Refunds

If you've made a genuine mistake with a download purchase, contact the retailer to see if you can get a refund or exchange the download for the one you want.

It's worth checking the retailer's terms and conditions, as some retailers offer refunds or exchanges as a gesture of goodwill here. This may be the case even if you've waived your right to cancel.

Typically any goods or services that are sold to consumers online, at a distance, or away from the trader's premises, must allow for a minimum 14-day cooling-off period during which the contract can be cancelled (either 14 days from receipt of goods or from the date of entering into a contract for services). The minimum cooling-off period that a seller must give is 14 days.

There are, however, certain products and services that do not qualify for the 14-day cooling-off period: exempted products include CDs, DVDs or software where the seal has been broken; perishable items; and tailor-made or personalised items exempted services include leisure service activities on specific dates (such as car hire, wedding venues, theatre tickets for specific performances).

For these services, the consumer has the same cancellation rights as if they were signing the contract in person For digital downloads, consumers will need to waive their cancellation rights before digital content can be provided. This means that once a customer (ie the consumer) has downloaded the content, then they have given up their consumer rights to a refund.

Consumers will typically waive these cancellation rights when they purchase digital goods. This can be done through some form of verification box (such as a tickbox) for consumers to acknowledge that they have waived their consumer rights to a refund for digital content.