Can I take an item back without a receipt?

I bought a printer from Sainsbury’s around six months ago and, after printing only 12 pages, it displayed the following error message: “print error turn printer off and then back on”. I tried this several times but the message still appears. Epson support said I should take it back to Sainsbury’s but I paid by cash and no longer have the receipt.
Neil Hoing

There is a common myth that you can’t return an item or get a refund unless you have a store receipt. What you need is proof of purchase and a debit or credit card statement can provide that. When paying by cash, a receipt is your only proof of purchase. Without it, Mr Hoing has no legal basis to request a refund from Sainsbury’s. His contract is with the supermarket, not the manufacturer.

But as it’s the season of goodwill, we asked Epson if it would consider a festive gesture to help Mr Hoing. The company has agreed to get in touch to see how it can help and we thank Epson for that.

The moral of the story is that if you pay for goods by cash, find somewhere safe to store receipts. They are not clutter, they are potentially ‘cash’ if something goes wrong. Another thing you should do, regardless of payment method, is to register any warranty the manufacturer offers.

Some provide a card to fill in and post to them, although many now provide the option to do so online. Had Mr Hoing done this, then Epson would have helped without our intervention as he would have proof that the one-year warranty offered was valid.