Distance selling, returns exclusions

Neither do Ambrose Wilson, Marisota etc refund postage. I guess really next time I should take it up with them and see what they say.

I always challenge online stores who don’t refund, and they have always paid out. Quote the UK Consumer Contracts Regulations for online selling - or the EU Distance Selling Regulations - insist they refund in full and give them a deadline before you’ll report them to Trading Standards for breach of the regulations.

Trouble is, most people aren’t aware of their rights, so the sellers get away with it, and those that are aware can’t be bothered to chase it up for just a few quid.

It only applies to UK/EU businesses, so check their website first in case they’re based elsewhere.

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Ah now there’s a different thing. That whole huge store ethos with its blind consumerism. So we get these delivery vans to pollute the planet making pointless journeys to re-collect and redeliver. Whose carbon footprint does that add to? We chose to do something different. So is it trading standards I need to talk to to clarify?

I can’t wait to see what it is that you are selling :slight_smile: I’m expecting something very eco friendly :slight_smile:

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It’s worth reading through some of the Consumer Contracts documents first, as they might answer your questions. Here are a few I found helpful…

http://www.tradingstandards.uk/extra/news-item.cfm/newsid/1527

https://www.businesscompanion.info/en/quick-guides/distance-sales/consumer-contracts-distance-sales

I’m not necessarily marketing myself as eco friendly but just having a moan. There will be some of my products with a better footprint than others. But it will still be there doing its job in 400 years’ time so that’s only one delivery on a van shared with other goods every 400 years. I suppose that if I compare it with that latest energy saving gismo that consumes more in delivery joules than it gives back then maybe it’s quite green. I’m also using some home made charcoal from my woodland to fire up and the tuyere’s hydropowered, blown by a turgo wheel on a radial fan. But the charcoal-making process is quite smelly anyway. It’s a tricky one innit? I will also use mined coal but that depends more on how you burn it to keep the particulates down. Harder to get now so charcoal’s the way to go.

Christine, thanks for those. I’ve got a ticket in with trading standards and waiting to hear from them.

Just had that call from Trading Standards. It all seems a bit woolly. When I asked for something more concrete the chap said that at the end of the day it’s not down to trading standards but the Judge who would be "interpreting " the ā€œguidanceā€ on the day. So it seems there is no way of knowing how they will treat you til you’re hung by the scruff of the neck. Big hooks for hanging people up - that’s what I should be selling! :slight_smile: His key phrase was ā€œmade to customer’s specificationsā€ rather than selected from a list. So if you let them write the length down it’s different to if they choose a length off a list. Crazy.