As an experienced and ethical business, we are happy to protect your rights as a consumer and to operate within the relevant laws at all times.
Following the 1997 EU directive on "the protection of consumers in respect of distance contracts", certain new rights were brought into force to protect UK consumers who shopped on-line or entered a contract some distance from the supplier. These rights are called the Consumer Protection (Distance Selling) Regulations 2000. The regulations came into force in October 2000 and were further amended in 2005.
The regulations are designed to protect consumers where, among other things, they purchase goods without the chance to physically inspect them first, as would happen when purchasing from a physical shop. It's a good idea, but major problems have been encountered through the interpretation and application of the regulations, with thousands of companies allegedly falling foul of the new rules. . . and not just small on-line companies like us, but trusted market leaders like Next, M&S, Amazon and many others. If they can get it wrong (allegedly!) with access to expensive legal teams then what chance do we have of getting every single detail correct? 
Here is a summary of our RETURNS POLICY. It's pretty simple and, we think, very fair. It meets the spirit of the legislation as far as we can see. Obviously there may be other opinions, but we hope you can see we're trying to act honestly and fairly. If you disagree then by all means let us know where your interpretation differs, but perhaps it would be better not to place an order with us.
The following is not intended as a comprehensive explanation of Distance Selling Regulations, but a summary of how they affect your order with tartan-ribbon.com.
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HOW DO I RETURN A DAMAGED OR INCORRECT ITEM?
Please remember that the Distance Selling Regulations are additional rights over and above the Sale of Goods Act 1979. If any item is supplied to you incorrectly or arrives damaged, not as described or unfit for purpose we are happy to replace or refund as you prefer and to cover all additional shipping costs involved in returning the item to us*. These statutory rights are not affected by the Distance Selling Regulations.
For damaged or incorrect items, please contact us within 7 days and we will make arrangements to replace / refund for you. We may be also able to offer other solutions and are happy to discuss these with you. We obviously try not to make mistakes but we realise they'll happen now and then, so we're happy to put things right for you with the minimum of fuss and inconvenience.
*We are obliged to refund reasonable return shipping costs. For example, we are happy to refund 2nd and 1st class postage costs but not Special Delivery or other courier services. Why? Because if you return an item costing £2 and spend a further £5 on Special Delivery, we would consider this unreasonable.
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Distance Selling Regulations additional rights and protection . . .
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AM I COVERED?
All UK consumers are covered by the regulations except business customers. Business to business distance selling is not covered by the regulations. So, if you are a UK resident and not ordering in connection with a business activity (including part-time and home-business) then you are protected by the regulations.
Consumers in some other EU countries may be covered by similar legislation, providing they are not buying in connection with any business activity. In any contract with Cake Stuff Ltd, Scots Law applies in all cases. More information can be found at The Private International Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1995.
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WHAT ADDITIONAL RIGHTS DO I HAVE?
Once your order arrives, you have a seven day cooling off period, during which time you can examine and decide to return items from the order. You must contact us within this period to let us know you wish to exercise your rights under the regulations, and then return the order within a "reasonable time", which we suggest would be within 14 days. This is explained in more detail below.
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WHAT ARE TARTAN-RIBBON.COM REQUIRED TO DO?
We must give you certain information prior to conclusion of the contract - this includes information about who we are, where we are located and how you can contact us, accurate product information, prices (including all taxes), delivery timescales, your right to cancel, our VAT registration number and information like that . . . basically, accurate and honest information to help you make an informed choice about your purchase. We believe we have done all this but let us know where you feel we can improve information. The contract is formed when you place an order.
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WHEN CAN I CANCEL MY ORDER?
You can cancel your order at any point prior to it being shipped and we will refund the full cost paid, including any shipping costs. The only exception is where the order includes a special order such as Wool Plaid Tartan Ribbon which is already being manufactured for you, in which case that item / those items cannot be cancelled. Your cancellation rights end as soon as we begin work on personalised, customised, made-to-order or specially sourced as identified on the website.
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CAN I CANCEL AN ORDER AFTER IT HAS BEEN SHIPPED?
