Returning a purchase and complaining in Portugal: 14 days, 3-year guarantee, complaints book, arbitration

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Withdrawing within 14 days (livre resolução)

For contracts made at a distance (online, by phone) or off the shop’s premises, you can withdraw within 14 days without giving a reason and without costs other than sending the goods back (art. 10(1) of Decreto-Lei 24/2014). For contracts signed at your home or on a trip organised by the seller, the period is 30 days.

You can open and test the item as you would in a shop; you only answer for depreciation if you handled it beyond that (art. 14). For a service that started during the 14 days at your request, you pay the part already provided (art. 15). Our letter generator (option “Online purchase”) fills in the official model wording.

What cannot be returned

Unless the shop agrees otherwise, art. 17 excludes, among others: services already fully provided with your express consent; goods made to your specifications or clearly personalised; goods that perish quickly; sealed health or hygiene goods once unsealed; sealed audio, video or software once unsealed; newspapers and magazines (subscriptions excepted).

In-store purchases: shop policy vs the law

The 14-day right applies to distance and off-premises contracts. When you buy in the shop, returning an item that has nothing wrong with it depends on the shop’s own policy (Worten, FNAC and others publish theirs), not on the law. A defective item is different: the 3-year guarantee applies wherever you bought it.

The 3-year guarantee: what you can demand

The seller answers for any defect that shows up within 3 years of delivery (art. 12 of Decreto-Lei 84/2021, for goods bought since 1 January 2022). For used goods, the period can be cut to 18 months by agreement, but not for goods sold as refurbished.

1. 1
   Report the defect in a provable way
   Letter, email or another provable means (art. 12(5)). There is no longer a deadline to report after you find it; from the report you have 2 years to enforce your rights.
2. 2
   Choose repair or replacement
   You choose, unless your choice is impossible or disproportionately expensive for the seller (art. 15). It is free and must be done within 30 days, save complex cases (art. 18). Each repair adds 6 months of guarantee, up to 4 repairs.
3. 3
   If that fails: price reduction or refund
   When the seller did not repair or replace, refused, said it would not, or the defect came back or is serious, you can ask for a proportional price cut or end the contract (art. 15(4)); the refund is due within 14 days (art. 20).

Two shortcuts: a defect within the first 30 days gives you the right to immediate replacement or to end the contract (art. 16), and a defect within the first 2 years is presumed to have existed at delivery (art. 13). For a new home, the guarantee is 10 years for structural elements and 5 years for other defects (art. 23).

The complaints book (Livro de Reclamações)

Every seller must have the book on paper and online. On paper: the shop must hand it over at once, free of charge, cannot impose another channel first or ask for your ID, and you can call the police if it refuses (art. 3 of Decreto-Lei 156/2005); you keep the duplicate and the shop sends the original to the competent body within 15 working days (art. 5). Online, at livroreclamacoes.pt, it is free, every seller must be there, including online-only shops, and the seller must answer by email within 15 working days (art. 5-B). With no answer by then, the DGC points you to the sector regulator or an arbitration centre.

Which body gets the complaint depends on the sector: ASAE for most shops and restaurants, ANACOM for communications, ERSE for energy, ERSAR for water, Banco de Portugal for banks, ASF for insurance (art. 11).

Arbitration and julgados de paz

The DGC’s order is: first contact the seller in a provable way (registered letter or email), then a consumer information centre or directly an arbitration centre. Arbitration decides the case like a court, with no lawyer needed, usually within 90 days, free or for a small fee (Lei 144/2015). It becomes mandatory for the seller when you choose it in disputes worth up to €5,000 and, for any amount, for essential public services such as power, water and telecoms (art. 14 of Lei 24/96; Lei 23/96). Sellers must say on their website or contract which arbitration body they belong to.

The centre depends on where you live; the CNIACC covers the areas with no regional centre and, since 2026, charges €10 to €100 per party depending on the amount, with exemptions for essential public services under regulator agreements. For civil disputes up to €15,000, a julgado de paz is another route, with a single €70 fee.

Cancelled or delayed flights

Flights follow EU rules, not this law. According to the EU’s Your Europe page (checked on 29 October 2026), a cancellation can give €250, €400 or €600 depending on the distance, and an arrival delay of 3 hours or more gives compensation unless caused by extraordinary circumstances. Claim from the airline first; details on Your Europe.