subject: Cooling Off, Cancellations, and Credit Cards [print this page] Cooling Off, Cancellations, and Credit Cards
Consumer protection laws has made it so that we have the right to cancel a transaction or return a product under certain circumstances. In the UK, the time during which you are allowed to change your mind and cancel a transaction is called the cooling off period. Typically this cooling off period lasts for 7 days. However, this can vary depending on the product you bought and manner with which you bought it.
This cooling off period is very useful and helpful for us consumers. However, it does lead to disputes, which can be very confusing and frustrating, especially if you used a credit card to pay.
A major source of confusion for consumers is in understanding who will refund them for a returned item, or a cancelled transaction that was still charged to their credit cards. Cardholders often make the mistake of thinking that it is the credit cards that will refund them directly since the charge is on the credit card account, when the fact is that the credit card has no say over the matter.
In case of refund due to cancellations, cardholders should always contact the store or supplier where they bought the item or sign up for a specific service. The reason for this is that the charge appears on the credit card since they were able to collect money from the credit card. If the credit card company gives you a refund directly, it will be a double loss for them since they will have paid out money to the store and to you. You have to deal with the store and ask them to give you a refund, or have them contact the credit card company so that the charge can be taken out of your account. The latter is quite rare though, unless you are double charged for an item.
Note too that under the UK law, whether you paid using cash or credit cards uk stores and suppliers should reimburse you within 30 days without any additional charge, unless it is part of the contract that you will be liable for the cost of returning the goods.
Once you get your refund, you can of course use that to pay off the charge on the credit card. However, remember that you need to pay the charge before it is due if you want to avoid interest. This is where the hassle stems since uk credit card companies will still charge you interest even if you already have the money (from the refund) or not.
