An online purchase arrived faulty, will I have to pay for return postage?

Q. I recently bought something online and when I received it I found a fault with it. Will I have to pay for the return postage?

A. If you are a consumer purchasing from a business, the answer is no.  The regulations governing distance selling in the UK, which include online purchases, state that in the event that a product is found to be faulty you are able to reject the goods and return them to the seller at the seller’s expense.  This is something the seller cannot object to.

If you request a refund you will be able to recover the original cost of postage of delivery and return.  If you request a replacement then the seller will have to pay for the cost of returning the faulty goods and sending the replacement goods to you.

If you are sending goods back because you do not like them, you will be responsible for the cost of returning them, unless the seller has agreed to cover the cost.

Ashley Kidd, solicitor

*This article was previously published in the Peterborough Telegraph