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 donā€™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 youā€™ll report them to Trading Standards for breach of the regulations.

Trouble is, most people arenā€™t aware of their rights, so the sellers get away with it, and those that are aware canā€™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 theyā€™re based elsewhere.

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Ah now thereā€™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 canā€™t wait to see what it is that you are selling :slight_smile: Iā€™m expecting something very eco friendly :slight_smile:

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Itā€™s worth reading through some of the Consumer Contracts documents first, as they might answer your questions. Here are a few I found helpfulā€¦

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

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

Iā€™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 yearsā€™ time so thatā€™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 itā€™s quite green. Iā€™m also using some home made charcoal from my woodland to fire up and the tuyereā€™s hydropowered, blown by a turgo wheel on a radial fan. But the charcoal-making process is quite smelly anyway. Itā€™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 charcoalā€™s the way to go.

Christine, thanks for those. Iā€™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 itā€™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 youā€™re hung by the scruff of the neck. Big hooks for hanging people up - thatā€™s what I should be selling! :slight_smile: His key phrase was ā€œmade to customerā€™s specificationsā€ rather than selected from a list. So if you let them write the length down itā€™s different to if they choose a length off a list. Crazy.