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Cooling off period (consumer rights)

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In consumer rights legislation and practice, a cooling-off period is a period of time following a purchase when the purchaser may choose to cancel a purchase, and return goods which have been supplied, for any reason, and obtain a full refund.

Many retailers will voluntarily allow a purchaser a cooling-off period, which encourages reduced-risk impulse purchases.

In addition, legislation exists in various parts of the world enforcing this right, to varying degrees. For example, in the European Union, the Consumer Rights Directive of 2011 obliges member states to give purchasers the right to return goods or cancel services purchased from a business away from a normal commercial premises, such as online, mail order, or door-to-door, with limited exceptions, within two weeks or one year if the seller did not clearly inform the purchaser of their rights from the receipt of the goods, for a full refund. The Consumer Rights Directive is implemented in the United Kingdom by the Consumer Contracts (information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013.

References

Cooling-off period (consumer rights) Wikipedia