Toolstation Trade Return Policy: 30 day back, the £9 pick-up fee

You’re on site. The job is on a clock. You grab a box of fix-ings, a tool bit, or a fit-ting you need “right now”. Then you get back to the van and see it. Wrong size. Wrong thread. Or you got two when you need one. It’s like put-ting the wrong key in a lock. It will not turn, and it can cost you time.

If you buy from Tool-sta-tion on a Trade club or Trade club cred-it ac-count, you want re-turns to be quick and clean. No long back and forth. No guess. This guide lays out the Tool-sta-tion Trade re-turn pol-i-cy in plain talk: the 30 day rule, what must stay “new”, what you can take back to a store, what needs a pick-up, and what gets left out.

One note up front: Tool-sta-tion has a “30-Day Mon-ey Back Guar-an-tee” on most goods. That’s the main rule you’ll lean on day to day. Trade club cred-it has its own terms too, and they also point to a 30 day can-cel and re-turn right by con-tact-ing them in time.

The main time rule for Trade: 30 days

Tool-sta-tion says you can bring back a lot of items for a re-fund or ex-change if it’s with-in 30 days. The site says the 30 day win-dow is tied to “re-ceipt” for most re-turns, and in the FAQs it also says it’s 30 days from buy in store, or 30 days from de-liv-er-y for web buys. In real life, that means you should treat day one as the day the goods land in your hands, not the day you get round to open-ing the bag.

For Trade club cred-it, the terms say you can can-cel your or-der with-out a rea-son if you do so by phone, e-mail, or post with-in 30 days of re-ceipt of the goods. That is a big help for Trade, as it sets a clear win-dow even when “con-sum-er” law may not fit a bus-i-ness buy.

If you want the safe play, don’t wait till the last week. If a re-turn slips past the date, the door can shut. Think of the 30 day win-dow like a tide. When it’s in, it’s easy to move. When it’s out, you’re drag-ging the boat on sand.

Trade vs con-sum-er: why the law bit can be dif-fer-ent

A lot of folks hear “cool-off” and think it’s the same for all buys. In the UK, the main on-line cool-off right is for con-sum-er buys, not Trade buys. The gov.uk guide says a con-sum-er who buys on-line can tell the sell-er they want to can-cel with-in 14 days of get-ting the item, then they get a new 14 days to send it back. Trade buys do not al-ways sit in that same law box.

That’s why Tool-sta-tion’s own re-turn pol-i-cy and your Trade ac-count terms mat-ter so much. They give you a clear rule set you can use day to day. If you’re a sole trad-er, the line be-tween “con-sum-er” and “Trade” can get murk-y, so if you’re in doubt on a high cost buy, it can pay to ask Tool-sta-tion sup-port what rule set they will use for that or-der.

Change of mind re-turns: it must be “new”

Tool-sta-tion is plain on this part. If you just changed your mind, the item must be un-used. The site says un-want-ed goods must be un-used, un-marked, and in the o-rig pack. It also says they need to be “sealed” in the o-rig pack, with all add-ons, parts, and any free “pro-mo” bits that came with it.

For Trade, this is where most slip-ups hap-pen. You rip a bag open to check a part, then the job calls and the part sits in the van, then it gets dust and scuffs. To you it’s still “new”. To a store it can look like used stock.

If you might re-turn it, treat it like a glass jar. Keep the seal, keep the box, keep the in-ner trays, and keep the bar code tag in place. Do your check with care, then close it back up.

How to re-turn Tool-sta-tion Trade buys: store or pick-up

Tool-sta-tion gives two main paths for most re-turns. You can take the item to a Tool-sta-tion store, or you can ask them to book a col-lec-tion.

For in-store re-turns, the site says staff will check the buy date and the item con-di-tion, then you can pick a re-fund, a re-place-ment, or (at times) a re-pair. This is the fast path for most Trade buys, as you can drop it in on the way to a job.

For col-lec-tion re-turns, Tool-sta-tion says they can book a pick-up of an un-want-ed item for a fixed fee of £9. They also say there is no fee when the item is fault-y, dam-aged, or sent in er-ror. The site also says your item must be packed well so it won’t get hit in tran-sit.

That £9 fee is the bit Trade folks feel most. If you do lots of small re-turns, it can add up. If you’ve got more than one un-used item to send back, it may make sense to group them, so you pay one pick-up fee, not three.

Proof of buy: the thing that saves time

For Trade, “proof” is part of the job. Tool-sta-tion says proof of buy may be need-ed to check the date and the or-der. On the re-turn page it also tells you to bring a re-ceipt, in-voice, or or-der ref for fault-y goods in the first 30 days.

