Returns & Refunds

The 30-day window

You may request a return within 30 days of delivery. After that window a return can only be considered as a manufacturer warranty claim, which is a different process set out on our Warranty page.

Start every return on the Returns page. Do not ship anything back before we have authorized it and sent you a label: an unauthorized parcel arriving at our address cannot be matched to an order, and we may refuse it or be unable to credit it.

How to request a return

There are no customer accounts on this site, so a return is matched to your order by two things: the order number from your confirmation email, and the email address you used to place it. The form checks both against the order before it will accept the request, which is what stops anyone else filing a return against your order.

Fill in the form on the Returns page with:

• your order number, as it appears in your confirmation email
• the email address you used at checkout
• which items you want to return
• the reason, in as much or as little detail as you like

You can file one open return request per order. Submitting the form again while a request is already open simply returns you to the existing one rather than creating a duplicate, so there is no need to resubmit if you do not hear back immediately.

We aim to respond within one business day. Return requests are handled by a person, not automatically, so please give us that day before chasing.

What happens after you submit

Your request moves through a small number of stages, and we email you as it does:

• Pending: we have your request and are reviewing it against the order.
• Approved: the return is accepted under this policy.
• Label sent: we have emailed you a prepaid return label and packing instructions.
• Received: the parcel has arrived with us and is being inspected.
• Refunded: the refund has been issued to your original payment method.
• Rejected: the request falls outside this policy. We will tell you why, and what your options are.

Condition required

To be eligible for a return, an item must be:

• unused, uninstalled and never driven on
• in its original, undamaged packaging with all labels, stickers and included hardware
• free of mounting marks, sealant, road grime, curb damage or modification
• covered by the return authorization we issued, and sent back using the label we provided

We inspect every return on arrival. If an item comes back outside this condition we will contact you before deciding, and we may reduce the refund to reflect the loss in value or return the item to you at your cost.

Restocking fee (20%) and who pays shipping

Change-of-mind returns carry a 20% restocking fee. Your refund is the price you actually paid for the item, less 20%.

The original outbound shipping charge is not refunded on a change-of-mind return. Where your order shipped free because it met one of the free-shipping thresholds, and returning the item takes the order below that threshold, the shipping we absorbed on the original order may be deducted from the refund.

We send a prepaid return label rather than asking you to arrange carriage yourself, because tires and wheels are awkward to ship and a label we control is a parcel we can trace. On a change-of-mind return the cost of that label is covered by the restocking fee.

Where the item is defective, was shipped incorrectly, or was materially misdescribed on the site, none of the above applies. There is no restocking fee, return shipping is on us, and your original shipping charge is refunded too.

What cannot be returned

• tires or wheels that have been mounted, installed or driven on, unless they are defective
• items damaged by installation, misuse, accident, improper storage or normal wear
• special-order, clearance or final-sale items where identified as such at the time of purchase
• products missing original packaging, hardware or components
• fluids, chemicals, sealants or adhesives once opened
• gift cards and promotional items

Mounting is the point of no return, and it is worth being blunt about why. Once a tire has been fitted to a rim it carries bead damage and mounting lubricant, and no supplier will take it back as new stock. Check the size, load index, speed rating and offset against your vehicle before anything goes near a tire machine.

Defective or incorrect items

If an item arrives defective, damaged or is not what you ordered, contact us within 48 hours of delivery with photographs of the item, the damage and the packaging. We will arrange a replacement or a full refund including shipping, at no cost to you.

Do not install a product you believe is defective or incorrect. Installing it makes the claim considerably harder to make and generally ends any return eligibility.

Manufacturing defects that only appear after installation are handled as warranty claims rather than returns. See our Warranty page.

Packing the return

Use the original packaging wherever possible, and pack securely enough for the parcel to survive the trip back. If a return arrives damaged because it was inadequately packed, or is lost because it was sent by some route other than the label we provided, we cannot credit it.

Keep the tracking number from the label until your refund lands.

Refunds

Once we have received and inspected the return we email you the outcome. Approved refunds go back to the original payment method through Stripe. We cannot refund to a different card, a different account, or by any other route, which is a fraud control rather than an inconvenience we chose.

We aim to issue approved refunds within 5 business days of inspection. Once issued, your bank or card issuer typically takes a further 5 to 10 business days to post it to your statement, and that part is outside our control.

Where a discount code was applied, the refund reflects the amount you actually paid, not the pre-discount price.

Exchanges

We do not process direct exchanges. Return the original item under this policy and place a new order for what you want. That way the item you want is reserved and shipped straight away rather than waiting on a return being received, which is almost always faster for you.

Order cancellation

You may cancel before dispatch for a full refund. Email contact@theautorack.com with your order number as soon as you can, and mark it urgent: in-stock items are dispatched within 1–2 business days, so the window is short. Once an order has shipped it has to be handled as a return under this policy.

Your statutory rights

This policy is in addition to your rights under Canadian consumer protection law, and does not limit them. If a product does not correspond to its description, is not of acceptable quality, or is not fit for a purpose we told you it was fit for, your remedies under the Consumer Protection Act, 2002 (Ontario) or the equivalent legislation in your province are unaffected by anything on this page.