Consumer law
Right to complain vs. right of withdrawal — the difference that costs money
Updated August 2026
Two rights, two clocks, two sets of shipping rules — and one very common mistake: treating a faulty product as a regret return. Here is the practical difference, and how to make the portal handle both.
Try it yourself
In Nexly you configure reasons per type, so a defect claim never gets charged a return fee meant for regret returns.
Open the demo return portal- 14 days
- Right of withdrawal — no reason required
- Directive 2011/83/EU, Art. 9
- 2 years
- Right to complain about a defect in Denmark
- Købeloven
- Merchant
- Pays return shipping on a justified complaint
- Købeloven
- Customer
- May pay return shipping on withdrawal, if informed up front
- Directive 2011/83/EU, Art. 14
Right of withdrawal (fortrydelsesret)
A statutory right in distance selling: 14 days from delivery, no reason needed. You refund within 14 days of being informed, including the cheapest standard outbound shipping. The customer pays return shipping only if you told them so before the purchase.
Right to complain (reklamationsret)
A defect right, not a regret right. In Denmark it runs two years from delivery under Købeloven and covers goods that were faulty at the time of sale. Here the merchant carries the reasonable return cost, and the remedies are repair, replacement, a proportional reduction or cancellation.
Why mixing them up is expensive
It goes wrong in both directions:
- A defect handled as a regret return: the customer is charged a return fee they should never pay — a complaint case waiting to happen.
- A regret return handled as a defect: you eat return shipping you were entitled to charge.
- A defect after day 14 refused entirely, even though the two-year right still applies.
How to configure it
Split your reasons and let the rules follow the reason, not the agent's judgement.
- Mark defect reasons (damaged, faulty, wrong item sent) as merchant-paid, fee-exempt and available beyond the withdrawal window.
- Keep regret reasons (wrong size, changed my mind) inside the window, with your fee rules and your per-country shipping rules.
- Require a comment or photo on defect reasons so the case is documented.
- Report on reasons monthly — recurring defects on one SKU is a product problem, not a returns problem.
Not legal advice
This is a practical summary of well-established rules. National implementation and your own terms should be reviewed with your counsel.