When you make a purchase, you should be able to find the business refund policy without any trouble. Merchants that do not make their policy known to their customers are required to follow the policy set by law. They must comply with a consumer's request for a refund or exchange if they don't inform consumers of their refund policy before the purchase.

Merchants can post a sign with this information at the cash register or at the store entrance, or attach the information to each item.

The refund policy display must indicate:

• If a store offers a full or partial refund
• The length of time after purchase that refunds will be available
• Form of refund: cash, credit or exchange
• If refunds are available for sale items or items sold "as is"
• If and when customers must present proof of purchase
• If and when customers must show photo ID or other personal information
• Any special conditions when using a gift card

If the store policy is not made known to the consumer in one of these ways, the store must honor a refund request if the request is made within 20 days of the purchase. (This does not apply to food, perishables, custom-made or custom-finished goods, and items with defects that the consumer was made aware of when the sale took place.)

Merchants that track returns to protect against abuse of their return policy must post the reason why they would not accept a return. If they do not, they risk a violation.

Read more from DCA's Refund Policy Guide