The law requires that any item of clothing (including a pair of shoes) must be:
This means it must be:
You can find out about these rights in the section Introduction to your legal rights.
Note that different rules apply depending on whether you bought the item before or after 1 October 2015.
When you buy an item of clothing that is faulty before it has been used, you should be entitled to a full or partial refund. This won't be the case, however, if you had a reasonable opportunity to examine the item when buying it and the fault was so obvious that you should have noticed it.
Whether you're entitled to a full refund depends on whether you've 'accepted' the item of clothing. The Sale of Goods Act states that you have a 'reasonable time' to examine goods after purchase before they're regarded as being 'accepted' by you. It doesn't specifically state how long a 'reasonable time' is; it depends on factors like how often you use the item, the type of fault (whether it's obvious or not) and whether you've continued to use the item despite knowing it has a fault.
If you've accepted the item of clothing, you may be entitled to a repair or replacement. The seller is entitled to refuse either of these if the cost of doing so would be excessive in comparison to the alternative. Whatever remedy is agreed, it shouldn't result in undue inconvenience to you.
If you only worn it a few times before a fault arose, you may be entitled to a refund (assuming that you didn't have a reasonable opportunity to examine the item when buying it and the fault wasn't so obvious that you should have noticed it). However, you'll only be entitled to a refund if you haven't accepted the item (see above).
Alternatively, you may request that the item be repaired or replaced. If the fault is only minor and can easily be put right, it's reasonable to accept a repair. This repair should be completed to a satisfactory standard at no additional cost to you. If the repair isn't carried out to a satisfactory standard, you're entitled to request a refund.
In the first 6 months from the date of purchase, when you return an item of clothing to request a repair or replacement, you don't have to prove that the item was faulty at the time of sale. There's an assumption that the item of clothing was faulty unless the seller can prove otherwise. If you opt for a refund rather than a repair or replacement, the onus will be on you to prove that the item was faulty at the time of sale.
If you've worn it more than a few times or had a reasonable opportunity to check it, you might not qualify for a refund, but you may still be entitled to a repair or replacement.
A repair should be carried out within a reasonable period of time and without causing you significant inconvenience. Any repair should restore goods to a satisfactory condition. If it's not restored to a satisfactory condition, you should be entitled to a partial refund. (This will be less than the price you paid to allow for the use you've had from the item.)
If the item of clothing can't be replaced or repaired economically, you're entitled to a refund. The seller may make a reduction from the price you paid to allow for the use you've had from the clothing.
When you buy an item of clothing that is faulty, you are entitled to a full refund so long as no more than 30 days have passed, starting on the first day after you became the owner of the item or after when it was delivered.
You won't be entitled to this refund if you had a reasonable opportunity to examine the item when buying it and the fault was so obvious that you should have noticed it or if the seller informed you of the fault before you bought it.
If you request the seller to repair or replace the item within the 30-day period, then the 30-day time limit will be paused. Once this has been done, you will then have the remainder of the 30-day period or 7 days (depending on which one is longer) to check if the repair or replacement has been successful and decide whether to reject it.
It'll be up to you to prove there is something wrong with the item if the seller doesn't accept this.
A refund must be given within 14 days of the seller agreeing that you're entitled to it.
If you don't want or aren't entitled to a refund, you can request for the item to be repaired or replaced without being charged for it, if it won't cause you significant inconvenience.
The seller is entitled to refuse to repair or replace the item if the cost of doing so would be excessive in comparison to the alternative or if it would be impractical..
An item should be repaired or replaced within a reasonable time. A repair should be completed to a satisfactory standard and a replacement should be of satisfactory quality.
In the first 6 months from the date of purchase, when you return the item to request a repair, replacement or refund, you don't have to prove that it was faulty at the time of sale. There is an assumption that the clothing was faulty unless the seller is able to prove otherwise.
You'll be entitled to reject the item and ask for a price reduction or refund if any of the below apply:
You'll be entitled to a price reduction or you can reject the item, depending on whether you choose to keep it. If you choose to keep it, you can claim a reduction in price, which must be an amount appropriate to your circumstances and could be the whole price.
If you reject the item then you should get a full or partial refund. This will depend on whether the seller will take any use of the item into account.
If anything else has been damaged (e.g. if the colour ran due to a fault and discoloured other clothes), or you're out of pocket in any other way, you may be entitled to compensation over and above the price of the item.
You have no rights if:
However, you have 14 calendar days to cancel a contract for goods ordered by telephone, mail order, internet or fax, except for those goods that are made to order.
Remember that no items last forever and all clothes need to be looked after to avoid unnecessary damage. However, if there are genuine problems with an item of clothing, the seller must fix the situation. The seller can't tell you to go back to the manufacturer.
As soon as you've determined that there is a problem with an item of clothing that you've bought: