The Consumer Rights Act does the arguing. Speak to Kestrel.
Goods must be of satisfactory quality, fit for purpose and as described. Within 30 days you can reject a faulty item for a full refund. After that, the retailer gets one shot at repair or replacement before you can insist on your money back, and in the first six months the fault is presumed to have been there from the start. Your contract is with the retailer: manufacturer deflection is a myth.
The Consumer Rights Act fixes three standards at purchase: satisfactory quality, fitness for purpose, and matching the description. Breach any and your remedies run in tiers: the short-term right to reject within 30 days for a full refund; then one repair or replacement; then final rejection or price reduction if the fix fails.
For the first six months after purchase, a fault is presumed to have existed at delivery unless the retailer proves otherwise. That reverses the argument most shops try. Claims can be brought for up to six years where goods failed to last as such goods reasonably should.
Paying by card adds a second engine. Credit card purchases over £100 and up to £30,000 make the card issuer jointly liable under section 75, reachable even when the retailer is insolvent or offshore. Debit cards carry chargeback through the bank's scheme, with shorter windows. Online purchases add a 14-day no-reason cancellation right for most items.
Guide edition: August 2026. General information for England and Wales. Current law and your particular facts require assessment before action.
Purchase date, fault date, first report. Which remedy tier you are in flows entirely from these dates.
State the fault, the Act, and the remedy you are choosing: rejection and refund, or repair or replacement. Give a deadline.
Section 75 or chargeback through your card provider, with the same evidence. Two engines beat one.
Refusals after a letter before claim mostly fold; the rest are exactly what the small claims track is for.
Tell Kestrel what happened. The AI legal assistant gathers the facts and prepares a summary for you to check. Request lawyer review from your Legal Centre.
Speak to Kestrel nowThirty days for the short-term right to reject. Six months for the reversed burden of proof. Six years to claim overall. Chargeback windows are much shorter, often 120 days, so the card route starts early.
This guide concerns Consumer disputes. It forms part of our reference library. Kestrel is preparing for SRA authorisation. See practice details for the proposed service and current availability.
Wrong in law. Your contract is with the retailer and the Consumer Rights Act binds them. A warranty is an extra route, never a replacement for your statutory rights.
Within six months the law presumes the fault was there from the start unless the retailer proves otherwise. You are past the 30-day full-refund stage, so they get one repair or replacement; if that fails, money back, possibly with a small use deduction.
Different right, same happy ending: most online purchases can be cancelled within 14 days of delivery for any reason, with a further 14 days to return. Some categories are excluded, such as personalised and sealed hygiene items.
If you paid by credit card and the item cost over £100, section 75 makes the card issuer equally liable, insolvency or not. Debit card: pursue chargeback quickly. This is exactly what those protections are for.
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