Er, I don't mean to panic you but if you bought Christmas presents on Black Friday, you might want to open them up and check everything is as it should be.
According to parcel expert ParcelHero, Black Friday was early this year, which means the legal 30-day return period ends on Christmas Eve. The firm is therefore urging shoppers to check gifts are working before Christmas Day to ensure refunds or replacements.
Britain’s shoppers spent around £8m on Black Friday this year, with a lot of the purchases being presents for Christmas. However, with Black Friday being unusually early, November 24th, the parcel site is warning the legal 30-day automatic refund or replacement for a faulty item expires on Christmas Eve – before many gifts are even opened.
ParcelHero’s Head of Consumer Research, David Jinks MILT, says:
‘The early returns date looks set to catch a lot of people out. Most of us will only be opening our Wii Switch or trying on that new dress on the big day itself. But if your new console is on the blink, or there’s a big rip in your new top; the bad news is the automatic date faulty returns must be refunded will have run out on Christmas Eve.’
Says David: ‘That’s why ParcelHero is urging people to open the packaging on their Black Friday-bought bargains today and just check to see if that new tablet turns on or that china vase isn’t in bits. That way if there is a fault you can return the gift to the retailer now without any problems under the Consumer Rights Act.’
David adds: ‘I know it’s a bit of a nuisance but if you are about to wrap an item, it will really pay to just open it up and check all is well. You have 30 days to get an automatic refund or replacement for a faulty item under the Consumer Rights Act. After then things can get tricky as the retailer is within their rights to try to show the fault was not there at the time of purchase.’
There is some good news for harassed shoppers struggling with returns, however. Amazon is saying that all items purchased after November 1st, 2017 can be returned at any time before midnight January 31st, 2018; and several other retailers are also offering more generous return periods.
Concludes David: ‘A number of larger retailers make a thing of being more helpful about returns at this period. But by no means every store or e-commerce retailer will be so flexible; they are not all channelling the Christmas spirit. That’s why our advice is check your purchases now to ensure you avoid many unhappy returns for New Year.
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