Thirty days is the number both systems keep coming back to — and it's not just a guideline, it's a legal trigger point.
Yes. In the UK, the Consumer Rights Act 2015 entitles you to cancel and request a full refund if goods aren't delivered by an agreed date, or within a reasonable time — generally treated as 30 calendar days if no date was agreed. In the US, the FTC's Mail, Internet, or Telephone Order Merchandise Rule requires sellers to seek your consent to any delay past the stated shipping time (or 30 days if none was stated); if you don't consent, they must promptly refund you — and the refund has to be actual money, not store credit or a gift card.
| United States | United Kingdom | |
|---|---|---|
| Legal basis | FTC Mail, Internet, or Telephone Order Merchandise Rule (16 CFR Part 435) | Consumer Rights Act 2015 |
| Default delivery window | The stated time, or 30 days if none stated | An agreed date, or 30 calendar days if none was agreed |
| What happens once that window passes | Seller must notify you of the delay and get your consent, or issue a prompt refund if you don't consent | You can request redelivery within a reasonable time, or cancel and request a full refund |
| Refund method | Must be an actual refund, not store credit or a gift card — enforcement action has specifically targeted sellers substituting gift cards | A full refund without undue delay, in the original payment method |
| Essential delivery dates | Not specifically addressed by the Rule beyond the general delay notification requirement | If a specific delivery date was essential (e.g. a wedding cake for the wedding day) and made clear to the seller, you may be entitled to cancel immediately rather than waiting for a "reasonable time" to pass |
The gift-card substitution issue is worth flagging specifically: the FTC's $9.3 million settlement with a major fast-fashion retailer in 2020 was partly built on exactly this — offering gift cards instead of the cash refunds customers were legally owed. If a seller offers you store credit for a late order and you'd rather have your money back, you're entitled to insist on that.
Repeated informal delays without ever formally seeking your consent or offering a refund option is exactly what the FTC Rule is designed to prevent — you're entitled to ask for the formal delay notice and your consent/refund choice.
If you're entitled to a refund and would prefer cash, you can decline the store credit and insist on the actual refund — this has been the subject of real FTC enforcement action.
If you told the seller a delivery date mattered for a specific reason and they missed it, this can support cancelling immediately rather than waiting out the standard "reasonable time" window.
In the UK:
"Failure to deliver within a reasonable time and after the agreed deadline is a breach under the Consumer Rights Act 2015. I'm cancelling this order and requesting a full refund without undue delay."
In the US:
"My order was placed on [date] and hasn't shipped or arrived within the 30-day window required under the FTC's Mail Order Rule. I don't consent to further delay and I'm requesting a full refund, not a store credit."
Use Kibbo's Parcel & Delivery tools to send a formal cancellation and refund request, citing the exact legal deadline the seller missed.
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