If you’re on Trade club cred-it, you’ve got a dig-i-tal trail, which helps. Still, it’s smart to save the in-voice or screen-grab the or-der ref on day one. When you’re at the coun-ter, a clean ref can make the whole thing go in two mins, not ten.

If you buy in store with no ac-count tied, keep the slip. A lost slip is like a lost tape mea-sure. You can still do the job, but it gets slow and messy.

Items you can’t just take back to a store

Tool-sta-tion says most items can go back in store, but it also lists clear ex-cepts. The re-turn page says stores can’t take in-store re-turns for bespoke goods that are cut, mixed, per-son-al-ised, or made to your spec. It also lists boil-ers and boil-er parts, used mac-er-a-tors, toi-lets, dir-ty wa-ter pumps, and pet-rol goods as items they can’t take back in store.

That does not al-ways mean “no re-turn at all”. It means “not at the store desk”. For ex-empt items, Tool-sta-tion says to con-tact them so they can tell you what op-tions you have.

One small but key safe-ty bit: Tool-sta-tion notes that pet-rol goods must be drained of pet-rol and left to air for 48 hours be-fore re-turn, for safe-ty rea-sons. If you skip that, you can end up with a re-turn you can’t hand o-ver.

Sup-pli-er di-rect de-liv-er-y: a dif-fer-ent re-turn lane

Some Tool-sta-tion items ship di-rect from a sup-pli-er, not from a Tool-sta-tion site. Tool-sta-tion says these items can-not be re-turned to Tool-sta-tion stores. In that case, they tell you to con-tact their con-tact cen-tre to book a col-lec-tion, and they note that some sup-pli-ers may have their own re-turn steps.

Tool-sta-tion also says you can still re-turn the item with-in 30 days. So the time rule stays, but the path shifts. To spot a sup-pli-er di-rect item, Tool-sta-tion says to check your or-der e-mail, the de-liv-er-y note, or the item page on the site.

For sup-pli-er di-rect goods, Tool-sta-tion says a £9 col-lec-tion fee will be charged for un-want-ed, un-used goods, and there is no col-lec-tion fee for fault-y, dam-aged, or wrong goods. They also note that some sup-pli-ers may ask for pics be-fore pick-up, to help show the fault or dam-age.

One more Trade-type de-tail here: Tool-sta-tion says if you placed the or-der in store with cash or card, you may need to go back to the store to get your re-fund once the sup-pli-er has col-lect-ed and pro-cessed the re-turn, and they’ll con-tact you when it’s ready. So if your lads bought it at the desk, plan a store run to close the loop.

Re-fund time: what to ex-pect

Tool-sta-tion says re-funds are made back to the same pay way you used to buy. They also say the re-fund is pro-cessed once the item has been col-lect-ed, sent back, and checked to con-firm its con-di-tion.

For sup-pli-er di-rect col-lec-tions, Tool-sta-tion says re-funds will be pro-cessed with-in 14 days of the item be-ing col-lect-ed, and paid back to the o-rig pay way.

For can-cel-la-tions, the terms say Tool-sta-tion will make the re-fund as soon as they can and with-in 14 days of can-cel-la-tion, and they say the same 14 day clock can ap-ply once goods are back if the goods had al-ready been sent. Banks can add more days on top, so don’t panic if it’s not in your ac-count the next day.

Fault-y goods: 30 days, then re-pair or swap

If the item is fault-y and you’re still in the first 30 days, Tool-sta-tion says to take it to your near-est store with the o-rig pack for an ex-change or re-fund, and bring your re-ceipt, in-voice, or or-der ref.

If the 30 days have passed, Tool-sta-tion says they will of-fer a re-pair or re-place-ment if you re-port the fault with-in 12 months of buy, as long as it’s not due to wear and tear. If they can’t re-pair or re-place, they say they’ll is-sue a re-fund. They also say they may cut the re-fund if the item or pack was han-dled “ex-cess-ive-ly”.

If you can’t get to a store, Tool-sta-tion says you can con-tact them to book a col-lec-tion, and they say post costs will be paid back once the fault is ac-cept-ed.

There’s a nice Trade perk here too: Tool-sta-tion says some items show a “span-ner” icon on the prod-uct page. For those, they say a fast and free re-pair ser-vice can be set up in store or via their con-tact cen-tre, and the tool is sent back to you once fixed. That can save a Trade job week when a tool goes down.

Can-cel an or-der: fast call, or re-fuse the drop

Tool-sta-tion says their pick-and-pack is quick, so it may not be pos-si-ble to can-cel once the or-der is in mo-tion. They tell you to call as soon as you can. If they can stop it be-fore it leaves, they may be able to stop the pay too, so no re-fund is need-ed.

