Returns & Refunds Policy

01 Our promise, in plain English

We want you to love what you buy. If something arrives faulty, damaged or not as described, we will put it right quickly and at our cost — that is not a favour, it is your legal right and we honour it without argument.

This policy sits alongside our Terms & Conditions. Nothing in it affects your statutory rights under the Consumer Rights Act 2015 or the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013.

02 At a glance

03 Which set of rights applies to you

Your rights depend on how you bought, not on what you bought.

3.1 Online, phone or email orders (distance contracts)

You have the full 14-day right to cancel described in Section 4, plus all the fault-based rights in Section 8.

3.2 Click and collect

If you ordered online, by phone or by email and collected from our unit, that is still a distance contract and you keep the full 14-day right to cancel. The 14 days run from the day you collect, not the day you ordered.

3.3 Business and trade customers

If you are buying in the course of a business, trade, craft or profession — including builders, developers, landlords, interior designers and fit-out contractors — the consumer regulations do not apply to you. Your terms are in Section 9.

04 Your 14-day right to cancel

Online and phone orders

If you are a consumer buying at a distance, you may cancel your order for any reason, or for no reason at all, without giving us an explanation.

4.1 The cancellation window

You may cancel at any time from the moment you place your order until 14 calendar days after the day you (or someone you nominate) receive the goods.

• Multiple items delivered separately: the 14 days run from the day you receive the last item.
• An order delivered in instalments or lots: the 14 days run from the day you receive the last lot.

4.2 How to cancel

Tell us clearly, before the deadline expires, that you are cancelling. Any of these works:

• Complete the return request in your account at zhomes.co.uk/my-account
• Email [returns@zhomes.co.uk] quoting your order number
• Call [PHONE], Monday to Friday, [HOURS]
• Post the model cancellation form in Annex A to [REGISTERED ADDRESS]

You do not have to use our form — a clear statement is enough. We will acknowledge your cancellation in writing and issue you a Returns Authorisation (RA) number within one working day.

4.3 Why the RA number matters

4.4 Sending the goods back

Return the goods to us within 14 days of telling us you are cancelling. You can:

• send them yourself using a tracked, insured carrier; or
• book our collection service at the rates in Section 5; or
• bring them back to our unit yourself, free of charge — see Section 5.1.

Please keep proof of postage or collection until your refund lands.

05 Who pays to return unwanted goods

You are responsible for the direct cost of returning goods you have changed your mind about. We tell you this before you buy so that you can factor it in.

5.1 If we collect

Our indicative collection charges within mainland UK:

These are estimates based on our current carrier rates. The exact figure appears on your product page and again at checkout before you pay. If we have failed to tell you the return cost before you buy, we will bear it.

5.2 If you return the goods yourself

You may use any carrier you like. We strongly recommend a tracked and insured service — until the goods reach us they remain your responsibility, and we cannot refund an item that arrives smashed or never arrives at all.

5.3 If the return is our fault

Faulty, damaged, incorrectly supplied or misdescribed goods are always collected free of charge. You will never pay to return our mistake.

06 Condition of returned goods, and when we reduce a refund

This is the part most retailers leave vague. We would rather be precise.

6.1 The legal standard

You are entitled to handle the goods as you would in a shop — to look at them, check the colour and finish, and satisfy yourself that they are what you expected. You are not entitled to use them. If you handle the goods beyond what is necessary to establish their nature, characteristics and functioning, we may deduct from your refund an amount reflecting the reduction in their value.

6.2 What that means in practice

Returns are inspected on arrival by our warehouse team and photographed. Indicative deductions:

6.3 How we tell you

If we intend to deduct anything, we will email you within 3 working days of receiving the goods, with photographs and the reason. If you disagree, tell us and we will review it — and where we cannot resolve it, Section 13 explains how to escalate.

6.4 Please keep the packaging where you can

Original packaging is not a legal condition of your right to cancel, and we will not refuse a return for want of a box. But furniture packaging is engineered to protect the product, and an item returned without it is far more likely to arrive damaged — which does affect your refund. Keeping it for 14 days protects you.

