It happens to us all. You are making a purchase, or negotiating a deal, when you are overcome by a gnawing feeling that something isn’t right. A ‘gut feeling’ that says you should walk away, cancel the deal, or put the item back on the shelf. Sometimes we listen to our gut and are happy we did. Other times we ignore it – afraid to make a fuss, be rude or offend the salesperson.

If you didn’t listen to your gut and are experiencing buyer’s remorse there may still be time to ask for a refund or cancel the deal. Take the time to find out.

Canceling a loan agreement
Federal law provides a cooling-off period that allows consumers to rescind or cancel most types of home loans or lines-of-credit without losing money. The Truth in Lending Act provides ‘the right of rescission,’ a three-day cooling off period during which time you can back out of the loan before you get the borrowed money, no questions asked. Within 20 days, the lender must give up its claim to your property as collateral and must refund any fees you paid. The law protects consumers from unscrupulous lenders and from people who don’t follow their intuition and take out loans to pay for things they don’t need and can’t afford.

Getting money back after you’ve been scammed
Sometimes you sense a deal isn’t on the up and up but you go ahead anyway, afraid to make waves. Perhaps you’ve purchased something on the internet, paid using your credit card, but it never arrives. If this happens you can apply to the bank for a charge back. During a charge back, money paid to a retailer is reversed out of their account and refunded into yours with interest. Most banks will authorize a charge back if your account was fraudulently or mistakenly debited.
The charge for this service ranges from $5 and $8.

Requesting a refund
Retailers are not required to provide refunds, however they must post their refund policy prominently. The policy must be posted on a sign and attached to the item or displayed clearly at each store entrance or cash register. If the refund policy is not clearly visible, the retailer must provide a refund. If you purchased an item from a retailer that does not provide refunds you may have recourse, but only if the item is damaged. If the item you bought was marked as ‘as is’ or ‘as sold’ you are out of luck.

Of course the best plan is to listen to that little voice inside of you and to walk away from questionable deals. That gnawing feeling in your gut is trying to tell you something – pay attention.