Many vapers assume their only protection is whatever warranty period a manufacturer prints on the box, and that once it ends, a broken device is simply their own problem. That is not how UK law works. The Consumer Rights Act 2015 gives every consumer a statutory right to goods that are of satisfactory quality, fit for purpose and as described, running against the retailer they bought from, whether or not a separate manufacturer warranty is offered at all.

Knowing the sequence in advance avoids a common frustration too: assuming a refund is available immediately, when the law actually expects a repair or replacement attempt first in most cases once the first 30 days have passed.

Sections 19 to 24 of the Consumer Rights Act 2015 set out a sequence of remedies for goods that do not conform to the contract, meaning they are faulty, not as described, or not fit for purpose. In broad terms, the ladder runs: a short term right to reject goods for a full refund in the first 30 days; a right to one free repair or replacement; and, if that does not resolve things, a price reduction or a final right to reject for a refund. A consumer generally works through these in order, rather than picking whichever remedy they prefer at any point.

Under section 22 of the Act, the 30 day clock begins the day after ownership or possession passes to you, the goods are delivered, or, where setup is needed, the retailer confirms that has been done. Within that window, a genuinely faulty device entitles you to reject it outright for a full refund, with no deduction for any use you have had.

If you ask for a repair or replacement instead of rejecting straight away, the clock pauses for as long as you are waiting. Should the item still not work properly afterwards, you generally get at least 7 more days, or the rest of the original 30 days extended by the waiting period, whichever is longer, to decide whether to reject it after all.

Once the 30 day window has passed, section 23 of the Act generally expects the retailer to get one opportunity to put things right through a repair or a replacement, chosen by the retailer rather than the consumer, before the final remedies become available. Any repair or replacement must happen within a reasonable time and without significant inconvenience to you, with the retailer bearing all necessary costs, including labour, parts and postage.

A retailer is not required to offer whichever option you personally prefer if the other is clearly more proportionate, for example because it is cheaper without any real downside to you. What they cannot do is simply refuse to act, drag the process out, or ask you to pay toward fixing something that was already faulty when you received it.

Section 24 of the Act gives you the final right to reject once one repair or replacement attempt has failed, once repair or replacement turns out to be impossible, or once the retailer has not carried it out within a reasonable time or without significant inconvenience. At that point you choose between a price reduction or rejecting the goods for a refund, not both.

If you exercise the final right to reject within the first six months after delivery, the Act generally does not allow a deduction for your use of the goods, so a device that genuinely fails in that window should lead to a full refund. After six months, a retailer can reduce the refund by a fair amount reflecting the use you got before it failed.

The remedy ladder exists for goods that were not of satisfactory quality, fit for purpose or as described when you received them. It is not a general promise that a device will last forever, and several common situations sit outside it.

• Coils, pods, wicks and cotton are consumable parts expected to wear out, covered in our separate coil problems and fixes guide rather than by this remedy ladder.
• A battery gradually holding less charge after months of use is ordinary wear, not a fault, though one that swells, will not charge at all, or fails very early is different.
• Damage from dropping a device, water exposure, the wrong charger, or an unauthorised modification generally falls outside your rights, since the fault was not present when the goods were supplied.
• Devices bought secondhand or from an unofficial seller may not carry the retailer relationship these rights depend on. See our Vape Mods & Advanced Devices page for what a genuine, supported device looks like.

Your Consumer Rights Act claim sits against the retailer you actually bought from, not the manufacturer, and exists regardless of any separate warranty card in the box. A manufacturer warranty is a voluntary extra promise that can run alongside your statutory rights, and can sometimes offer longer cover, but it can never reduce or remove the rights the Act already gives you as standard.

There is also a longer backstop most people never need: in general, a breach of contract claim can be brought within 6 years in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, or 5 years in Scotland. Whether an older device still counts as having been faulty from the start, rather than simply worn out, is judged against what you would reasonably expect for its price and type, so this matters far less than the clearer remedies in the first 6 months.

• Stop using the device if it is overheating, swelling, or showing any other sign of a safety issue.
• Find your order confirmation. You will need your order number to raise a claim with us.
• Note what is wrong, when it started, and how the device was being used when the fault appeared.
• Contact our Customer Support page or our Contact Us page, and be clear which stage of the remedy ladder you believe applies.
• Keep the faulty device until the claim is resolved, since a retailer is entitled to examine it before agreeing a remedy.