Retailers are holding on to refunds that online shoppers are owed
An investigation by the consumer group Which? found big-name online shops routinely failing to refund delivery charges that the law says they must repay.
Online shoppers who send unwanted goods back are routinely losing money they are legally owed, an investigation by the consumer group Which? has found. Its mystery shoppers were often not refunded the delivery charge they paid to receive an order, and in some cases were not refunded for the returned product at all.
When someone cancels an online order, the law is clear about what has to come back. Under the Consumer Contracts Regulations, the seller must refund the price of the item and the standard delivery charge the customer paid to receive it. The only sum a seller can hold back is the extra cost of a premium or next-day upgrade.
Which? found this duty widely ignored. Its shoppers ordered from 17 of the biggest online retailers and returned more than 200 items by post. River Island and Sports Direct refunded the delivery fee to none of the shoppers who were owed it. It said Boots, Halfords, House of Fraser, Pets at Home and Superdrug failed to refund it in all, or almost all, cases. Matalan and Pets at Home did not even refund the price of the returned item to every shopper.
The same investigation recorded returns that could only be arranged through live chat, returns held back for the retailer to approve, and printed labels so faded that shoppers could not read them. In several cases the delivery refund was paid only when a customer asked for it.
Friction of this kind is not an accident. It sits between the shopper and a refund the law already guarantees, and it predictably leaves some people out of pocket.
A refund paid only on request is the clearest example. The delivery charge is owed automatically once an order is cancelled. Making the customer notice the shortfall and ask for the difference turns a legal duty into a favour, and most people never chase it.
In April 2025, the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 gave the Competition and Markets Authority the power to decide for itself that a firm has broken consumer law. It can now fine a firm up to 10% of worldwide turnover without going to court.
The powers exist. What is missing is enforcement against a practice that is common, well documented and easy to prove.