6.5 Please do not assemble it if you are unsure

Once a flat-pack item has been built, cam locks, dowels and pilot holes are permanently compromised and the item cannot be sold as new. Unpack it, look at it, decide — then build it.

07 Items you cannot cancel

The law recognises that some goods cannot be resold. The right to cancel in Section 4 does not apply to:

7.1 Made-to-measure, made-to-order and bespoke goods

Anything manufactured, cut, upholstered or finished to your specification: custom-size tables and worktops, sofas and chairs in a fabric or leather you selected, made-to-measure blinds and curtains, items in a non-stock colour or finish, and any product ordered specially from a supplier at your request. These items are clearly marked on the product page and confirmed in your order confirmation.

7.2 Personalised goods

Anything engraved, monogrammed, printed or otherwise personalised.

7.3 Hygiene-sealed goods once unsealed

Mattresses, mattress toppers and protectors, pillows, duvets, and bedding supplied sealed for health or hygiene reasons, where the seal has been broken after delivery. Sealed and unopened, they can be returned normally.

7.4 Goods inseparably mixed after delivery

For example, made-to-fit flooring, panelling or worktops cut and fitted on site.

7.5 Ex-display and clearance stock

These items are sold as seen with any faults described, and are not excluded from your cancellation rights — but the condition standard in Section 6 is applied against the condition described at the point of sale, not against "as new".

08 Faulty, damaged or incorrect goods

This is where we move fast, and where we pay.

8.1 Transit damage — please check on delivery

Inspect the outer packaging before the driver leaves. If it is visibly damaged, sign for it as "damaged" or refuse it. Then tell us within 48 hours of delivery, with photographs of the packaging and the product.

8.2 Your rights under the Consumer Rights Act 2015

• Within 30 days of delivery — you have a short-term right to reject. Full refund, no deduction, at our cost.
• After 30 days, within 6 months — you are entitled to a repair or replacement. If a repair or replacement fails or is impossible, you may claim a refund, which may be reduced to reflect the use you have had. Any fault arising in this period is presumed to have been present at delivery unless we can show otherwise.
• After 6 months, up to 6 years (5 years in Scotland) — you may still claim for a fault that was present at the point of delivery, though you may be asked to show it was.

8.3 What to do

Email [returns@zhomes.co.uk] with your order number, a description of the problem, and photographs — ideally a wide shot showing the whole item and a close-up of the defect. We will respond within one working day and arrange free collection, repair, replacement or refund.

8.4 Check before you build, and don't book a fitter too early

Unpack and inspect everything on arrival — finish, colour, dimensions, component count and any visible damage — before you assemble, fix or install it. Two reasons:

• Visible faults. If a defect was there to be seen on inspection and you assemble or install the item anyway, we may not be able to accept a claim, because we can no longer tell whether the fault came from us or from the assembly.
• Hidden faults. A latent defect — one that could not reasonably have been spotted before assembly — is different. Those remain claimable under your statutory rights even after fitting, and we assess them on their merits.

Where a fault appears after assembly, we look at whether it is a latent defect present at delivery, or the result of incorrect assembly, misuse or unsuitable conditions. Please also don't book a fitter or decorator against an estimated delivery date — carriers occasionally miss them, and we cannot cover a tradesperson's wasted time.

8.5 Please don't

• Don't fit, install, cut, paint, oil, wax or modify an item you believe is faulty. Once worked on, we may be unable to establish the fault or claim against the manufacturer, which can prevent us resolving it.
• Don't dispose of a damaged item, or its packaging, until we have told you to. We may need it back for inspection or for a carrier claim.

8.6 What is not a fault

Timber, stone, leather and natural fibres are natural materials, and we consider the following to be characteristics rather than defects:

• Variation in grain, knot pattern, tone and figuring between pieces, and between a piece and its photograph
• Natural movement, settling or minor seasonal expansion of solid timber
• Colour variation in leather, marble, stone, rattan and hand-finished paint
• Slight softening, creasing or "settling" of foam and fibre-filled cushions with normal use
• Manufacturing tolerances of up to [±5mm] on stated dimensions
• Differences between the on-screen colour and the delivered product caused by your display settings — order a swatch if colour is critical
• Damage from misuse, accident, neglect, overloading, unsuitable environment (damp, direct heat, unheated storage), incorrect assembly or third-party alteration

09 Business and trade customers

If you buy in the course of a business, the Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013 and the Consumer Rights Act 2015 do not apply. Instead:

9.1 No automatic right of return

Returns for change of mind, over-ordering, project cancellation or specification change are accepted entirely at our discretion.

