Returns, Refunds and Cancellations Policy
Last updated: 1 September 2026
We hope you and your pets will be delighted with your order from The Hay Hutch. However, if something is wrong or you change your mind, this policy explains how cancellations, returns and refunds are handled.
Nothing in this policy affects your statutory rights under UK consumer law.
Cancelling an Order Before Dispatch
If you need to cancel or change an order that has not yet been dispatched, please email sales@thehayhutch.co.uk as soon as possible.
If your order has not entered the packing or production process, we will do our best to cancel it and issue a full refund.
Orders are often prepared quickly, so we cannot guarantee that cancellation requests will reach us before dispatch. If the order has already been dispatched, you may need to follow the returns procedure below.
Different rules may apply to personalised or made-to-order products.
Changing Your Mind After Delivery
For most products purchased online, you have the right to cancel your order without giving a reason.
You must tell us that you wish to cancel within 14 days, beginning the day after you receive your order. After notifying us, you then have a further 14 days in which to return the goods.
To request a return, please email sales@thehayhutch.co.uk and include:
- Your name
- Your order number
- The products you wish to return
- Confirmation that the products remain unopened and unused
- The reason for the return, although you do not have to provide one for a change-of-mind cancellation
Please wait for return instructions before sending anything back.
Condition of Returned Products
Products returned because you have changed your mind should be unused, unopened and, where possible, in their original packaging.
You may examine a product in the same way that you reasonably could in a shop. However, we may make an appropriate deduction from the refund if handling beyond what is reasonably necessary has reduced the product’s value.
Please package returned products securely. You are responsible for the goods until they reach us, so we recommend obtaining proof of postage.
Hay, Forage, Food, Treats and Bedding
Many of our products are intended for animals to eat, sleep on or come into close contact with. Product safety, cleanliness and protection from contamination are therefore extremely important.
Where a product was supplied sealed and is not suitable for return for health-protection or hygiene reasons, the statutory right to cancel may be lost once its seal or protective packaging has been opened.
This may apply to opened bags or packs of:
- Hay and straw
- Dried forage
- Pet food
- Pellets and treats
- Bedding
- Other consumable or hygiene-sensitive animal products
This restriction only applies where the relevant legal exception applies. It does not affect your rights if a product is faulty, damaged, unsafe or not as described.
If you are unsure whether an item can be returned, please contact us before opening or returning it.
Personalised and Made-to-Order Products
The right to cancel does not normally apply to goods made to your specifications or clearly personalised for you.
This includes personalised rabbit and guinea pig name plaques once production has begun.
If you contact us before work begins, we will do our best to cancel or amend your order. Personalised products can still be returned if they are faulty, damaged or do not match the details supplied with your order.
Please check all names, spelling and personalisation details carefully before placing your order.
Natural Variation in Our Products
Hay, straw, forage and other plant-based products are completely natural and seasonal. Their precise colour, scent, length, texture and mixture of leaf, stem, seed heads or flowers may vary between crops and batches.
Reasonable natural variation is not necessarily a product fault where the goods remain consistent with their description and suitable for their intended purpose.
However, if you believe the condition or quality of a product is unacceptable, please contact us. We will consider each concern fairly and ask for photographs or other information where necessary.
Damaged, Faulty or Incorrect Orders
Please check your order as soon as reasonably possible after delivery.
If an item arrives damaged, is faulty, is unsafe, is not as described or you receive the wrong product, please email sales@thehayhutch.co.uk as soon as possible.
Please include:
- Your name and order number
- A description of the problem
- Clear photographs of the product
- Photographs of the outer box and packaging if the parcel was damaged
- Details of any missing or incorrect items
Please retain the product and its packaging until we have responded. We may need the goods returned or inspected before completing the claim.
Depending on the circumstances and your legal rights, we will arrange an appropriate remedy. This may include a replacement, refund, price reduction or another remedy required under UK consumer law.
The Hay Hutch will cover reasonable return costs where goods are faulty, damaged, unsafe, incorrect or not as described. Please contact us before arranging the return so that we can provide the correct instructions.
Reporting a problem promptly helps us investigate it with the courier, but a delay in contacting us does not remove your statutory rights.
Return Postage for Change-of-Mind Returns
You are responsible for the cost of returning products when you cancel because you have changed your mind.
Original and return delivery costs will not be refunded where a product is returned without a fault outside your statutory cancellation rights.
Please do not send returns using a service that charges the recipient on delivery. We may refuse parcels sent without sufficient postage.
Refunds
Once we receive and inspect an eligible return, we will confirm whether the refund has been approved.
Approved refunds will be made to the original payment method without undue delay and normally within 14 days of receiving the returned goods.
For a valid cancellation of the whole order, we will also refund the basic standard delivery charge originally paid. If you selected a more expensive delivery service, the additional cost above our standard delivery charge will not be refunded.
Where only part of an order is returned, the original delivery charge may not be refundable unless required by law.
Banks and payment providers may take additional time to show the refund in your account after it has been processed.
Orders Returned by the Courier
If an order is returned to us because the delivery address supplied was incomplete or incorrect, delivery was refused, or the parcel was not collected after attempted delivery, please contact us.
Where the return was not caused by an error by The Hay Hutch or the courier, we may deduct the reasonable return or redelivery cost from any refund where the law permits.
This does not affect your rights where the goods were not properly delivered or the courier failed to follow the agreed delivery instructions.
Subscription Orders
Cancelling a subscription prevents future renewals but may not cancel an order that has already renewed, entered processing or been dispatched.
Please cancel future subscription deliveries through your account or contact us before the next renewal date. Any goods already supplied will be handled in accordance with this policy and your statutory rights.
How to Contact Us
Email: sales@thehayhutch.co.uk
Postal address:
The Hay Hutch
Hemyock
Cullompton
Devon
EX15 3RJ
United Kingdom
Please contact us before returning any goods so that we can confirm the correct return instructions.
Return, Refund or Cancellation Request
Prefer to submit your request online? Please complete our Return, Refund or Cancellation Request Form
Alternatively, you can notify us of a cancellation or return by emailing sales@thehayhutch.co.uk
