Can I return it? Consumer rights checker

The shop says no refunds. The website says returns within seven days. The salesman says the manufacturer must deal with it. Some of that is law and some is policy dressed up as law. This checker tells you which right applies to your purchase, what you can demand, and the date it runs out.

What this tool works out and who it is for

You choose why you want to return the goods, how you bought them, the date you received them, and, if there was a repair, the date of that repair.

The tool then shows the cooling-off deadline if you have one, the date your six-month quality right ends, and a plain statement of what you can demand. It also raises warnings where people get caught out.

It is for consumers buying goods for personal or household use in South Africa: shops, online stores, telephone sales, door-to-door sellers. It is not for large businesses, whose transactions may fall outside the consumer legislation, and it covers goods rather than services.

How the checker decides

The checker asks two questions first: why you want to return the goods, and how you bought them. The combination decides which right applies.

The six-month quality right

Goods that are faulty, unsafe, of poor quality, or not what was described or shown to you can be returned within six months of delivery. The supplier must repair, replace or refund, and the choice is yours, not theirs. That is the point most often got wrong at a service desk. A supplier who insists on a repair when you asked for a refund is applying its preference, not the law.

The return must not cost you. There is no handling or restocking fee for goods that are faulty, unsafe or not as described, and the supplier bears the cost of the return.

The checker adds six months to your delivery date and tells you when the right ends. If it has passed, a manufacturer's guarantee, a service plan, or an argument that the goods were never fit for purpose may still help, and a defect showing up later can be evidence that the goods were defective when sold. Do not accept the line that a manufacturer's guarantee replaces your rights against the shop. The two run alongside each other.

The failed repair rule

If goods were repaired and the same failure comes back within three months of that repair, the supplier must replace the goods or refund you. They do not get a second attempt at fixing it.

Enter the date of the earlier repair and the checker works out that deadline and says whether it is still running. If it has passed, the automatic right to a refund or replacement is gone, though the six-month quality right may still be alive. Keep the repair job card, because without it you cannot show the fault is the same one.

Cooling-off: two periods, two different sales

Cooling-off means cancelling without giving a reason. It exists in two places, and neither is a general right to change your mind in a shop.

If the sale came from direct marketing, meaning the supplier approached you rather than you approaching them, you have five business days to cancel. The checker counts business days, skipping weekends, and gives you the date.

If the transaction was an electronic one concluded at a distance, where you bought without seeing the goods, you have seven days, counted as ordinary days from delivery.

Some goods sit outside the distance-selling cooling-off: goods made to your specification, perishables, newspapers and periodicals, software or media you have unsealed, and certain downloads. The checker warns you about that when you say you changed your mind about an online purchase.

Unsolicited goods

Goods delivered to you that you never ordered are unsolicited. You do not have to pay for them, and you do not have to post them back at your own expense. Tell the supplier in writing that the goods are there to collect, keep them safe meanwhile, and do not use them.

Changing your mind

Here is the answer people do not expect. Changing your mind about an ordinary shop purchase is not a legal right at all. South African law gives no general right to return goods simply because you no longer want them. Plenty of shops allow it as policy, usually with the slip and within a set number of days, but that is their choice.

The checker says this squarely, because it is the commonest misunderstanding about consumer rights. The law protects you against goods that are faulty, unsafe or not as described, not against regret. Where you bought at a distance or through direct marketing, cooling-off does cover a change of mind, but only inside the window, and once it closes you are back to the shop's policy.

The law behind it

Two Acts do the work. The Consumer Protection Act 68 of 2008 provides the cooling-off right on direct marketing, the right to return goods, the implied warranty of quality behind the six-month window, and the rule about a failure that recurs after a repair. The Electronic Communications and Transactions Act 25 of 2002 provides the cooling-off right on electronic transactions concluded at a distance. The LawMatch rate table records each period with the date it took effect.