9.2 Where we agree to accept a return

• Request must be made within 14 days of delivery, in writing, with a valid RA number
• Goods must be unused, unopened, in original packaging and in fully resaleable condition
• A restocking fee of 25% of the invoice value applies
• Outbound delivery charges are not refundable
• You bear the cost of return carriage, or of our collection at the rates in Section 5
• Special-order and non-stock items are not returnable in any circumstances
• Credit is issued to your trade account; cash refunds are at our discretion

9.3 Faulty goods

We will pass through the manufacturer's warranty and deal with genuine defects on the same practical basis as consumer claims, subject to the liability provisions in our Terms & Conditions.

10 Refunds

10.1 Timing

In practice we aim to process refunds within 3–5 working days of inspection. Your bank may then take a further 3–5 working days to show the credit.

10.2 Method

Refunds go back to the original payment method. We cannot refund to a different card or account. If you paid via Klarna, Clearpay, PayPal or another third-party provider, we refund the provider and they credit you under their own terms and timescales.

10.3 Delivery charges

• Cancellation under Section 4: we refund the item price plus the outbound delivery charge, up to the cost of our standard delivery service. If you chose an upgraded or express service, we refund the standard rate and you bear the difference.
• Partial cancellation: where you keep part of an order, we refund the difference between what you paid for delivery and what delivery would have cost for the items you kept.
• Faulty or incorrect goods: all delivery charges refunded in full.

10.4 Withholding

We may hold your refund until we have received the goods back, or until you supply evidence that you have sent them — whichever is sooner.

10.5 Two-person delivery, assembly and installation services

Where you have paid for room-of-choice delivery, assembly, waste removal or installation and that service has already been performed, we cannot refund it on a change-of-mind cancellation.

11 Cancelling before dispatch, and our right to cancel

11.1 Before dispatch

Email or call us as soon as possible. If the order has not entered picking, we cancel it and refund in full within 3 working days. Once an item has been picked, palletised or handed to our carrier, it must be treated as a return under Section 4.

11.2 Our right to cancel

We may cancel your order and refund you in full, without further liability, if:

• the item is out of stock, discontinued, or our supplier cannot fulfil it
• there has been an obvious pricing or product-description error
• we cannot complete payment verification or fraud checks
• delivery to your address is not practicable
• we reasonably suspect the order is fraudulent or is being placed for resale in breach of our Terms

11.3 Failed and refused deliveries

If nobody is available at the agreed delivery slot, if access is inadequate and was not disclosed, or if you refuse a correctly supplied delivery, we may charge the actual cost of the failed delivery and of redelivery, or of return to our warehouse. Where a refused delivery is treated as a cancellation, those costs are deducted from your refund.

12 How to start a return — the short version

1. Tell us within 14 days. Account dashboard, email or phone. Order number and a photo if it's damaged.
2. Get your RA number — normally the same working day, always within one working day.
3. Pack it. Original packaging if you have it; otherwise pack it properly and insure it.
4. Send it, book collection, or bring it to our unit within 14 days of your RA number.
5. We inspect and photograph on arrival, and email you the outcome within 3 working days.
6. Refund issued within 14 days of receipt, normally much sooner.

13 If you are not happy with how we handled it

Email [complaints@zhomes.co.uk] with your order and RA number. A manager will respond within 5 working days and aim to resolve the matter within 14 days.

If we cannot reach agreement, you may refer the dispute to an alternative dispute resolution (ADR) provider. We are [a member of / willing to submit the dispute to] [ADR PROVIDER NAME], [WEBSITE]. You may also contact Citizens Advice on 0808 223 1133 or at citizensadvice.org.uk, who can refer matters to Trading Standards. Referring to ADR does not affect your right to bring court proceedings.

A Annex A — Model cancellation form

You do not have to use this form. A clear statement that you are cancelling is enough.