Can I cancel a sourcing or inspection service?
Check with a consumer advice service whether your separate personal service contract falls within UK distance-selling cancellation rules, what deadline applies, and how an authorised early start or full completion affects cancellation and charges. Check the records with Cambridge China Bridge.
Identify the service you want to cancel
Find the accepted service quote, confirmation and invoice. Identify the UK company supplying the service, the agreed deliverables and whether you bought sourcing or inspection separately from the goods. Explain that the order is for personal use. Our seller or agent guide helps identify the contracting roles; its business-contract rules do not decide personal cancellation rights.
Keep the goods order on a separate checklist. Ask whether the factory has received an order, deposit or production approval, and what instructions remain outstanding. Send any goods cancellation request separately to the relevant seller. Our personal-order cancellation guide covers the goods checks.
Check the service contract date
For a separate service, ask a consumer advice service to confirm whether UK distance-selling cancellation rules apply and how the cancellation deadline is calculated. Check the agreement date rather than waiting for the inspection report or goods delivery. Explain whether you purchased online, by phone or at the provider's premises so the adviser can assess the applicable rights.
Save the cancellation information supplied before agreement and the confirmation you can retain. Ask a consumer advice service whether missing cancellation information affects your deadline. Ask the provider to identify the deadline it relies on and the information it supplied. If you want to cancel, send the notice promptly while checking those records.
Find your permission to start early
Ask for the exact message or checkout record in which you expressly requested work during the cancellation period. Also request the cancellation and early-work cost information supplied to you. Check the wording, date and service scope. Keep permission to start sourcing separate from permission to buy samples, place a factory order or approve production.
Ask a consumer advice service how starting work or fully completing the service affects your cancellation right, including the significance of any early-start request and acknowledgement of losing the right on full completion. If the provider says the inspection is complete, ask for the agreed scope, dated report and evidence that all promised deliverables were supplied.
Check the deduction against actual work
Ask a consumer advice service whether cancellation leaves any charge for service already supplied, taking account of your early-start request and the cancellation and cost information you received. Ask how missing requests or information affect any proposed charge. Ask the provider to identify which records support its proposed deduction.
Request a breakdown linking completed tasks to the full agreed scope and service price. For sourcing, ask for dated supplier enquiries, comparisons and sample checks. For inspection, ask for attendance records, photographs and findings. Ask it to separate completed service work from sample purchases, factory deposits and proposed future work, explaining each charge rather than presenting an unexplained retained deposit.
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Send a clear notice and request reconciliation
To exercise an applicable cancellation right, inform the provider that you are cancelling. Write: “I am cancelling the separately purchased sourcing or inspection service for my personal order, reference [reference]. Please confirm receipt and provide the work record, any proposed deduction and the refund calculation.” Save the sent message and its date.
Ask for the refund amount and payment date after any properly supported service charge. The provider must not charge a fee for making a statutory cancellation refund. Request a separate update on factory instructions and outstanding goods payments. Before commissioning another assignment, use our sourcing-agent trial guide to agree scope, approval gates and handover records.
Frequently asked questions
When does the cooling-off period start?
For a separate service, ask a consumer advice service whether UK distance-selling cancellation rules apply and whether the deadline is calculated from agreement, goods delivery or receipt of the report.
Can I cancel if the inspection has started?
Ask a consumer advice service how starting work affects your cancellation right and whether a proportionate charge applies, taking account of your express early-start request and the information you received. Check the permission and work records.
Can the provider keep my whole service deposit?
Ask for the early-start request, required information and calculation against work supplied. Ask a consumer advice service whether any missing request or information affects your liability for service supplied during the cancellation period.
Can I cancel after the service is finished?
Ask a consumer advice service whether full completion ends your cancellation right and what early-start request and acknowledgement would be needed. Ask for those records and evidence of completed scope.