Christmas gift reclaim advice offered by charity

18/11/2008

Returning unwanted Christmas presents could be a good way of boosting your personal finances in the economic downturn, a charity suggested today.

Citizens Advice released its top "rules" for capitalising on the gifts - with research showing that £78 billion of unwanted Christmas presents were received by four in five people last year.

The charity said that a receipt should be retained by the receiver, that the item should be returned within 28 days and that bank and credit card statements were also useful for customers looking to reclaim.

Extra rights were also available for gifts purchased online, Citizens Advice pointed out - with a "cooling-off" period of seven days following purchase, during which the recipient is entitled by law to a full refund.

David Harker at Citizens Advice said: "With the majority of Britons this year approaching the festive season more wary about spending, the temptation may be high to exchange unwanted presents for cash to boost finances for January.

"We all love buying people gifts they will appreciate, but people need to take precautions so that Christmas presents don't become New Years debts."

Citizens Advice released its "rules" as the Trading Standards Institute's National Consumer Week gets under way.

Tags; Budgeting Advice, Recent Graduate Debt,

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