If it’s too late and the box is al-ready on the van, Tool-sta-tion says you can re-fuse de-liv-er-y, or you can use the stand-ard re-turn path for un-want-ed, un-used goods. Their terms also say that if they can can-cel be-fore ship, they’ll is-sue a full re-fund that in-cludes de-liv-er-y charges.

One hard line to re-mem-ber: Tool-sta-tion says bespoke goods that are cut, mixed, per-son-al-ised, or made to your spec can-not be can-cel-led or re-turned if you just changed your mind.

Trade club cred-it: who pays for the re-turn trip?

Tool-sta-tion’s Trade club cred-it terms spell out a fair split. They say that un-less the goods were wrong-ly sup-plied, sub-sti-tut-ed, or are fault-y, you are re-spon-si-ble for re-turn costs, and Tool-sta-tion is re-spon-si-ble in the oth-er cas-es. They also say they can ar-range a suit-a-ble car-ri-er.

That fits the main re-turn page too. Un-want-ed goods: you pay the £9 col-lec-tion fee if you want pick-up. Fault-y, dam-aged, or wrong: no col-lec-tion fee, and they talk a-bout pay-ing back post costs once a fault is ac-cept-ed.

So, for Trade, the big thing is to be clear on what the case is. “Wrong part, my fault” is a change of mind re-turn. “Wrong item sent” is a send-in-er-ror case. “Dead on ar-riv-al” is a fault case. Label it right and the fee part tends to line up.

Real Trade tips that cut pain

Keep a small box in the van for “might go back” goods. Put the slip or in-voice in the box right then. This is like a small net for loose bolts. It keeps bits from get-ting lost.

If you buy a lot for one job, do a fast check the same day. Bag of nails, fix-ings, fit-tings, ad-hes-ive, bits. If you spot the wrong spec fast, you can re-turn fast, and you keep the pack clean.

If you need a col-lec-tion for un-want-ed goods, group them if you can, so you don’t pay £9 three times. If you’re re-turn-ing fault-y or wrong goods, take a quick pic be-fore you seal the box. Tool-sta-tion notes that sup-pli-ers may ask for pics be-fore pick-up, and pics can help you prove the state of the goods.

And al-ways check if the item is “sup-pli-er di-rect”. If it is, don’t waste time driv-ing to a store with it. That’s a dead trip. Call the con-tact cen-tre and book the right lane.

High price Am-a-zon kit (2k+) that can help Trade teams who buy and re-turn a lot

If you run one van and buy one box a week, you don’t need big kit for re-turn work. But if you run jobs, stock a small lock-up, and shift lots of kit, good gear can save time.

Ze-bra ZT610 in-dus-tri-al la-bel print-er is of-ten $2,000+ on Am-a-zon. If you ship kit back to sup-pli-ers, or you run a small stores room with bin la-bels, this kind of print-er can keep la-bels sharp and scann-a-ble. A clean la-bel is like a clear road sign.

FLIR ther-mal cam (pro line units) can run $2,000+ on Am-a-zon. This is not for fun. It can help spark and heat work, spot hot joins, and find heat loss. Less guess can mean few-er “wrong part” buys that end up in a re-turn pile.

Le-i-ca ro-ta-ry la-ser lev-el kit can hit $2,000+ on Am-a-zon, based on the kit. For ground, slab, and set-out work, a top lev-el kit can stop re-work. When a job is set right, you buy the right parts once, not twice.

Mil-wau-kee M18 FUEL big kit set can pass $2,000+ on Am-a-zon in some packs. If a tool dies mid week, you end up buy-ing fast to stay on the job, then you may re-turn the spare once the main tool is fixed. A strong kit can cut those “back-up buys” in the first place.

Price tags on Am-a-zon can swing, so check the live price be-fore you buy. These are “pro shop” buys, not must-have buys for all.

Last note: the fast path is “keep it clean, keep the proof, move quick”

Tool-sta-tion’s Trade re-turn pol-i-cy is built on a plain rule: most goods can go back with-in 30 days if they are un-used and in the o-rig pack. You can take most items to a store, or book a col-lec-tion. Un-want-ed col-lec-tions cost £9, while fault-y, dam-aged, or wrong goods don’t get that fee.

Watch the ex-cepts (boil-ers, toi-lets, used mac-er-a-tors, dir-ty wa-ter pumps, pet-rol goods, and bespoke cut or mixed items). Check sup-pli-er di-rect ship too, since those don’t go back to a store desk. Do that, and re-turns feel like a quick pit stop, not a job that eats your day.