Most Kenyan sellers handle returns on instinct — refunding whoever complains loudest and refusing whoever complains least convincingly. That is expensive in both directions: you give money back where you did not have to, and you refuse refunds the law actually requires.
The line is clearer than people expect. This is where it sits, plus the two operational things that cause most Kenyan disputes: M-Pesa reversals and courier liability.
Skip to: What the law requires · The three kinds of return · The reversal scam · When the courier loses it · Writing the policy
What the law actually requires
The Consumer Protection Act 2012 covers online transactions. It obliges sellers to describe products and prices accurately, and to accept a return and refund where the product is defective — meaning not of merchantable quality, not fit for its intended purpose, or not matching the description given at the time of purchase. Warranties and guarantees you offer must be honoured.
What it does not do is oblige you to refund a customer who simply changed their mind. That is your policy, and you get to write it.
That distinction is worth internalising because it cuts both ways. A seller who thinks "no returns" is a valid policy is wrong about defective goods. A seller who refunds every change of mind is giving away margin they were never required to give.
General information, not legal advice — if a dispute is serious or a pattern is forming, talk to a Kenyan lawyer.
The three kinds of return, and who pays
| Situation | Refund the item? | Who pays return shipping | Original delivery |
|---|---|---|---|
| Defective / not as described | Yes — required | You | Refund it too |
| Wrong item sent | Yes — your error | You | Refund it too |
| Damaged in transit | Yes — your responsibility to the customer | You (claim from the courier separately) | Refund it too |
| Changed their mind | Your policy | Customer | Not refunded |
| Wrong size ordered | Your policy — usually exchange | Customer | Not refunded |
Note row three. If a courier damages a parcel, the customer's contract is with you, not the courier. Sort the customer out first and pursue the courier separately — telling a buyer to claim from G4S themselves is how a returnable situation becomes a public complaint.
The reversal scam, and the two-minute fix
The most common deliberate fraud against Kenyan online sellers: customer pays, receives the goods, then requests an M-Pesa reversal. Money sent to a personal M-Pesa number can be reversed through the standard dispute process. You are left without goods and without payment.
Money sent to Pochi la Biashara cannot be reversed without the business owner's approval. Pochi needs no business registration and no KRA PIN, and activates on *334# in about two minutes.
If you are still taking payments on a personal number, this alone is the reason to change today. Full detail in taking payments without a Till.
Two habits that close the remaining gap:
- Confirm payment before dispatch, not on a screenshot. Screenshots are trivially faked. Check your own balance or statement.
- Keep the delivery record. A photo at handover, or the courier's proof of delivery. It resolves most "I never received it" claims in one message.
When the courier loses or breaks it
Courier liability in Kenya is capped, commonly around KES 2,000-5,000 regardless of what was actually in the parcel. A lost KES 8,000 order means you refund the customer in full and recover a fraction.
Declared-value insurance typically costs 1-2% of the declared value and is worth taking on anything above roughly KES 3,000. On a KES 6,000 parcel that is KES 60-120 to avoid carrying a KES 6,000 loss — obvious arithmetic that sellers skip because the loss is hypothetical and the premium is immediate.
The delivery guide covers what each courier actually costs and covers.
Writing a policy that prevents arguments
Most disputes are not about whether to return. They are about who pays, and how long the customer had. Both are solved by writing it down before it happens.
A workable structure for a Kenyan shop:
- A window. Seven days from delivery is the common convention and long enough to be fair.
- Condition. Unused, in original packaging, for change-of-mind returns. Not applicable to defective goods.
- Who pays what, using the table above. State it plainly rather than in legal language.
- How to refund. Back to the M-Pesa number that paid, within a stated number of days. Naming the timeframe prevents the follow-up messages.
- What is excluded. Underwear, cosmetics, perishables, custom orders — say so upfront, not at the point of dispute.
Publish it where a buyer sees it before paying, not buried. A visible returns policy is also a trust signal at checkout — it is one of the things that reduces cart abandonment, because it tells a nervous first-time buyer what happens if this goes wrong.
Handling the dispute itself
A returns policy is a floor, not a script. Three things that resolve most disputes cheaply:
- Answer fast. Most escalation is caused by silence, not by the answer. A quick "let me check and come back within the hour" defuses more than a perfect reply the next day.
- Offer the exchange before the refund. Wrong size is usually solved by the right size, and you keep the sale.
- Know when to just refund. On a KES 2,000 item, a customer who is going to post about you is more expensive than the refund. Being right is not always worth what it costs.
And keep the reserve. 1-8% of revenue by category — set aside from order one, before it feels necessary. The full margin arithmetic is in pricing products online in Kenya.
The short version
- Defective or not as described: refund is required under the Consumer Protection Act 2012.
- Changed their mind: your policy, your call.
- Your fault or the courier's — you pay return shipping and refund the original delivery.
- Personal M-Pesa payments can be reversed. Pochi payments cannot, without your approval.
- Courier liability caps near KES 2,000-5,000. Insure anything above ~KES 3,000 at 1-2%.
- Write the policy down and publish it before checkout. Most disputes are about who pays.
- Reserve 1-8% of revenue. Answer fast. Offer the exchange first.