Many an upset shopper has cried “I know my rights,” but do they really? There are so many rules and regulations, covering just about every aspect of buying and selling, together with guarantees and promises from shops, that it can be tricky to know exactly what you are entitled to.

There is also plenty of misinformation; look at almost any online forum and someone will tell you what you are entitled to do but they may not necessarily be right.

So, before you take up cudgels against a supplier, it’s important to know what your rights really are, and how best to enforce them. Over the next few pages, we will look at some common beliefs about consumer rights and see whether they are true.

1. You have to return unwanted goods bought online within seven days
Wrong. Goods bought online within the EU are covered by the Distance Selling Regulations. As a general rule of thumb, you have an unconditional right to cancel your order (unless it is for perishable goods or customised goods) before the end of the cancellation period. That period ends seven working days after the day on which you received the goods.

The Regulations say you must also receive details of the warranty, the address for any complaints and information about your right to cancel and how to exercise it. This must be supplied in a ‘durable medium’, which means on paper or via email or fax so it can be in a catalogue, but not simply on a web page.

If you do not receive the information before the goods arrive, your cancellation period ends seven days after you receive it, or three months and seven working days after you received the goods, whichever is sooner.

The date on which you give notice, by sending an email or posting a letter, will be the date on which you cancelled the contract. It does not have to reach the seller before the seven working days is up, but we recommend using recorded delivery or obtaining a certificate of posting.

You are entitled to get your money back within 30 days, even if the seller has not yet collected the goods, and the money refunded should include the cost of the delivery to you, though the seller can ask you to pay for the return of the goods, if that was specified in the information regarding the order.