Tis the shopping season and with any shopping, there are bound to be returns. It’ll be New Year’s soon and you’ve been thinking about returning those Christmas sweaters you bought intentionally for that ugly sweater contest. In Massachusetts, there are no specific laws requiring a certain return policy. Retailers can have any return policy they want, as long as the consumer is informed of it prior to completing the transaction. If the product is defective, the retailer must accept a return and the consumer must be given the option to repair, replace, or refund.
There are certain restrictions on how a return policy is represented and honored in Massachusetts. The salesperson cannot misrepresent a return policy in order to coerce or convince the consumer into purchasing a product or service. Retailers cannot contradict their own return policy and must accept any returns that fall under the policy coverage and if returned within the specified time period. If the consumer received a gift card as part of the return, the retailer must honor the gift card for at least seven years.
In specific cases, consumers have a cooling off period of three business days to request a refund. This only applies to door-to-door sales or other transactions outside the usual place of business, credit repair and credit services, gym or health club memberships, and timeshares.
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