Consumer Protection Act 1999 · Updated to 1 Nov 2021 · Part VI · Rights Against Suppliers in Respect of
45. Manner of rejecting goods
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A consumer rejects goods by telling the supplier, with reasons. The consumer must usually return the goods. If return is very costly, the supplier must pick them up at its own expense. If removing them would badly damage attached property, the supplier must pay for the loss. If the consumer owns them, ownership returns to the supplier on rejection.
Summary · Drafted with AI, checked against the official text on 30 Sep 2026.
The consumer shall exercise the right conferred under this
consumer
“consumer” means a person who— (a) acquires or uses goods or services of a kind ordinarily acquired for personal, domestic or household purpose, use or consumption; and (b) does not acquire or use the goods or services, or hold himself out as acquiring or using the goods or services, primarily for the purpose of— (i) resupplying them in trade; (ii) consuming them in the course of a manufacturing process; or (iii) in the case of goods, repairing or treating, in trade, other goods or fixtures on land;
Act to reject goods by notifying the supplier of the decision to reject the goods and of the ground or grounds for the rejection.
goods
“goods” means goods which are primarily purchased, used or consumed for personal, domestic or household purposes, and includes— (a) goods attached to, or incorporated in, any real or personal property; (b) animals, including fish; (c) vessels and vehicles; (d) utilities; and (e) trees, plants and crops whether on, under or attached to land or not, but does not include choses in action, including negotiable instruments, shares, debentures and money;
Where the consumer exercises the right to reject goods, the consumer shall return the rejected goods to the supplier unless—
supplier
“supplier” means a person who, in trade— (a) supplies goods to a consumer by transferring the ownership or the possession of the goods under a contract of sale, exchange, lease, hire or hire-purchase to which that person is a party; or (b) supplies services to a consumer, and includes— (i) where the rights of the supplier have been transferred by assignment or by operation of law, the person for the time being entitled to those rights; (ii) a financier who has lent money on the security of goods supplied to a consumer, if the whole or any part of the price of the goods is to be paid out of the proceeds of the loan and if the loan was arranged by a person who, in trade, supplied the goods; (iii) a person who, in trade, assigns or procures the assignment of goods to a financier to enable the financier to supply those goods, or goods of that kind, to the consumer; and (iv) a person who, in trade, is acting as agent for another person where that other person is not supplying in trade; *NOTE—This Act has replaced the Companies Act 1965 which came into operation on 31 January 2017–see subsection 620(1)…
because of—
the nature of the failure to comply with the guarantee in respect of which the consumer has the right to reject the goods; or
the size or height or method of attachment, the goods cannot be returned or removed or transported without significant cost to the consumer, in which case the supplier shall collect the goods at its own expense;
because of the method of attachment, the goods cannot be returned or removed without significant damage to the real or personal property to which they are attached, in which case the supplier shall compensate the consumer for any loss or damage resulting from or consequent upon such removal; or
the goods have already been returned to, or retrieved by, the supplier.
Consumer Protection 71
Where the ownership in the goods has passed to the consumer before the consumer exercises the right of rejection, the ownership in the goods re-vests in the supplier upon notification of rejection.