Your Beauty Device Arrived Faulty: What the UK Consumer Rights Act 2015 Actually Entitles You To

Short answer: if a beauty device you bought in the UK turns out to be faulty, the Consumer Rights Act 2015 gives you a tiered set of rights against the retailer you bought it from (not the manufacturer) — a full refund within the first 30 days, one repair-or-replacement attempt in the following months, and a right to a refund or price reduction if that attempt fails. Which right applies, and who has to prove what, depends on how long you've had the item.

What does the law actually require of the product?

The Consumer Rights Act 2015 requires goods sold to consumers in the UK to be of satisfactory quality, fit for purpose, and as described. A beauty device that stops working, overheats abnormally, or doesn't perform the function it was sold for can breach that standard — and the legal claim sits against the retailer (the business you purchased from), because they're the party you have a contract with. A manufacturer's own warranty is a separate, additional layer of protection on top of these statutory rights, not a replacement for them.

What am I entitled to in the first 30 days?

This is the short-term right to reject: if the device is faulty, not as described, or not fit for purpose within 30 days of taking ownership (generally delivery, for online orders), you're entitled to reject it for a full refund. You don't have to accept a repair or replacement instead if you don't want one during this window.

What changes between 30 days and six months?

Once the 30-day window has passed, the retailer gets one opportunity to repair or replace the item before you can insist on a refund. You can state a preference between repair and replacement, but the retailer can generally choose whichever is cheaper or more practical for them to provide. If that attempt fails — the repair doesn't fix the problem, a replacement is also faulty, the fix is impossible or disproportionately costly, or it causes significant inconvenience or takes an unreasonably long time — you're then entitled to a full or partial refund.

Who has to prove the fault was there from the start?

This is the detail that trips people up. For a fault that shows up within the first six months of ownership, it's legally presumed to have existed at the point you took the device, unless the retailer can prove otherwise — the burden of proof sits with them, not you. After six months, that flips: you're the one who needs to show the fault was present at the point of sale, which can mean providing an expert report or evidence that other buyers experienced the same problem with that model. We looked for any confirmation that this six-month period has since been extended to a longer window (12 months or two years, as some other EU consumer-rights frameworks use), and did not find confirmation of that change applying under current UK law — based on the sources we checked, six months remains the stated burden-of-proof threshold.

What if the repair or replacement doesn't fix it?

If a single repair or replacement attempt fails, is impossible, or isn't provided within a reasonable time and without significant inconvenience to you, you reach the final right to reject — entitling you to a full refund (potentially with a deduction for use, in some circumstances, if you're past the initial six months) or, alternatively, a price reduction if you'd rather keep a partially-functional device at a lower price than return it.

How long do you actually have to make a claim?

Separately from the repair/refund tiers above, there's a longer-stop time limit for bringing a claim through the small claims process if a dispute isn't resolved directly with the retailer: up to six years from the date of purchase in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, and five years in Scotland. That's a backstop for formal legal action, not a suggestion that you should wait that long to raise a fault — the tiered rights above are generally the faster, more practical route.

The bottom line

A faulty beauty device bought in the UK gives you real, tiered statutory rights against the retailer: a no-questions full refund in the first 30 days, one repair-or-replacement attempt with the burden of proof on the retailer for the first six months, and a fallback right to a refund or price reduction if that attempt doesn't resolve things. Keeping your order confirmation or receipt as proof of purchase date is what makes exercising any of these rights straightforward.