Consumer refund rights in the UK are stronger than most shoppers realise, which is precisely why some companies work so hard to make you forget them. Rebecca Wilcox, consumer journalist on BBC Morning Live, set out this week the deliberate friction traders use to avoid paying up: the runaround, the endless hold music, the processes engineered to make you give up before you ever reach a resolution.
The good news is the law is largely on your side. The frustration is knowing how to use it.
What the Consumer Rights Act 2015 actually guarantees you
Under the GOV.UK guidance on accepting returns and giving refunds, a consumer is entitled to a full refund if goods are faulty, not as described, or not fit for purpose within the first 30 days of purchase. No quibbling, no store credit offered as a substitute for cash: a full refund.
After those 30 days but within six months, the picture shifts slightly. The retailer gets one attempt at a repair or replacement. Only if that fails does the right to a refund kick back in.
For online purchases, the rules are, if anything, more generous. GOV.UK’s consumer protection rights guidance confirms you can cancel an online order and claim a full refund simply by notifying the seller within 14 days of receiving the item. You do not need to prove a fault. You just need to notify.
One thing traders cannot legally do is post a sign saying the store does not accept returns or offer refunds. Displaying such a notice, or telling a customer verbally that they have no right to return, is unlawful. The statutory rights exist whether or not a retailer acknowledges them.
Consumer refund rights UK regulators are now willing to enforce
The enforcement landscape shifted substantially in April 2025, when new direct powers for the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) came into force under Parts 3 and 4 of the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024. For the first time, the CMA can issue fines directly to companies that breach consumer protection law, without needing to take them to court first.
The regulator has used those powers quickly. It ordered the AA to refund more than £760,000 to over 80,000 customers and pay a fine of £4.2 million over so-called drip pricing: adding undisclosed booking fees at checkout that customers had not been told about upfront. Separately, the CMA ordered StubHub UK to refund more than 50,000 customers over £590,000, part of enforcement action that has secured a total of £1.95 million in refunds across both cases, according to Wilson Sonsini’s analysis of the CMA’s drip pricing enforcement.
Drip pricing is worth understanding as a tactic, because it is one of the subtler ways consumers are misled before they even get to the refund stage. A price is advertised. Fees accumulate at checkout. By the time you have entered your card details, you are paying materially more than the headline figure suggested. The CMA’s action against the AA was the first time it used its new powers to both fine a company and order direct consumer redress in a single case.
One year into the new regime, the CMA’s own assessment found that 90% of businesses it contacted about problematic online pricing practices took action to improve voluntarily. The regulator also opened investigations into five companies over potentially fake or misleading reviews. The direction of travel is clear: the CMA is no longer a body that sends strongly worded letters and hopes for the best.
How to fight back when a company stonewalls you
Wilcox’s core advice aligns with the statutory position: know your rights before you pick up the phone, because the person on the other end of the line may be counting on the fact that you do not.
Cite the Consumer Rights Act 2015 by name. Put your complaint in writing, even if you have already made it verbally. Keep records of every exchange. If a retailer continues to stonewall, Citizens Advice operates a free consumer helpline on 0808 223 1133, Monday to Friday 9am to 5pm, offering guidance on refunds, repairs, and returns.
The other lever available is your credit or debit card provider. Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974 makes a credit card provider jointly liable with a retailer for purchases between £100 and £30,000. For debit card transactions, the chargeback scheme offers a parallel route, though it is not a statutory right in the same way.
Companies that make the process exhausting are banking on your patience running out. The legal framework says it should not have to.
