Custom-Made Goods UK: Refund and Quality Rights Explained

At a glance

• Cooling-off right: The standard 14-day cancellation right does not apply to goods made to your specifications or clearly personalised — regulation 28(1)(b), Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013.
• Quality rights survive: Satisfactory quality, fitness for purpose, and goods as described are all still required by the Consumer Rights Act 2015 (ss. 9, 10, 11), regardless of personalisation.
• Short-term right to reject: If bespoke goods are faulty or not as described, you have 30 days from delivery to reject them for a full refund (CRA 2015, s.22).
• After 30 days: You can request repair or replacement (s.23); if that fails you may claim a price reduction or use the final right to reject (s.24).
• Deposits: A deposit clause that lets the trader keep an unreasonable sum may be unfair under Part 2 of the Consumer Rights Act 2015 and unenforceable against you.
• Section 75: Paid by credit card for goods costing more than £100 and up to £30,000? Your card provider is jointly liable with the trader under the Consumer Credit Act 1974, s.75.
• This guide covers England and Wales only. Some rules differ in Scotland and Northern Ireland.

What counts as a custom-made or personalised item?

A custom-made or personalised item is one produced, finished, or modified to your individual requirements rather than taken from stock. Common examples include:

• Furniture built to measurements you specify
• Clothing tailored to your body shape
• Jewellery engraved with a name, date, or initials
• Artwork or portraits commissioned from your photographs
• Printed materials (invitations, stationery) featuring your chosen text or imagery
• Signage, branded merchandise, or software developed to your specification

The common thread is that the finished item cannot easily be resold to another customer without modification.

The borderline: what is — and is not — "bespoke" for legal purposes

Not every element of choice makes goods bespoke for legal purposes. The official BIS guidance on the Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013 makes this distinction clear: a sofa where you choose a fabric or colour from the trader's standard range is not made to your specification and therefore does not lose the cooling-off right. But if you ask the trader to source or use something outside their standard range — a fabric they must order specially, or dimensions that require custom tooling — that is likely to qualify as goods made to the consumer's specification.

Similarly, adding your name, initials, or a personalised message to an otherwise stock item (a mug, a piece of jewellery, a greetings card) will typically make the goods "clearly personalised" under regulation 28(1)(b). The distinction matters at the point of ordering: if the exception applies, the 14-day walk-away is gone once the trader begins work.

The two-layer legal picture

Layer 1: You lose the cooling-off right

Under Part 3 of the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013, consumers who buy goods online or at a distance — by phone, via a website, or through a mail-order catalogue — normally have 14 days after delivery to cancel without giving a reason and receive a full refund. This is the familiar distance-selling cooling-off period.

Regulation 28(1)(b) removes that right for goods made to the consumer's specifications or clearly personalised. Once a trader has begun production on your bespoke order, you cannot simply change your mind and walk away. If you try to cancel mid-production, the trader may be entitled to keep a deposit or to claim damages for the costs they have already incurred.

This is the sharpest practical consequence of commissioning bespoke goods and the one most consumers are caught out by. Getting it wrong — for example, changing your mind after approving a proof — can result in losing a substantial deposit with no statutory route to recover it.

Layer 2: Quality protections remain in full

What personalisation does not do is remove your quality rights. The Consumer Rights Act 2015 applies to every goods contract between a consumer and a trader. That means a trader supplying bespoke goods is legally required, without exception, to supply goods that are:

• Of satisfactory quality — meeting the standard a reasonable person would consider satisfactory, taking into account the description, the price, and all the other relevant circumstances (CRA 2015, s.9). For a bespoke item, the agreed specification is part of the relevant description.
• Fit for purpose — if before the contract you told the trader the particular purpose you needed the goods to serve (expressly or by implication), the goods must be reasonably fit for that purpose (s.10).
• As described — any information the trader provided about the goods, including the main characteristics described before the contract was made, forms a term of the contract (s.11). If the finished item departs from what was described or agreed, the trader is in breach.

These three obligations cannot be contracted out of. A term in the trader's own terms and conditions purporting to exclude or limit these rights is not binding on you under section 31 of the Consumer Rights Act 2015.

Your remedies if bespoke goods are faulty or not as described

The Consumer Rights Act 2015 (s.19) sets out a tiered framework of remedies. The tier you are in depends on how much time has passed since delivery.

Tier 1: Short-term right to reject (first 30 days, s.22)

If the goods do not conform to the contract — they are faulty, not as described, or unfit for their purpose — you have 30 days from the date of delivery (or from the date the goods come into your possession) to reject them and receive a full refund. You exercise the right by telling the trader clearly that you are rejecting the goods and treating the contract as ended. The trader must then refund you without undue delay and within 14 days of the goods being returned.

For personalised goods, one practical point is worth noting: the short-term right to reject entitles you to a refund even where a repair or replacement would be impractical (because, say, the replacement would look identical to the defective item). The right is to a full refund, not to a re-run.

Tier 2: Repair or replacement (after 30 days but within six months, s.23)

After the 30-day window, you move to the second tier. You can require the trader to repair the goods or replace them (your choice, unless one option is disproportionately expensive or impossible). The trader must complete the repair or replacement within a reasonable time and without significant inconvenience to you, and must bear all costs — including collection and redelivery.

For bespoke goods, replacement may be impractical: reproducing a one-off custom item takes time, materials, and cost. In that situation, a repair is more likely to be the outcome. If the trader cannot repair the goods satisfactorily, you move to tier 3.

