Your E-Rights: Your rights when shopping from home

You should be aware that you have special rights when shopping from home. In addition you still have your normal statutory rights if something goes wrong. 
These rights do cover online purchases.

Your normal statutory rights

1) The law states that anything you buy must be described correctly. If not, you can ask for a refund.
2) Anything you buy must work correctly and as described. If not, you can ask for a refund.
3) Anything you buy must be of a satisfactory quality and not be spoiled in any way. If not, you can ask for a refund.
4) In all cases, you do not have to accept repairs, a credit note or a replacement. You can ask for a refund.
5) If there is a problem with something you have bought, you should contact the supplier as soon as possible. Make a note of your phone conversation and/ or keep any records of written communication.
6) If you have signed a delivery note this does not mean that you cannot reject the goods at a later date. (not too late!)
7) If there is something wrong with a purchase and you allow the supplier to try and repair the item this does not affect your rights. You can still reject the item later if the repair fails.
8) If goods are faulty, you should not be charged anything including the cost of returning the goods.
9) If you are purchasing a service the service should be carried out with care and attention. The service should also be carried out within a reasonable time frame.

Additional Rights from Home

These rights are based on the Distance Selling Regulations, which form part of European Law. For more details on these regulations click here.

1) The right to clear information before placing an order.
2) The right to written information about your purchase.
3) The right to a cooling off period of seven days when you can cancel your order without any reason.
4) The right to a full refund if the goods or services are not provided within thirty days. (unless you have agreed to a later delivery date).
5) The right to protection against credit card fraud.

You need to be aware that these shopping rights from home do not cover certain items. These areas include:

1) Any Financial services.
2) Any Auction items.
3) Vending machine purchases.
4) Land purchases.
5) Unsealed audio or videotapes.
6) Unsealed computer software.
7) Betting games and lottery games.
8) Newspapers and Magazines.
9) Food and drink.
10) Airline tickets, theatre seats, hotel bookings.
11) Timeshare and package holidays.

This is not to say that you have no protection should you purchase anything on the above list. The point is that your rights are affected and different to the rights we have discussed previously.

UK based Websites

In general you have the same rights as when you are purchasing goods from a shop.

Shopping within the European Union

In general your rights apply throughout the entire European Union. However you need to be aware that this is not foolproof and does not guarantee that you will be refunded should anything go wrong.
Nevertheless you are afforded some protection.

Shopping outside of the European Union

Your rights can be even more limited when purchasing goods from outside of the EU. You should always read the terms and conditions of the website and you should be aware that your only recourse may be with or through your credit card company if anything goes wrong.
You also need to be aware that you may be liable for taxes and duty when the goods are shipped into the UK.