Yes, the Distance Selling Regulations give you the right to cancel the order at any point up until the seventh day after delivery. Because it can take Royal Mail several; weeks to return undelivered mail, we advise accepting delivery and then posting back to us. If you accept the order then delivery will be deemed to have taken place.
We will refund the full amount of the order including any additional outwards shipping costs, but will deduct any return shipping charge as made by the couriers / Royal Mail. We are only allowed to charge the precise amount of return shipping, with no additional charges for re-stocking or administration, nor can we profit from this charge. If you post the item back, then this is at your cost.
Because we offer free worldwide shipping on all orders, it is important to realise that actual shipping / postage is not free.
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HOW CAN I RETURN AN ORDER?
An order can also be cancelled / returned within seven days of delivery to you - the first day being the day after you take delivery. You must contact us to inform us of your intention to cancel. The regulations state you must contact us in writing - so really by fax, email or letter but contact must be made within seven days and you will receive an acknowledgement as soon as we have received your message. No acknowledgement simply means we haven't received (for example) your email or letter - simply "sending" the message is not sufficient; you must actually make contact.
In addition to these rights, we are also happy to accept your notice of cancellation by phone. Time is of the essence, so we advise phoning first.
You then must return the order to us within a "reasonable time". As yet, the courts have not decided what this means but we suggest 14 days. You are responsible for taking care of the goods during this period.
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CAN I RETURN ANY ITEM I'VE ORDERED FROM TARTAN-RIBBON.COM?
Not quite.
Some products are exempt from return under the Distance Selling Regulations; these include lottery tickets, financial services and other items we're not concerned with here, but also included are personalised and customised items - which we interpret as including special order / made-to-order items ordered specifically for you - and perishable goods. Also included in the list of exceptions are "goods that by reason of their nature cannot be returned".
Wool Plaid Tartan Ribbon is made to order, specifically for that customer, and is therefrore exempt from Distance Selling Regulations. Once work has begun on the order (normally within 24 hours) the right to cancel period comes to an end.
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WHAT ARE MY RESPONSIBILITIES?
The regulations say that the consumer must contact the supplier within seven days of delivery as explained above. The consumer is responsible for the safety of the item until it is returned to the supplier. Used, part-used and other items which are no longer in a re-saleable condition cannot be returned. The consumer is responsible for the safe delivery of the item with the supplier, just as the supplier was responsible for safe delivery to the customer.
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HOW DO I ACTUALLY RETURN AN ORDER?
To be honest, this part is down to you - it's the consumer's responsibility to return the item(s) safely and in accordance with the regulations, this summary can be taken as our written notice that this is what we require to happen. We're happy to offer suggestions based on item size and weight when you contact us.
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WILL I GET A FULL REFUND?
Yes, absolutely - if everything has been done as outlined above.
When we receive the item(s) back from you and have checked they are unused and in good condition, we will refund you in full including any shipping costs included in delivering the order to you. Where the returned items formed part of a larger order, we will calculate a pro-rata refund based on the weight and size of items. The refund is normally processed the same way you paid - eg via Nochex as a refund to your debit / credit card. Your refund will be processed within 48 hours of the item(s) arriving with us and the regulations state that we are obliged in all cases to refund within 30 days at most. There's no reason why a refund would take anything like that long to arrange unless there is a problem with the actual item(s) being returned.
There is one area of exception and that is where the regulations consider that "work" has commenced on an order. In such circumstances the cancellation rights end at the point work commeces. This applies to orders for Wool Plaid Tartan Ribbon.
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WILL I GET A REFUND OF MY RETURN POSTAGE?
Sorry, but no. Some companies (normally mail-order catalogue companies) can build the costs of free returns into their prices but for most businesses this is not possible and it's not something we feel the regulations are trying to impose on businesses. Please remember that this does not apply to damaged or incorrect items, in which case we are happy to refund reasonable return postage costs . . . we are only talking about item(s) where you've changed your mind.
One exception to this rule is where, on the odd occasion where we sell out of an item, we may supply a substitute item to the one you ordered. If you do not wish to keep the substitute item, you can return this and we will refund your reasonable return postage costs.
We really hope that this sounds fair.
If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact us.