Your right to check goods before you accept them
Sale of Goods Act · sources read 5 Oct 2026
If goods are delivered that you have not checked before, you are not treated as having accepted them until you have had a reasonable chance to check they match what you agreed. Unless agreed otherwise, the seller must give you that chance when they deliver, if you ask.
- Where
- Raise it with the seller first; consumer complaints go to the Competition Authority of Kenya (complain@cak.go.ke); money claims go to court
Steps
- When the goods arrive, ask the seller or delivery person to let you check them against your order.
- If you have the right to reject them, tell the seller you refuse them. You do not have to send them back yourself.
- If you already accepted them, you can ask for less (or nothing) off the price for the breach, or sue the seller for damages.
- You can also complain to the Competition Authority of Kenya by post, email, phone or at its offices, using its consumer complaint form.
Watch out
- You are treated as having accepted the goods if you say so, act as if you own them, or keep them for a reasonable time without telling the seller you reject them.
- Once you have accepted the goods (in a contract that cannot be split), a problem can no longer be a reason to reject them, only a claim for money.
- The seller's duty to let you check at delivery applies unless you agreed otherwise.
Who this covers
- Buyers who receive goods they have not examined before, under a contract of sale of goods.
Official sources (2)
- Sale of Goods Act (Cap. 31) new.kenyalaw.org · read 5 Oct 2026
- Consumer Protection cak.go.ke · read 3 Oct 2026