Helping you to investigate Your (UK) Rights:
As a UK consumer, you have clear legal Rights when dealing with a UK registered company, and they are quite easy to enforce. All other EU residents also have these Rights when dealing with a UK company (though enforcement may well be more difficult). Some Rights may apply to customers outside the EU (European Union) except for instance, Distance Selling Regulations (DSR). Please note if goods are tailored or personalised for you, some Rights may not apply, (e.g. Distance Selling Regulations right of cancellation - cooling off period).
The Office of Fair Trading have a clear English and comprehensive guide to
Shopping from Home and a guide to
Online Shopping. The DTI have pages on "Confident Consumers":
http://www.dti.gov.uk/consumers/buying-selling/sale-supply/page8599.html, (their direct page address may change). The DTI have also set up a Consumer Direct website: http://www.consumerdirect.gov.uk.
Under the Sale of Goods Act 1979 traders must sell goods that are as described and of satisfactory quality,
there is also The Supply of Goods and Services Act 1982.
These are as amended by the Sale and Supply of Goods to Consumers Regulations 2002
which transpose a European Directive.
Although the impact of the later Regulations is relatively modest there are some useful benefits for consumers
(according to the DTI). Currently (as it's pre-1987) we're unable to find an online version of the original 1979 Act in
http://www.opsi.gov.uk.
We did find that wrong goods supplied are effectively treated the same as faulty goods.
Traders and all businesses should fairly and accurately describe the availability, benefits, quantity, composition, delivery, after-sales
and other main characteristics of goods and services
under The Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008,
the substance of that regulation is in sections 5 6 and 7, they are quite short and easy to read.
Descriptive material of goods and services must be understandable.
The Unfair Contract Terms Act 1977 limits the use of exclusion clauses in contracts, the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations 1999
(Statutory Instrument 1999 No 2083)
provide that a term which has not been individually negotiated in a consumer contract is unfair (and hence non-binding on the consumer) if, contrary to the requirement of good faith, it causes a significant imbalance in the rights and obligations of the parties to the detriment of the consumer.
Distance selling means selling and buying by phone, mail order, via the Internet or digital TV. Such transactions are covered generally by normal buying and selling legislation, but they are also covered by special Distance Selling Regulations (briefly: * The right to receive clear information about goods and services before deciding to buy;
* Confirmation of this information in writing;
* A cooling off period of seven working days in which the consumer can withdraw from the contract;
* Protection from credit card fraud).
A clear explanation is given by the Office of Fair trading: Distance selling regulations - cancellation periods.
There are some exceptions for services, where cancellation rights may not always apply.
If you want to read The Consumer Protection (Distance Selling) Regulations 2000 you can find the original here:
Statutory Instrument 2000 No. 2334, there have been minor amendments since.
If you didn't order any goods at all, but somehow receive goods, you can regard these as
Unsolicited Goods under the Unsolicited Goods and Services Act 1971 as amended
and keep them as an unconditional gift, you can not be asked for payment (nor ask for a refund!).
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