Refund and Returns Policy

Effective date: 9 September 2026

This policy applies to goods and services bought from First Essential UK, a trading name of First Essential Holdings Ltd (company number 15619967), registered at 10 Montague Place, Worthing, BN11 3BG.

Your rights depend on whether you are buying as a consumer (an individual buying wholly or mainly outside your trade, business, craft or profession) or as a business. Both are covered below.

Separate payment providers. This policy covers goods and services sold by FE. Merchant payment services, provider-owned terminals and charges under your separate Payment Provider agreement follow that agreement and the provider's return/complaint route. We remain responsible for our own sales, representations and any separately agreed equipment or services; an introduction does not make FE responsible for refunding a provider's charges.

1. If you are a consumer

1.1 Changing your mind

Under the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013, you have a legal right to cancel a distance or off-premises contract without giving a reason within the applicable 14-day cancellation period.

• You have 14 days from the day after you receive the goods, or the last item delivered where an order arrives in parts, to tell us you are cancelling. You may also cancel before delivery. Any longer cancellation period required by law remains available.
• Unless we have offered or are required to collect them, once you have told us, you have a further 14 days to send the goods back.
• We will refund you within 14 days of receiving the goods back, or of you giving us proof that you have sent them, whichever is sooner.

Where we are required to collect the goods, we will arrange collection. If we have offered to collect them, or the law otherwise does not permit us to await return evidence, we refund within 14 days after your cancellation notice.

Your refund will include the standard delivery cost we charged you. If you chose a faster or premium delivery option, we refund the standard cost only, not the extra.

You pay the cost of returning the goods to us for a change-of-mind cancellation only where we supplied the required pre-contract information. If goods cannot normally be returned by post, we must also give the applicable cost information before the contract. Pack securely and keep proof of dispatch; this does not postpone a refund legally due on valid evidence of return.

Please return all supplied accessories and use the original packaging where possible. Opening the packaging to inspect the goods does not remove your statutory cancellation right.

You may handle the goods as you would in a shop to check they are as expected. If the goods are worn, used or damaged beyond that, we may reduce your refund for the resulting loss in value only where the law permits and we gave the required cancellation information. No restocking fee applies to a consumer exercising statutory cancellation rights.

For services and digital content not on a physical medium, the 14-day period runs from the day after the contract is made. We start a service during that period only at your express request. If you cancel after requesting an early start, you pay a proportionate amount for the service supplied before cancellation, provided we gave you the required cancellation and charging information. We refund any balance due within 14 days of your cancellation. See section 1.3 for the conditions that apply when a service is fully performed or digital content starts.

1.2 Goods that are faulty, damaged or not as described

Under the Consumer Rights Act 2015, goods must be of satisfactory quality, fit for purpose and as described. If they are not:

• During the statutory short-term rejection period, normally 30 days, you can reject qualifying faulty goods and get a full refund. The statutory start-date and any pause for repair or replacement apply.
• After the short-term rejection period, repair or replacement is normally the first remedy. We provide the remedy required by law within a reasonable time and without significant inconvenience. Where the statutory conditions are met, you may instead obtain a price reduction or exercise a final right to reject; any deduction for use is made only where permitted.
• After 6 months you may still have rights, but you may need to show the fault was present at delivery.

We pay the reasonable return costs required by law for qualifying faulty, damaged or misdescribed goods. The applicable statutory rules about evidence of a fault apply; the absence or expiry of a manufacturer's warranty does not remove your rights against FE.

Damage caused after supply. A fault caused by misuse, accidental damage, unsuitable installation by someone other than FE, unauthorised modification or failure to follow appropriate supplied instructions is not automatically a defect in the goods as supplied. We assess the actual cause and your legal rights; an unrelated modification does not remove a valid claim for an original fault, and FE remains responsible for its own installation or other work. Any paid investigation or repair outside your rights and agreed cover must be explained and agreed before that work is charged.

Services and digital content. If our work does not meet the agreed contract or applicable statutory standards, the relevant rights to repeat performance, repair/replacement, a price reduction or refund remain available. A change-of-mind restriction or customer approval does not remove those rights.

1.3 Items you cannot cancel

The 14-day cancellation right does not apply to:

• Goods made to your specification or clearly personalised - this includes custom-printed materials and branded merchandise
• Sealed goods that are not suitable for return for health or hygiene reasons, once unsealed
• Sealed software or digital media, once unsealed
• Digital content not on a physical medium, once supply begins with your prior express consent and acknowledgement that you will lose the right to cancel. We provide the required confirmation on a durable medium.
• Services fully performed during the cancellation period, where you expressly requested early performance and acknowledged beforehand that full performance would end the right to cancel. For an off-premises contract, the request must be on a durable medium.

