Failed repair: must I refund my customer?
A consumer can choose a price reduction or final rejection if goods still fail to conform after one repair or replacement, neither remedy is available, or the seller breaches the reasonable-time and significant-inconvenience requirement. Record the remedy history and customer impact. Cambridge China Bridge has its own staff in China.
Separate the customer claim from your supplier claim
This guide concerns goods you sell to consumers. The Consumer Rights Act covers trader-to-consumer sales; your business purchase from a supplier is a separate transaction. Use goods arrived faulty: supplier claims for that upstream dispute.
Keep separate records for the customer remedy and factory recovery. Record the sale, reported fault, requested remedy, collection, repair work, return and subsequent complaint. Prepare the factory evidence alongside the customer response rather than letting the supplier correspondence become your customer service timetable.
Who chooses repair or replacement?
Where the consumer has a right to repair or replacement, they can request either. They cannot require a remedy that is impossible or disproportionate compared with the alternative. Disproportionate means unreasonable comparative costs, assessed against the goods' value, the seriousness of the fault and whether the alternative avoids significant inconvenience.
You must bear necessary repair or replacement costs, including labour, materials and postage. If declining the requested remedy, explain the actual obstacle and proposed alternative. Ask your supplier for parts availability, diagnostic instructions and a workable return route; use agreeing warranty administration to organise that support.
When can the customer move to money remedies?
The consumer can choose a price reduction or final rejection when goods still fail to conform after one repair or one replacement. The same choice arises when neither repair nor replacement can be required because both are impossible or disproportionate, or when you breach the requirement to provide the remedy within a reasonable time and without significant inconvenience.
Once that choice is available, you cannot insist on another attempt. The consumer may choose further work, but record their agreement. A completed attempt involves requested or agreed remedial work followed by goods being delivered or made available again. For work at the customer's premises, completion is when you indicate that the repairs are finished.
Assess time and inconvenience in the customer's situation
The legal assessment considers the nature of the goods and the purpose for which they were acquired. Use those factors rather than treating your factory's estimated dispatch date as the answer. A customer who agrees to repair must normally allow a reasonable time before demanding replacement or exercising short-term rejection, unless that wait would cause significant inconvenience.
Ask what the customer cannot do without the product. Record loss of essential use, collection arrangements, missed appointments, repeated dismantling and any temporary substitute offered. Set a realistic completion date, explain dependencies and reassess when circumstances change. These records help you explain your decision; a promised date alone does not settle whether the remedy meets the legal test.
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Agree the outcome and feed the fault back to China
Price reduction and final rejection are alternative remedies, not a combined entitlement. A price reduction lowers the amount payable appropriately and refunds any excess already paid; where appropriate, it can cover the full price. Final rejection can involve a deduction for use, subject to statutory restrictions. Check those restrictions before proposing a reduced refund.
Confirm the customer's chosen outcome and your calculation in writing. For factory follow-up, retain photographs, fault descriptions, repair findings and batch identifiers. Ask what changed and what check will demonstrate correction. Use supplier corrective-action closure evidence before treating a factory explanation as a resolved production problem. For complaints that remain unresolved, see our guide to consumer complaint final responses.
Frequently asked questions
Can I insist on another repair before refunding?
If goods still fail to conform after one repair or replacement, the consumer can choose price reduction or final rejection. You can offer further work, but cannot insist on it once that choice is available.
Can a customer demand replacement instead of repair?
They can request replacement where the remedy right applies. They cannot require it if it is impossible or disproportionate compared with repair. Explain the comparative costs and inconvenience, rather than citing a repair-only policy.
How long can I take to repair faulty goods?
The test is a reasonable time without significant inconvenience, considering the goods and their purpose. Record the customer's loss of use, the proposed completion date and changes to the repair plan.
Does a price reduction mean the whole price back?
It must be an appropriate reduction and can cover the full price where appropriate. Refund anything already paid above the reduced amount. Record why the chosen reduction fits the goods' remaining value and condition.