latter will also mean that they will keep my laptop even though that wasnt the faulty item. I fail to see how this is user fault when we have had no other electrical issues.
Hello,
Thank you for sharing the information regarding the Consumer Rights Act and helping us all deal with dodgy retailers and products.
I have a question regarding an issue I’ve got. I purchased a computer monitor from Currys in June 2020, which is now 2.5 years old and 6 months out of warranty. It has developed a fault (flickering horizontal lines) that LG customer support were unable to help me with. After searching for solutions online, I found what was likely more than a hundred user reports detailing the same or similar issue with the exact model of monitor I have. This obviously points towards manufacturing defects and not user error/wear and tear. One person even went as far as to open up the monitor – they found a damaged ribbon connector that caught fire at one point, leading to the horizontal lines failure.
My monitor has never been misused and is in overall perfect condition. An online search reveals that a typical LCD display should last between 30,000-60,000 hours, or 10-20 years of 8h daily usage. Mine has only lasted 6,500 hours according to the built-in usage tracker (in 2.5 years), which is further exacerbated by the fact I paid £799 for it. This is by far the most expensive monitor I’ve owned, and at the same time the only one to fail on me.
In this case, when I contact Currys, should I ask them for a free repair, or am I eligible for a full refund given the extensive evidence that this monitor model has been plagued by failures like mine? I would rather receive a refund since I need a working monitor for work ASAP, and I won’t be able to trust this one considering it’s poorly designed and prone to breaking.
Just in case someone finds this post useful, the model is LG 34GK950F. If you see horizontal lines or flicker on yours, even with everything unplugged, the monitor is very likely breaking down.
Thanks a lot,
SJ
Hi Scott
Thank you for your information. My husband and I commissioned a boat to live on three years ago, there have been numerous problems which continue. We have given ample opportunity for the boat builder to fix things which he has on many items, however, when one thing is fixed another appears, these are major things like motor, electricity and plumbing issues. Anyway, my question is, we have spent extra money on the boat on fittings which are bespoke, for example a cover for the stern area, if we claim our money back under the CRA2015, can we ask for that money back too or only the original cost of the boat?
Many thanks and I look forward to buying you a coffee on your reply.
good evening
i need your help please i bought a washer dryer from curry’s on the 9th of October 2022 with a wash capacity of 9kg and a drying capacity of 6kg however the item doesn’t dry even when its been on for 3 hours today i had 2 lightweight sheets and 2 towels in there it failed to dry after 3 hours. we had an engineer come out today who said that we can only half fill the machine on a wash and even less for drying. i spoke to curry’s and said i wanted to return it as its not as described and not fit for purpose they said i have to contact the manufacturer for a returns authorisation number, is this correct or is this a fob off (i believe it to be the latter) we are a family of 6 and a half filled machine is of no use to us what can i do please.
Such a relief to find this. What has happened to curry’s to get things so badly wrong. I have just had a washing machine installed and though it jutted out 10 cm i was ‘informed’ it was installed by the installers who set a wash running, I was working but let them go thinking it’ll have to do, but, 10 days later I discover the lower oven door cannot open because the washer dryer sticks out too far. They came back and the installer admitted the fault and said it should never have been put as installed and to go to the store. When I went to the store they called the depot and call centre who denied the installer had said this and refuse any further help. I can now cook or wash but not both. The store asked me to manually bring it into store – it’s 84kg – and they will ‘assess its worth’ – given my knowledge the installers scratched the top ramming it in (I saw the damage when the installer tried a second time).
I am in pieces I cannot afford any more outlays after a boiler breakdown job loss and bereavement all in the same week as this, and this is not my doing, and the installer/call centre is lying, but as it’s installation not a faulty machine have I any rights? What should I do…
Great information. I have a question if you don’t mind giving me some advice? I bought a used motorbike which came with a 3 month warranty. There’s an issue with it which I raised during the warranty and the dealership ‘repaired’ the fault. However, the same fault is happening again and I’m now outside the warranty period. Am I covered to have that specific issued fixed fully? And if the are unable to fix the fault, can I return the motorbike with a refund. For further information, the vehicle is on finance. Any information would be greatly appreciated and welcomed.
Thank you