Santa got it wrong? Your guide to returning unwanted Christmas gifts

Shoppers often think they have more rights than the law actually gives them when returning goods, such as unwanted Christmas gifts, to retailers. The fact is, you have no legal right to return an item and demand your money back just because you change your mind about liking it, or because you've made a mistake like buying the wrong size or colour. Similarly, you have no right to a refund, exchange or credit note when returning gifts you don't want. But the good news is, many retailers have "goodwill" policies that go beyond your statutory rights and offer a refund or exchange for unwanted items, provided you bring them back unused and in their original packaging and, ideally, with a receipt. Here's what's on offer at some major retailers: Amazon.co.uk normally issues a full refund of the price paid for an item if it's returned within 30 days of the date received, with any seals and shrink-wrap intact. Clothing must have labels attached. This is extended for the Christmas season. Items purchased and dispatched from 1 November to 31 December inclusive may be returned at any time before midnight on 31 January. Visit Amazon's returns support centre at . Arcadia Group (including Topshop , Miss Selfridge and Dorothy Perkins ): Refunds can be given up until 31 January on unwanted purchases made during December, if there is a receipt and the item is "in the same condition". With no receipt it will offer an exchange. Currys , Currys Digital, Currys.co.uk, PC World , PCWorld.co.uk or Dixons.co.uk : Customers have until 17 January to return purchases made between 12 November and 24 December. Goods must be returned unopened with receipt or other proof of purchase. Debenhams offers a full refund or exchange on unwanted goods returned with a standard receipt within 28 days of purchase. Unwanted Christmas gifts can be returned or exchanged with a Debenhams gift receipt until 31 January, even if beyond the normal 28-day rule. Refunds on gift receipts are put on a Debenhams Giftcard. Only an exchange is available for goods returned without a receipt. Items purchased online from 17 November as gifts can be exchanged in store until 31 January. Ernest Jones , H Samuel : Items purchased between 1 November and 24 December can be refunded or exchanged at any UK store until 30 January if returned in resaleable condition with a receipt. If there is no receipt, an exchange will be offered, but only for the value of the good's most recent price. Engraved items cannot be refunded or exchanged, and jewellery for piercings must be unopened. HMV will exchange (not refund) unwanted gifts purchased in-store any time in December until the end of January for an equivalent value item or HMV gift card. All products must be returned in perfect condition with the original packaging and receipt. Technology products and hardware (including games) will only be accepted if the item is unopened. Stores won't accept previously exchanged or multiple returns. John Lewis will accept unwanted items bought in-store or online in resaleable condition and in original, undamaged packaging returned within 28 days of Christmas Day. It gives a full refund or exchange on goods returned with a receipt (or gift receipt), and a refund at the current selling price on goods returned without a receipt. Marks & Spencer gives a full refund or exchange on goods returned in unused, resaleable condition with a receipt (or gift receipt) before 16 January for items purchased between 1 October and 11 December or within 35 days for items purchased on or after 12 December. For an item returned without a receipt, it gives a credit receipt for its current selling price. WH Smith will give an exchange or refund on goods bought between 1 October and 24 December that are returned in a resaleable condition with a standard or gift receipt within 30 days of Christmas Day. No refunds on goods returned without a receipt, though you may be offered an exchange. The same policy applies to goods purchased online from WH Smith Direct will exchange (not refund) unwanted gifts returned without a receipt in perfect, resaleable condition by 31 January at the manager's discretion. If the item has been discounted since November, the exchange value will be at the lowest selling price in the Christmas period. A full refund is given on unwanted gifts returned with a receipt. For details of your consumer rights, visit consumerdirect.gov.uk or see our Q&A on returning unwanted Christmas gifts . Christmas con artists Retailers will be on the lookout this new year for badly behaved shoppers who exploit retailers' goodwill returns policies by asking for refunds on goods they have already used, damaged or had stuffed in a cupboard for ages. "The overwhelming majority of customers play the game [of returning unused goods with a receipt within the retailer's stated returns period]. Then there are some who simply don't know the law and perhaps have overly high expectations of what their rights are in demanding a refund," says a spokesperson for the British Retail Consortium , the industry body representing online and high street retailers. "A small minority know exactly what they are doing. They're trying to pull a fast one and sometimes it's quite blatant." Among this year's examples of appalling consumer try-ons reported by BRC members are: • Party dresses returned having clearly been worn, with lipstick, make-up and perspiration marks. (Gone are the days, of course, when the smell of cigarette smoke was the giveaway.) • Men's suits returned, again, obviously having been worn once the retail assistant finds the confetti caught in the pockets. • Unwanted saucepans and casserole dishes gifts returned with the claim that they have never been used when they contain remains of cooked food. • A PC hard drive which turned out to be simply a metal shell because the contents had been removed. • A mobile phone box which, when opened, contained nothing but a potato, presumably to create weight to fool the shop assistant from checking.