Q: I am a sales person at a local pharmacy, and I have a few queries regarding the grooming appliances we sell. After purchasing one of these appliances, some customers come back asking for a refund. Most of the time, the reason they give is that they have changed their minds.

Some customers ask to exchange the appliance for a different brand after they have opened and used it. In cases where customers come back to the shop with the appliance because of an electric fault, instead of repair or exchange, they ask for their money back.

I thought consumers cannot ask for a refund after buying and using a product just because they change their mind. With regard to faulty products, the seller can opt to repair or replace but is never obliged to give a refund. Am I right?

Can you clarify what are the obligations of the seller in these circumstances ?

A: With regard to your first query, you are right when you say that consumers cannot ask for a money refund after simply changing their mind. In such a situation, any type of solution is entirely up to the seller to provide and is voluntary.

Fortunately, most sellers are willing to exchange or issue a credit note for unwanted items, as long as the items are returned in the same condition in which they were bought and upon presentation of the receipt.

Very often, sellers also impose a time limit by when unwanted goods need to be returned. Since the law does not cover consumers who change their mind, they have no other option but to adhere to the seller’s after-sales terms and conditions.

For safety purposes, it is not advisable to return goods bought from a pharmacy, especially medicines. Goods should only be returned to pharmacists if they are defective or not in conformity with the contract of sale.

In situations where the unwanted product is defective, the Consumer Affairs Act allows repair or replacement as possible solutions. However, at the same time the law specifies that the remedy opted for should not cause significant inconvenience to the consumer.

Hence, if repair or replacement would cause an inconvenience, consumers may reject these remedies and instead ask for a money refund. The latter may also be opted for when neither repair nor replacement are possible solutions.