Who's responsible for the return of a cancelled online order

I purchased a baby's walker online on the 7th of July at the time it was meant to be instock. I then got an e-mail saying that delivery would be the 28th of July. On the 28th of July nothing, phoned on the 31st of July to cancel the order as I was sick of waiting, was told it was too late and the order was on the way out to me, the order was finally delivered today at work by post (6th of August) so didn't get the opportunity to refuse delivery.

Contacted the company I purchased it from, they told me to send it back and to keep a receipt to prove I returned the item. It's a large item so I'd imagine would cost a bit to send back, in my opinion the onus should be on the company to pay for the return as it was not delivered on time and I had cancelled the order.

Sorry to sound tight but on a budget at the moment (husband out of work) so every penny counts.

Does anyone know my rights in this case.

Given that the company told you to get a receipt of posting, it would imply that they may be willing to refund the cost. However, the fact that you did get the item you had ordered - and only tried to cancel after it had already been shipped - means that you are responsible for the return costs.

I would contact the company to clarify - by email, if possible, so you'll have something in writing to say if the cost of return will be refunded or not.

It may not be worth returning it at all, if you have to pay the costs. Maybe you could sell it to someone else, if you no longer need it yourself?

They don't want to pay for the return, the only reason they want me to keep a postage receipt is to prove I sent the item back so they can refund me for the item and not the postage.

Also it was meant to arrive on the 28th of July, I waited until the 31st of July and then cancelled, I think it's reasonable to cancel at that stage. The product still didn't arrive until the 6th of August.

It's not a fortune and I'll get over it but I do think it's bad customer service.

As there is nothing wrong with the product, the vendor are not obliged to cover the costs of returning the item. See Consumer Connect.
Leo