The seller refuses a refund: what US law actually gives you

Start with the uncomfortable part. In the United States there is no general federal law requiring a store to give you a refund because you changed your mind. Return policies are contract terms set by the seller, and a seller that clearly posted “final sale” is usually entitled to hold that line.

That is the rule for regret. It is not the rule for defective goods, undelivered goods, or misrepresented goods, and those are different situations with real remedies.

The three-day rule that mostly does not apply

The FTC’s Cooling-Off Rule is the most misunderstood consumer rule in America. It gives you three days to cancel certain sales, but only for sales made at your home, your workplace, or a temporary location such as a hotel conference room or a fairground booth, above a threshold amount.

It does not apply to purchases made in a store. It does not apply to online purchases. If someone tells you that you have three days to return anything you buy, they are wrong.

What you can rely on

The item never arrived or arrived late. The FTC’s rule on mail, internet and telephone orders requires a seller to ship within the time it promised, or within 30 days if it promised nothing. If it cannot, it has to offer you the choice of a revised date or a refund. Failure to ship is a strong position.

The item is defective. Nearly every state recognises an implied warranty of merchantability under the Uniform Commercial Code: goods sold by a merchant must be fit for their ordinary purpose. A phone that does not make calls is not merchantable. This applies even where no written warranty exists, unless the item was sold “as is” and your state permits that disclaimer.

The item is not what was described. Misrepresentation is treated seriously by both card networks and state consumer protection agencies. Keep the listing, the photographs, and the description.

The chargeback, and when to use it

If you paid by credit card, the Fair Credit Billing Act gives you the right to dispute charges for goods that were not delivered or not as described. You generally need to raise it within 60 days of the statement containing the charge, though card networks often allow longer.

Debit card disputes go through Regulation E and the network’s own rules, and are usually harder to win. This is the practical reason to put larger purchases on a credit card.

A chargeback is powerful and should be used honestly. Contact the seller first, in writing, and give them a reasonable chance to resolve it. Card issuers ask whether you did, and merchants who receive a chargeback with no prior contact tend to fight it successfully.

A sequence that works

1. Write to the seller. Short, factual, with order number, dates, and what you want. Email, not phone.
2. Set a deadline. Seven or ten days is reasonable. A stated deadline turns an open complaint into a record.
3. Escalate to the platform. If you bought through a marketplace, its own buyer protection programme is usually faster than any legal route.
4. File a chargeback if you paid by card and the seller has not resolved it.
5. File with your state attorney general and, for patterns of bad practice, the FTC.
6. Small claims court for amounts worth the filing fee.

The letter matters more than the law

Most refund disputes are decided by a customer service employee applying discretion, not by a court applying statute. A message that states the facts in order, names the specific problem, and says clearly what outcome you want will outperform an angry message that threatens legal action.

Keep it under 200 words. Include the order number in the first line. Say what you want in the last line.