This does not affect your rights if the goods are faulty or not as described.

2. If you are a business

Consumer change-of-mind cancellation rights do not apply to business purchases. You may request a discretionary return within 14 days of delivery, by prior agreement with us.

• Unused goods in original, unopened packaging: no restocking fee for an agreed return.
• Opened but resaleable goods: we may agree a return with a 15% restocking deduction only where that term was disclosed before purchase and you agree the return conditions. It does not apply to consumer statutory returns.
• You pay return postage and take reasonable care of the goods until they reach us.
• Made-to-order, custom-configured or personalised goods are excluded from discretionary change-of-mind returns unless we agree otherwise. This does not remove applicable faulty-goods or misdescription rights.

Faulty goods are dealt with under the actual warranty, the accepted contract and applicable law. Contact us to arrange the appropriate repair, replacement or refund. Existing orders keep any more generous rights already promised.

2.1 One-off projects, setup work and subscriptions

The accepted quote or order identifies the work, charges, payment stages and cancellation terms for each service. A standalone project has no automatic monthly renewal. Cancelling a subscription does not by itself cancel a separate one-off order, and cancelling one project does not cancel other services unless the agreement links them or a legal right requires it.

For business work, properly accrued charges for work supplied remain payable under the agreed terms. Any other cancellation amount must have an agreed and lawful basis; we explain it, credit relevant payments and recoveries, and do not recover the same loss twice. There is no blanket rule that every setup fee is non-refundable and no automatic demand for all future software subscription fees. Rights arising from FE's breach remain.

3. Rented and subscription equipment

Card terminals, EPOS systems and kiosks may be supplied either as an outright purchase or on a rental or monthly subscription. Where equipment is rented, it remains the property of the owner identified in your order or equipment agreement. This section applies to equipment rented under an FE agreement and sets out the additional arrangements for returning it; a directly contracted Payment Provider rental follows that provider's agreement. It does not limit consumers’ statutory cancellation or faulty-goods rights.

• Minimum term: the period expressly agreed in your order. The business EPOS rental package has a 12-month minimum only where clearly agreed before ordering; no longer term is implied
• Notice to cancel: 30 calendar days in writing, ending no earlier than the expressly agreed minimum, subject to earlier contractual or statutory termination rights
• Returning equipment: equipment must be returned within 14 calendar days after the final service date, complete with all accessories, in good working order and in reasonable condition allowing for fair wear and tear.
• Non-return or damage: after a reminder and reasonable opportunity to arrange return, we may claim evidenced reasonable repair cost or actual replacement loss, allowing for age, condition, fair wear and amounts recovered. We explain the calculation and do not recover the same loss twice
• Agreed charges remain payable to the lawful final service date. An earlier lawful cancellation or termination may end that obligation sooner. No automatic charge for future Software follows termination; any separately agreed equipment debt follows the accepted contract.

Where you are a consumer and the rental is a distance contract, your 14-day cancellation right in section 1.1 also applies to the rental agreement itself.

4. How to start a return

Contact us so we can help identify the correct return process and address. Our authorisation is not a condition of a consumer exercising a statutory cancellation or faulty-goods right, and waiting for our reply does not extend the legal deadline:

• Email: info@firstessential.uk
• Phone: 020 3838 0609

Please include your order number or other reasonable proof of purchase, the item, and whether you are cancelling or reporting a fault. A receipt is not the only acceptable evidence. Please describe the issue accurately and provide relevant details so we can assess it.

Before returning a device containing personal data or linked accounts, tell us so we can agree a secure handover, any necessary export and removal of account locks or data. Follow the agreed instructions and keep records you need where lawful. This does not waive FE's data protection duties, require destruction of relevant fault evidence or delay a refund required by law.

Returns address: First Essential Holdings Ltd, 10 Montague Place, Worthing, West Sussex, BN11 3BG, unless we confirm another return location before dispatch

5. Refunds

Refunds are made to the original payment method. We do not charge a fee for issuing a refund. Once we process a refund, your bank or card provider may take a few additional days to show it on your statement.

If you have not received a refund you are expecting, please check with your bank or card provider first, then contact us at info@firstessential.uk.

6. Complaints

If you are unhappy with how we have handled a return or refund, email info@firstessential.uk. We acknowledge general complaints within 5 Business Days and aim to give a written outcome within 20 Business Days, following clause 22 of our Terms of Service. This does not extend a statutory refund deadline or the separate deadlines for data protection matters.

Nothing in this policy affects your statutory rights.