Faulty equipment: can I get my trade-in back?
Ask the UK retailer to return your original trade-in and record the agreed allowance separately from the money paid. If it has been sold or altered, get advice before accepting a settlement. Check whether you bought as a business or a consumer. Factory evidence can be organised through Cambridge China Bridge.
Check the purchase and rejection route
Start with the UK retailer named on your order. Check whether you bought the equipment for your business or wholly or mainly for personal use. Ask a consumer adviser which rules apply, including where the equipment has mixed personal and business uses. For equipment bought for your business, review the contract and business rejection guide. Ask the adviser to assess your purchase status without assuming that Chinese manufacture determines it.
Keep the question of whether you can reject separate from what happens to the trade-in. Our guide to refunds after a failed repair covers the consumer remedy route. This guide adds the records and requests needed for the item you handed over.
Record the agreed allowance
Save the quotation, order, invoice, part-exchange agreement and payment records. Ask the retailer to show the equipment price, agreed trade-in allowance and money paid separately. Preserve the accepted allowance, including any written conditions, rather than relying on an earlier estimate or a later resale valuation.
Identify the trade-in by make, model, serial number, accessories and condition photographs. Keep its handover record and any separate purchase paperwork. If the documents describe the retailer buying your old item separately, flag that arrangement to your adviser rather than assuming all the paperwork describes the same transaction.
Ask for the original item back
In your written rejection, identify the faulty equipment and the original trade-in. Ask whether the retailer still holds your item, whether its condition has changed and how its return could be arranged. Ask it to hold the item while the complaint is assessed, and request written confirmation of its response.
For a consumer entitled to a rejection refund, the statutory starting point for the money paid is repayment of that amount. Our deduction for use guide explains possible adjustments on final rejection. Ask the retailer to address the money paid and the trade-in separately in its proposed settlement.
If the trade-in has already been sold
Ask the retailer to confirm in writing whether the item has been sold, refurbished, dismantled or otherwise changed. Request the relevant dates and an explanation of why it cannot return your original item. Keep any available listing, photographs and correspondence with the agreed allowance.
Get advice before accepting a replacement item, cash offer or credit as a complete settlement. Ask the adviser to assess the purchase arrangement, the missing trade-in and the basis for any proposed payment. Do not assume either the agreed allowance or the retailer's resale proceeds automatically settles the question.
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Prepare a focused complaint pack
Send your adviser the contract, allowance record, money-payment evidence, trade-in identification, fault history, rejection message and retailer's response. State whether you want the original item returned and what remains unresolved. Use our UK seller complaint guide for the wider escalation process.
For a business purchase, ask a solicitor to review the contract and part-exchange documents together. For a personal purchase, seek consumer advice. Cambridge China Bridge has its own staff in China who can help organise factory and inspection records; ask the adviser to assess the disputed settlement.
Frequently asked questions
Can I ask for my trade-in back when rejecting equipment?
Yes. Identify the original item in your written request and ask whether the retailer still holds it unchanged. Check your rejection route and purchase status before assuming a particular settlement.
What if the retailer has sold my trade-in?
Request written confirmation, the sale date and its settlement proposal. Take the agreement and allowance record to an adviser before accepting an offer as a complete settlement.
What proof of my part-exchange allowance should I keep?
Keep the accepted quotation, invoice, part-exchange agreement and messages confirming the allowance. Record the equipment price, allowance and money paid separately.
Do consumer trade-in rules cover business equipment?
Do not assume they do. For equipment bought for your business, start with the contract and ask a solicitor to review the purchase and part-exchange arrangements together.