Q: My sister bought me a jacket for my birthday but it turned out to be too small. So I went back to the shop from where it was purchased and asked for a bigger size. My size was no longer available and there was nothing in the shop I liked.

I asked for the money back but the shop assistant informed me that company policy did not allow cash refunds. She offered me a credit note, but the credit note would only cover the reduced price, since the jacket had been reduced. What can I do? Can I at least insist for a full credit note?

A: If there is nothing wrong with the jacket but the only problem is a wrong size, there are no legal obligations for the retailer to offer you a refund. Even though some shops allow such refunds if an item is returned within a specific period of time, in reality they do so out of goodwill and not because the law forces them to do so.

Hence, in this case, unless there was a different agreement between the trader and your sister during the sale, being offered a credit note is more than what the law grants you.

The law regards such situations at par with when customers change their mind, so the retailer is free to apply his own exchange policies.

Once you accept the credit note, make sure you are informed about the terms and conditions under which this should be used. Usually, credit notes have a short expiry date so make sure you do not forget it or only remember about it after it has expired.

If you end up with an outdated credit note the trader has no obligation to accept it and you would lose everything.

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