Legal support Cooling-off Period / Right of Withdrawal

The right of withdrawal, the Distance Selling Act, the trial period, the cooling-off period. These are all terms for the same thing: the customer’s right to return an item purchased online.

Two 14-Day Periods

A customer has the legal right to request a return within 14 days of the date of receipt without providing a reason. After this period, the customer has another 14 days to actually return the product. This means you’ll be without the product for a maximum of 28 days. The customer is not required to keep the product in its packaging but may remove it to inspect it. You must inform your customers of these rights; if you fail to do so, the cooling-off period is extended to 12 months. These are all legal requirements that you must comply with as a retailer.

Informing

You must inform your customers of this right of withdrawal. Including this information only in the terms and conditions is not sufficient. We therefore recommend that you copy and paste the following text onto an information page regarding the cooling-off period.

You have the right to cancel your order up to 14 days after the day of receipt without providing a reason. After cancellation, you have another 14 days to return your product. You will then be credited the full order amount, including shipping costs. You are only responsible for the cost of returning the item from your home to the online store. These costs amount to approximately 7.25 per package; please check your carrier’s website for exact rates. If you exercise your right of withdrawal, the product must be returned to the merchant with all accessories included and—if reasonably possible—in its original condition and packaging. To exercise this right, please contact us at UWEMAIL@uwwinkel.nl. We will then refund the order amount within 14 days of receiving your return notification, provided that the product has already been returned in good condition or you have demonstrated that the product has been shipped back. If the product is damaged or the packaging is damaged beyond what is necessary to try the product, we may charge you for this reduction in the product’s value. Therefore, please handle the product with care and ensure it is properly packaged when returning it.

Is this standard text not applicable, for example, because the products you sell are not subject to a right of withdrawal? If so, please also review the page with additional sample texts on the right of withdrawal

Refund Including Shipping Costs

You are required to refund the order amount (including any shipping costs). This must be done within 14 days of the return being reported, but you may wait until the product has actually been returned. You must use the same payment method that was used for the original purchase; however, you may use a different refund method by mutual agreement. Read all about refunds after returns here

Exceptions

Certain products may be excluded from return; however, these exceptions are established by law. This includes, for example, custom-made items or non-perishable products. However, you cannot simply exclude other products from return, such as sale items or products ordered specifically for the customer. Legally, these products are eligible for return. Read more about exceptions to the cooling-off period

Want to know more?

In this blog post, we take a closer look at the right to return items