Data on Refunds to Consumers (2024)

FAQs

Does a consumer have a right to a refund? ›

Retailers must clearly post their refund policy unless they offer a full cash refund, exchange, or store credit within seven days of the purchase date. Retailers failing this requirement are required to accept full refunds within 30 days of purchase. There's no right to cancel contracts or purchase agreements.

The FTC enforces consumer protection laws to stop illegal business practices and get refunds to people who lost money. The chart below includes all active refund programs managed by the FTC. The FTC will never demand money, make threats, tell you to transfer money, or promise you a prize.

Whenever possible, the FTC uses the money it collects from defendants to provide refunds to injured consumers. If there is any money left in the settlement fund after the first distribution, the FTC may send a second round of payments. The FTC sends money that cannot be distributed to consumers to the U.S. Treasury.

How can I check the status of my request? If you submitted your request through the FTC's Public Access Link, or PAL, click here. Or you could email us at FOIA@ftc.gov .

You don't have an automatic right to get your money back if you just change your mind about something you've bought and there's nothing wrong with it. It's the same no matter how expensive the item was - it's really down to the seller whether they offer you anything.

File a Civil Suit

If someone owes you money under a promissory note or loan agreement, you can file a civil lawsuit to recover it. Under Order 37 of the Civil Procedure Code (CPC), you can bring a summary suit, which is a quicker and more efficient way to handle such cases.

There is no legal requirement regarding the time frame to process a refund, but the faster it can happen, the more satisfied a customer will be. Ideally, a business should aim to process a refund within 7 working days at the most.

Every year the FTC brings hundreds of cases against individuals and companies for violating consumer protection and competition laws that the agency enforces. These cases can involve fraud, scams, identity theft, false advertising, privacy violations, anti-competitive behavior and more.

The Federal Trade Commission is sending refunds totaling more than $5.6 million to consumers as the result of a settlement with Ring over charges the company allowed employees and contractors to access consumers' private videos and failed to implement security protections, enabling hackers to take control of consumers' ...

Is the refund check from FTC legit? ›

Sending refunds

FTC staff independently reviews each distribution, checks the proposed list of recipients against the master list, and investigates any discrepancies before approving a distribution. The agency also conducts payment audits to verify that only the rightful recipients received payments.

The Federal Trade Commission is sending more than $5.6 million in refunds to people who purchased Amazon's Ring camera during a time when the devices were potentially being used to violate their privacy.

Our Legal Library puts the FTC's records and documents at your fingertips. You can find details about court cases brought by the Commission and search a trove of policy and guidance documents on a range of consumer and competition (antitrust) topics. Use the filters to find documents by type.

Social security number or identification number. Address. Phone number. Tax year.

The Federal Trade Commission is returning more than $172 million to consumers who overpaid for merchandise they purchased using rent-to-own plans provided by Progressive Leasing. More than two million consumers will receive refund checks.

When a business sells a product with a major problem, or a product that later develops a major problem, it must give the consumer the choice of a: refund, or. replacement of the same type of product.

It's best to email or write to the trader - you can use a template letter. Keep a copy of anything you send, in case you need to check it later. If you can't contact the trader or they won't help, you can then ask your card provider or PayPal.

Some businesses still offer refunds in these situations. This is their choice and not a legal requirement. You are always entitled to a refund, repair or replacement if a consumer guarantee is not met. The remedy you're entitled to will depend on whether the issue is major or minor.

In the U.S., there's no federal law that says merchants have to accept returns. However, retailers are required to provide a repair, exchange, or refund if a product is defective. And under the FTC's “cooling off” rule, you have the right to cancel some sales within three days of the purchase and get a full refund.