Two separate things are covered here: your legal right to cancel because you changed your mind, and your legal rights if something is wrong with the goods. They work differently, so we have kept them apart.
1. Changed your mind — your 14-day right to cancel
Under the Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013 you may cancel your order for any reason, without giving one, within 14 days of receiving it. Email support@alpha-academy.com with your order number to tell us. You then have a further 14 days to send the goods back.
- We refund the price of the item plus the basic outbound delivery charge. As our delivery is free, that outbound figure is zero, so you get the full item price back.
- There is no handling fee and no restocking fee.
- You pay the return postage. We are telling you that here, before purchase, as the Regulations require.
- You may inspect and handle the goods as you would in a shop. If you go beyond that and reduce their value, we may deduct an amount reflecting the loss.
- We refund within 14 days of getting the goods back, or of you giving us proof of postage, whichever comes first.
A few things are excluded by law from the right to cancel: sealed hygiene or personal-care items once the seal is broken, sealed audio or video recordings and software once unsealed, goods made to your specification or clearly personalised, and anything that deteriorates rapidly. Where an exclusion applies it is stated on the product page.
2. Faulty, damaged or not what you ordered
This is covered by the Consumer Rights Act 2015 and is separate from cancellation. Goods must be of satisfactory quality, fit for purpose and as described.
- Within 30 days: you have the short-term right to reject and get a full refund.
- Up to six months: we will repair or replace it. If that does not fix it, you get a refund.
- Up to six years (five in Scotland): you may still have a claim if the goods did not last as long as they reasonably should.
In all of these cases we pay the return postage and you are never charged a fee. Email us with your order number and a photo — in most cases we will not ask you to send the item back at all.
How to start a return
Email support@alpha-academy.com with your order number and, if the item is faulty, a photo. You will get a reply with the return address and next steps, normally within 12 hours on working days. Please do not send anything back before you hear from us, as we cannot track unannounced parcels.
Cancelling before dispatch
If your order has not shipped yet, email us and we will cancel and refund it in full straight away. You do not need to wait for it to arrive.