A few practical rules follow. A supplier may refuse a return where the goods were altered contrary to instructions, or where you knew about the specific defect when you bought them, which is why a discounted item sold "as is" with the fault pointed out is treated differently. Your rights sit alongside any manufacturer's guarantee and any extended warranty you paid for; none replaces the others. And a sign saying "no refunds" does not remove a right the Act gives you.

Our guide on the Consumer Protection Act cooling-off period works through the cancellation steps.

Worked example

This example is illustrative. Lerato buys a washing machine in a shop and it is delivered on 1 July 2026.

Because she chose it herself in a store, there is no cooling-off period. If she simply preferred a different model, the law would give her nothing, and she would be relying on the shop's returns policy.

The machine is faulty, though. Her six-month quality right runs from delivery, so it ends on 1 January 2027. Within that window she can demand a repair, a replacement or a refund, and she chooses which. The supplier may not charge her for the return.

Say she asks for a repair and the machine comes back on 1 September 2026. The same fault returns on 20 October 2026, inside three months of the repair, so the supplier must now replace the machine or refund her. A second repair attempt is not something they can insist on.

Change the facts once more. Had she bought the machine online without seeing it, she would also have had seven days from delivery, until 8 July 2026, to cancel for any reason. Had a telesales agent phoned her out of the blue, the direct marketing cooling-off of five business days would have applied instead.

What this checker does not decide

It does not decide whether the goods are actually defective. That is a question of fact, and it can turn on whether the fault came from the product or from how it was used, installed or maintained. Photographs, the manual, the delivery note and an independent opinion carry that argument.

It does not decide whether an exclusion applies, whether the goods were altered contrary to instructions, or whether a specific defect was disclosed to you before you bought. It does not read your contract or the shop's returns policy, which may give you more than the law does. Where it does, take the better right.

And it does not decide a dispute. If the supplier refuses, the National Consumer Commission, the Consumer Goods and Services Ombud, or a court decides who is right. This checker tells you what to ask for and by when.

When to get advice, and the free route

Put the demand in writing first. Email the supplier, describe the fault, say whether you want a repair, a replacement or a refund, attach the slip, the delivery note and photographs, and give a date for a reply. A supplier who refuses in writing has handed you the evidence you need.

If they refuse, the free routes come before court. The Consumer Goods and Services Ombud handles complaints about goods and services and costs you nothing. The National Consumer Commission takes complaints under the consumer legislation, also free. Both work on paper, so a clear file of dates and correspondence matters more than argument.

For a smaller amount, the Small Claims Court is quick, charges no attorney's fees and does not allow lawyers to appear, so you present your own case. Our Small Claims Court calculator checks whether your claim fits, and claims do not last forever, which our prescription checker covers.

Get an attorney where the amount is substantial, where the goods caused injury or damage, or where the supplier denies the sale happened. If you cannot afford one, Legal Aid South Africa on 0800 110 110 may help, and our legal aid page explains who qualifies.

LawMatch is not a law firm and this page is general information, not legal advice. Check your own paperwork before relying on anything here.

Frequently asked questions

Can I return something just because I changed my mind?

Not in a shop, unless its own policy allows it. There is no general legal right to return goods you simply no longer want. Cooling-off applies to direct marketing and to electronic transactions concluded at a distance, and only within five business days or seven days respectively.

The shop says I must take a repair, not a refund. Are they right?

No, not within the six-month quality window. Where the goods are faulty, unsafe or not as described, the choice between repair, replacement and refund belongs to you. Say so in writing and quote the six-month right.

Does a "no refunds" sign mean anything?

Not against a right the Act gives you. It can be accurate for a change of mind on an ordinary shop purchase, because there is no such right anyway. It cannot take away your rights when the goods are defective.

Goods I never ordered arrived and I am being invoiced. What now?

You owe nothing. Write to the supplier saying the goods are unsolicited and available for collection, keep them safe, and do not use them. Do not pay to send them back. If the demands continue and become threats about your credit record, complain to the National Consumer Commission. Our guide on what to do when a claim is rejected shows how to build the paper trail.