It happens to thousands of Brits every single day. You spend £600 on a new TV, laptop, or washing machine. Four months later, it just stops working.
You take it back to the retailer, receipt in hand, and the customer service rep hits you with the standard script: “Sorry, you’re outside our 30-day return window. You need to contact the manufacturer to claim on your warranty.”
Most of us sigh, take our broken item home, and spend hours on hold with an overseas call centre for Sony, Apple, or Samsung.
But they are lying to you. Or at best, they are relying on the fact that you don’t know your rights under UK law. The biggest retailers in the country use company policies to intimidate you into giving up. Here is exactly how the 6-month rule works, why you never have to deal with the manufacturer, and how to force the shop to give you your money back.
TL;DR: The Faulty Goods Cheat Sheet
The 30-Day “Short-Term” Right to Reject: If your item is faulty within the first 30 days, you are legally entitled to an instant, full refund. Do not accept a repair if you just want your money back.
The 6-Month Loophole (The Burden of Proof): Between 30 days and 6 months, the law automatically assumes the fault was present when you bought it. The retailer must prove you broke it. If they can’t, they must repair or replace it.
The “One Repair” Rule: The retailer only gets one chance to repair the item. If it breaks again, or the repair takes an unreasonably long time, you are legally entitled to demand a full or partial refund.
Your Contract is with the Shop: Never let a retailer tell you to “call the manufacturer.” Your legal contract of sale is with the company that took your money (e.g., Currys, Argos, Amazon).
The 6-Month Consumer Rights Letter Generator
Before you spend an hour arguing with a customer service bot, use our free tool below to check if you fall inside the 6-month legal window. If you do, it will instantly generate a legally binding email you can copy and paste straight to the retailer’s head office.
The Retailer Reality Check Tool
Are they legally forced to fix or replace your item? Enter your details below.
Defense 1: The Manufacturer Lie
The most common tactic used by high street electronics stores and online giants is the “Manufacturer Warranty” deflection. They will tell you that because 30 days have passed, their internal store policy says they can no longer accept the return.
Internal store policies do not override an Act of Parliament.
Under the Consumer Rights Act 2015, your contract of sale is exclusively with the entity that took your payment. If you buy an LG washing machine from Argos, Argos is legally responsible for it. They cannot force you to chase LG. If Argos tries to tell you otherwise, they are breaching consumer law. (If you paid by credit card, you have even more protection under [Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act]).
Defense 2: The Burden of Proof
The reason retailers hate the 6-month rule is because of a legal concept called the “Burden of Proof.”
Under 6 Months: The law automatically assumes the item had a manufacturing defect when you bought it. If the retailer wants to refuse your refund/repair, they must hire an expert to prove that you dropped it, water-damaged it, or misused it.
Over 6 Months: On day 183, the burden of proof flips. If it breaks at month 7, you must pay for an independent tech report to prove the item was inherently faulty when manufactured.
Because retailers don’t want to pay for expert inspections, quoting the 6-month rule in writing usually forces them to immediately cave and offer a replacement.
What if they refuse or ignore my letter?
If you send the legal letter generated above and the customer service representative still refuses to help, you hold all the cards.
Threaten the Ombudsman: Inform them that you are now deadlocked and will be escalating the issue to the Retail ADR (Alternative Dispute Resolution) or the Consumer Ombudsman. Retailers have to pay a fee every time the Ombudsman investigates them, so they usually resolve the issue before it gets that far.
Initiate a Chargeback: If you paid by debit card, call your bank and ask to initiate a “Chargeback” for faulty goods. If you paid by credit card (and the item was over £100), invoke your Section 75 rights with the credit card provider. They are jointly liable and will usually refund you directly.
Step-by-Step: How to Enforce Your Rights
Step 1: Get it in writing. Never argue over the phone. You want a paper trail. Use our generator above and email it to their official complaints department.
Step 2: Reject a “second repair.” If they take the item, fix it, give it back, and it breaks again, do not let them take it for a second repair. The law says they only get one try. After one failed repair, demand your money back.
Step 3: Keep your evidence. Take photos or videos of the fault. If the TV screen goes black intermittently, film it happening with your smartphone.
Frequently Asked Questions
No. Retailers often claim you need the original box to return a faulty item. This is legally false. As long as you have proof of purchase (a receipt or a bank statement), you do not need the cardboard box.
Your statutory rights are exactly the same whether the item was full price, 50% off in the Black Friday sales, or bought with a discount code. If it is faulty, the 6-month rule applies.
If you reject the item within the first 6 months, the law states they must give you a full 100% refund. The only exception to this rule is motor vehicles, where a dealer can make a reasonable deduction for the mileage you’ve driven.
(Sources: Consumer Rights Act 2015, Citizens Advice Bureau)
This guide is for information purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Consumer rights laws apply to purchases made in the UK. If you are escalating a claim to the Small Claims Court, seek professional legal counsel.