Retail Disputes: Faulty Goods, Online Shopping, Subscriptions and Marketplaces

Retailers' first responses cluster around four patterns. First, "the warranty has expired" (or "you are outside the returns window"). The rebuttal is the CRA 2015 framework: statutory rights run for six years in England and Wales, separately from any manufacturer's warranty or the retailer's returns policy. Second, "you have used the product" or "you have damaged it". The rebuttal is the reverse burden under s.19(14): inside six months, the retailer must prove the fault was not present at delivery, not the other way around. Third, the retailer offers a credit note. The rebuttal is that the CRA 2015 short-term right to reject under s.22 gives the consumer the right to a refund of the price paid in the original method, not a credit note. Fourth, "this is a manufacturer issue, contact the manufacturer". The rebuttal is that the CRA 2015 right is against the retailer; the manufacturer is in addition to that right, not in place of it.

A specific recurring pattern in online and marketplace disputes: the trader uses the dispute period to delay past the consumer's window for chargeback or section 75. Card networks' chargeback windows are typically 120 days from the transaction (Visa/Mastercard consumer dispute) and 540 days for fraud. Section 75 claims are not time-limited at the strict statutory level but inherit the six-year contract limitation. Where the retailer is stalling, file chargeback and section 75 in parallel with the direct complaint.

For most goods retailers: complaint to the retailer; if unresolved, RetailADR (formerly The Retail Ombudsman) is the most widely-used voluntary ADR scheme. RetailADR is free to the consumer. Many large retailers operate their own internal escalation processes before RetailADR.

For card-funded purchases: chargeback through the card issuer for debit cards or non-credit-funded card payments. Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974 is the statutory joint-liability route for credit card payments between £100 and £30,000. Card issuer must respond; FOS is the escalation if the issuer refuses a valid s.75 claim. FOS cap from 1st April 2026: £455,000 (acts on or after 1st April 2019), £205,000 (earlier acts).

For ticket resale: the platform's process, the CMA for enforcement of the CRA 2015 secondary ticketing provisions, and the FOS where the underlying issue involves a CRA 2015-protected purchase paid by credit card.

For unsafe products or product safety concerns: Trading Standards via the local council. The Office for Product Safety and Standards (OPSS) is the national regulator.

For competition-law and consumer-protection enforcement: the Competition and Markets Authority. CMA's direct enforcement powers were significantly enhanced from 6th April 2025 by the DMCCA, including the ability to impose civil monetary penalties without first going through the courts.

RetailADR is free to the consumer. Operator response times are typically four to eight weeks for the substantive decision. Chargeback time limits vary by scheme but are typically 120 days from the transaction date. Section 75 claims to the card issuer should receive a substantive response within eight weeks under DISP 1.6.2R; FOS escalation follows that timeline.

Court route under the small claims track has fees ranging from £35 (claims up to £300) to £455 (claims £5,000 to £10,000). Hearing fees of £80 to £346 are also payable. The Help with Fees scheme (form EX160) reduces or waives fees for low-income households. The small claims track does not allow recovery of solicitor costs beyond fixed amounts, so engaging a solicitor for a retail dispute is usually disproportionate.

The Consumer Rights Act 2015 statutory rights run for six years in England and Wales (Limitation Act 1980 s.5) and five years in Scotland (Prescription and Limitation (Scotland) Act 1973). The CCR 2013 cooling-off right runs 14 days from delivery (or 12 months where the trader failed to give the required information).

Frank's retail flow identifies the right statutory framework for the dispute, drafts the formal complaint citing the operative CRA 2015 section by reference, tracks the eight-week complaints clock for card-funded disputes, and prepares the RetailADR or FOS submission with the regulatory grounds clearly stated.

The platform's section 75 flow runs the parallel claim to the card issuer for credit-funded purchases between £100 and £30,000, with the joint-liability point cited at the outset. The chargeback evidence flow assembles the documentation the card issuer needs to raise the dispute with the merchant's acquiring bank.