Tier 3: Price reduction or final right to reject (s.24)

If repair or replacement has failed, or if neither is available, you can claim:

• A price reduction — a reduction reflecting the difference in value between what you received and what was promised; or
• The final right to reject — return the goods and receive a refund, which may be reduced to reflect any use you have had of the goods (though no deduction can be made if you are rejecting within the first six months after delivery, unless the goods are a motor vehicle).

You choose which of these two remedies to pursue; you cannot claim both.

The six-month presumption

Where goods do not conform to the contract and you are asserting a remedy during the first six months after delivery, the law presumes the defect existed at the time of delivery — the burden is on the trader to show otherwise. After six months, the burden shifts: you must show the defect was present when the goods were delivered.

Deposits and cancellation clauses — what traders can and cannot do

Deposits on bespoke orders are commercially legitimate. A trader who is about to commit to specialist materials, bespoke tooling, or significant labour before receiving full payment has a genuine interest in requiring a deposit against the risk of the consumer walking away.

However, what a trader may lawfully do with a deposit if you cancel depends on their actual loss. Under Part 2 of the Consumer Rights Act 2015, terms in consumer contracts must not be unfair — meaning they must not cause a significant imbalance in the parties' rights and obligations, contrary to the requirement of good faith, to the detriment of the consumer. A deposit clause that allows the trader to keep an amount that bears no reasonable relation to the costs they actually incur if you cancel is likely to fail that test.

Practically, this means:

• A deposit that matches genuine sunk costs (materials ordered, design work completed, tooling commissioned) is very likely enforceable.
• A blanket "no refund in any circumstances" clause, or a clause that lets the trader keep the full contract price regardless of what stage production reached, is likely to be unfair and unenforceable as a result.
• No-cancellation clauses that apply before production has even begun are also likely to be questioned.

Before paying a deposit, always ask the trader in writing: what does this deposit cover, and what happens to it if production has not yet started when I cancel? Get the answer in writing.

Practical steps before and after ordering

Before you order

1. Pin down the full specification in writing. Request that the trader confirms materials, dimensions, colours, finish, artwork proofs, spellings, and delivery date in a written order or email. Bespoke disputes almost always come down to what was agreed at the start: anything left vague will be resolved against whichever party failed to nail it down.
2. Understand the cancellation policy before paying. The 14-day cooling-off right will not apply once production begins on a made-to-measure or personalised order. Read the trader's own cancellation terms and understand precisely what happens to your deposit if you change your mind, if the trader causes delay, or if the trader cannot deliver.
3. Check whether you are dealing with a trader or a private individual. Consumer law applies only to contracts with traders acting in the course of a business. If you commission something from a private seller — even via a platform that hosts both businesses and individuals — your statutory rights may not apply. A seller who regularly sells on a platform may still be a trader even without formal registration.
4. Pay by credit card for larger purchases. For goods costing between £100 and £30,000, paying by credit card gives you the additional protection of section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974 — your card provider is jointly and severally liable with the trader for any breach of contract.

After delivery

5. Inspect the goods promptly and document any issues. Examine the finished item against the agreed specification as soon as it arrives. Photograph anything that looks wrong — misspellings, wrong colour, poor finish, structural defects — and raise it with the trader in writing as soon as possible. Prompt action matters: the short-term right to reject runs for only 30 days from delivery.
6. State your remedy in writing. Put your preferred outcome in writing — refund, repair, or replacement — and give the trader a reasonable time to respond. A clear written record is essential if the dispute later needs to go to a third party.

How to complain if the trader won't cooperate

If the trader does not respond constructively to your written complaint, escalate in this order:

1. Formal written complaint with a deadline. Set out the problem, the remedy you are asking for, and a reasonable deadline (14 days is commonly used). Keep copies.
2. Alternative dispute resolution (ADR). Many traders belong to an approved ADR scheme — an ombudsman, trade association arbitration service, or mediation provider. If the trader belongs to one, they may be required to offer it to you. ADR is typically free to consumers and faster than court. See our guide on alternative dispute resolution for consumers.
3. Chargeback or Section 75 claim. If you paid by credit or debit card, contact your card provider and raise a dispute. For credit card purchases above £100 and up to £30,000, section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974 gives you a statutory claim against the card provider.
4. Citizens Advice and Trading Standards. Citizens Advice runs a free consumer helpline and can pass complaints to Trading Standards where there is evidence of a pattern of illegal trading. Contact Citizens Advice at www.gov.uk/consumer-protection-rights.
5. Small claims court. For claims up to £10,000 in England and Wales, the small claims track of the county court is a relatively accessible and low-cost route. Court should be a last resort after ADR has failed or been refused, but the threat of it — set out in a well-drafted letter before action — often prompts resolution.

A note on private sellers

The Consumer Rights Act 2015 and the Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013 both apply only where the seller is a trader acting in the course of a business. If you commission a personalised item from a private individual — a hobbyist maker, a friend of a friend, or an unregistered seller on a second-hand platform — you are in a contract governed by general contract law rather than consumer law. Your remedies are narrower and harder to enforce. Before commissioning from an individual, check whether they qualify as a trader: regular volume of sales, a business name, or advertising their services commercially are all indicators.

This guide provides general information about consumer rights in England and Wales as at June 2026. It is not legal advice. The law described reflects the Consumer Rights Act 2015 and the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013 as currently in force. If you need advice on your specific situation, please seek independent legal guidance.

Last reviewed: June 2026 · Next review due: June 2027 or on legislative change.