Consumer rights: cancellations and refunds

Cancelling, and returning something faulty

These are two different rights and mixing them up costs people their claim. A cancellation window depends on how the purchase was made and what it was, and it can exist even when nothing is wrong with the item. A faulty product is separate: it does not run out with the cancellation window, and repeated failed repairs generally strengthen a demand for replacement or refund rather than weakening it. Keep the receipt, the warranty, and a record of every visit to the service centre.

Put the demand in writing

Phone calls to a service centre leave no trace and businesses change position freely without one. Write to the seller, state the purchase date, what is wrong, what you want (repair, replacement or refund), and a date. Send it somewhere provable. If the item has been in for repair more than once, list the dates: a pattern is far more persuasive than a single complaint.

If the business refuses

A refusal is not the end. The Consumer Protection Authority takes complaints and businesses often move once one is filed, and small claims handles most consumer sums without a lawyer. Card payments may also offer a chargeback route worth asking your card issuer about before too much time has passed.

FAQ

They repaired it three times and it still fails.

Repeated failed repairs are the strongest version of this claim. Document every visit with dates and keep the service reports.

The shop says the warranty is void because I opened it.

Ask which term they rely on and for it in writing. A blanket refusal that cannot be pointed to in the warranty usually does not survive scrutiny.

I bought it second-hand from a private seller.

Consumer protection mainly governs business-to-consumer sales. A private sale is usually a contract matter, so different rules and evidence apply.

Is it worth a small claim?

Most consumer amounts sit exactly in that range, and filing needs no lawyer. A tidy paper trail matters more than legal argument.