The new Act which came into force on 1 October 2015 gives consumers clear rights to refunds and repairs

This year's National Consumer Week, run by Citizens Advice and the Chartered Trading Standards Institute (CTSI), is urging shoppers to 'Know your New Rights.'  

Returning faulty items for a refund

The Consumer Rights Act makes it clear that consumers have a right to get a refund on faulty goods within 30 days of purcahse. This includes vehicles as well as as electrical appliances — something that 69% of people didn’t know.

Almost 1,000 UK adults also didn’t know that if you buy something from a retailer and it develops a fault within six months of purchase, the retailer has a legal obligation to resolve the problem.

This protection doesn’t stop at six months. It has been European Union (EU) law for quite some time that retailers are still liable for repairs and replacements for up to six years if you can prove that the item was faulty when you bought it.  

Retailers are also liable if a product fails to perform as expected within this period. For example, a television would be expected to last a number of years before failing. If it was to break within 18 months, then you would have a strong case to claim it is not fit-for-purpose.

Retailer or manufacturer?

When you're unfortunate enough to buy a faulty item, most people would prefer to return it to the shop they bought it from instead of sending it to the manufacturer (with the considerable postage costs that entails).  But many people don't know that they the legal right to take faulty goods back to the retailer.

The Consumer Rights Act is making it clearer than ever before that your rights are against the retailer, not the manufacturer, if something goes wrong. So don't take no for an answer from the retailer.

However, you can claim under the manufacturer's guarantee if you prefer - sometimes it can be quicker and easier to deal with the manufacturer directly.

Many people also wrongly think they don't have any rights outside of a manufacturer's guarantee period when electrical goods develop a fault. This is not the case and your rights don’t end when the manufacturer's guarantee ends. Guarantees from retailers and manufacturers don't affect your legal rights under the Consumer Rights Act.

New digital rights

The Consumers Right Act now gives you rights if any device or other digital content you own is damaged as a result of the suspect digital content you've paid for and downloaded.

Again, most people aren't aware that you're legally entitled to a replacement or repair if your digital download develops a fault.