Could Elderly Grandparents Get Their Deposit Back? (England)

I’m trying to work out whether this is realistically worth pursuing further or whether I’m getting too emotionally invested because of the circumstances.

My grandparents (elderly, homeowners in England) agreed to a new roof after a roofing company canvassed their door. The contract was agreed in mid-March with work due to start at the end of May. My gran paid a £500 deposit.

I think part of why I’m struggling with this is that the whole thing felt unusually impulsive for my gran. My grandparents are both in their 80s, there are no current issues with the roof, and it’s never been something she had spoken about wanting before. Normally she would involve my mother in larger decisions, but this was agreed very quickly and it was only after we sat down and talked everything through that she decided she actually wanted to cancel it.

Prior to her deciding to cancel, the company carried out a brief assessment (looking at the roof from the ground and briefly looking into the loft) on the same day as giving the quote and taking the deposit. No work has been done and I’m fairly confident no materials would have been ordered as my gran had actually called them up on a Friday to change the date as it fell on a bank holiday and to change the colour of the tiles which they agreed was no problem, we had discussions with her over the weekend and it was then on the Monday that she called up to cancel the work completely.

The company has agreed to cancel the work but say the £500 deposit is non-refundable.

I completely understand that the cancellation is outside the 14-day cooling-off period, so I know she isn’t automatically entitled to her money back.

The reason I’m struggling with what to do next if anything is because I do have concerns about how the sale happened generally. The decision was totally impulsive and it’s so unusual for her to not have discussed it with any of us prior, and there were elements of this sale that in my opinion (although hard to prove) tow the line of being pressure-based. For example, she was told she should replace the roof before neighbouring council properties have their roofs replaced because the council work could potentially damage hers. There was also an unclear discount involved which isn’t referenced in the sale receipt.

I appreciate that none of this necessarily proves wrongdoing, and I know pressure selling is hard to prove, so I’m trying to stay objective about it.

I’ve also tried looking into the Consumer Rights Act, particularly Section 62 and Schedule 2 regarding disproportionate cancellation charges/unfair terms. The contract clearly explains the 14-day cancellation period, but from what I can see it doesn’t actually explain what happens to the deposit after that period or clearly state that it is non-refundable. I know that doesn’t slam dunk the issue, but I guess it’s just another way that the contract potentially lacks transparency. Being realistic, I can read between the lines of “you have a right to cancel within 14 days” and know that means I wouldn’t automatically get a deposit back after this time and I’m sure most people would however my gran didn’t know this and it wasn’t ever explained to her.

So I suppose my question is:

Realistically, does this sound like something where there’s a reasonable argument that retaining the full £500 is disproportionate/unfair given the limited work carried out, or is this the sort of situation where, in practice, the company is very likely entitled to keep the whole deposit?

I haven’t yet formally challenged the company because I’m still trying to decide whether there’s actually a sensible basis for doing so or whether I’m letting the circumstances cloud my judgment.