Returns and Refunds Policy

A customer-friendly returns policy that respects consumer law, plus the internal procedure your team follows to handle returns consistently.

Editable Word document
10
10pages
Guidance notes included
aml consultancy solutions

Contracts & terms

Returns and Refunds Policy

About this document

What it’s for

Part A is a customer-facing returns and refunds policy for goods sold online and/or in a shop, ready to publish. Part B is an internal procedure telling staff how to process returns, how quickly to refund and what records to keep. Part C is a returns form. The policy clearly separates the legal 14-day right to cancel online orders, the legal rights for faulty goods, and any extra goodwill returns policy you choose to offer.

When to use it

  • Alongside this pack’s Online Consumer Terms and Conditions
  • When setting up an online shop, or reviewing an existing returns page
  • To train shop and customer service staff on what customers are entitled to

What’s inside

The document is laid out in the sections below. Each one comes with a plain-English guidance note explaining what it does and what to change.

  • Part A – Our returns and refunds policy
  • 1. Summary
  • 2. Changing your mind about an online order
  • 3. Our goodwill returns policy
  • 4. Items we cannot accept back for a change of mind
  • 5. How and when we refund you
  • 6. Faulty or not as described items
  • 7. Damaged, missing or wrong items
  • 8. Gifts
  • 9. Sale items
  • 10. Returns from outside the UK
  • 11. Contact us
  • Part B – Internal returns handling procedure
  • B1. Purpose and scope
  • B2. Definitions
  • B3. Roles and responsibilities
  • B4. Procedure
  • B5. Records
  • B6. Training
  • B7. Monitoring and review

How to complete it

  • Choose your goodwill returns period (if any) and how you handle in-store change-of-mind returns
  • Insert your returns address, contact details and who pays return postage
  • Check the list of non-returnable items fits your products
  • Complete the roles, records and review details in Part B
  • Publish Part A on your website, link to it from product pages and the checkout, and keep Part B for internal use

Key points to check

  • Never use signs or wording such as “no refunds” or “exchange only” – these mislead customers about their legal rights and can be a criminal offence
  • There is no legal right to return goods bought in a shop just because the customer has changed their mind – any in-store returns policy is goodwill, but once published you must honour it
  • Refunds for online cancellations must be made within 14 days of receiving the goods back (or evidence of return)

Our templates are professionally structured starting points for UK businesses, not legal advice. For anything complex, unusual or high-value, have your final version checked by a solicitor.

Included in the pack

Contracts & terms

£20

for every document in this category

Editable Microsoft Word files

Guidance notes in every document

Written for UK businesses

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