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Most consumers are pretty genuine and recognise when a retailer is treating them like a valued customer. We have only ever had one unreasonable customer who was told not to wrap the power cord around his notebook power adapter otherwise the cord joints would be damaged. He did it anyway and then later demanded a refund. He explained that he should be able to wrap the cord around the adapter because they should be designed for that (even though it warned against this in the manufacturer warranty for the notebook) When we refused to supply a refund, he bought a newer heavier duty model adapter off us. Then he took an action in the Disputes Tribunal for the cost. We wrote a submission but it was not economic for us to appear (more costly than the refund) and he got his refund. Even when a customer is being a bit unreasonable, at the end of the day it is easier to just give a consumer a refund and remember "The customer is always right!"
Steven Price
Computer Direct
I purchased a pair of golf shoes from Rebel Sports and in 10 months and aboyr 25 games of golf they started to split and break up across the top just below the laces.,I returned them only to be told its expected that is was expected wear and tear..
What is the expected life of a pair of golf shoes??
I bought my PS3 for $1200 on 23 March 2007. It has a 1 year warranty. It failed after 14 months but got replaced under extended cover by Sony. It has again failed 8 Months after it was replaced the first time. They tell me i have to pay $375 to get it fixed. Does the CGA cover me?
Hi Steve,
Yes, if you haven't caused the fault by not looking after it properly, dropping it etc, then you should be covered by the CGA.
You will need to contact the retailer (not your extended warranty provider) to get them to honour their obligations under the Consumer Guarantees Act.
It’s the retailers responsibility, not the manufacturers, to give you a refund, repair or replace the goods.
Basically you have rights under the Consumer Guarantees Act and the shop should be helping you with this, by knowing what your rights are and helping to fix the PS3 they sold you.
By telling you they are not obliged to help after the warranty period expires OR you have to use your extended warranty/deal with the manufacturer, is incorrect under the Consumer Guarantees Act.
And if they are misleading you as to your rights, this could be a breach of the Fair Trading Act and they could be fined up to $200,000.
Most consumers have two options if something goes wrong with a product inside the warranty period. You can choose whether to make a claim under the warranty or the Act. If the fault arises within the reasonable lifetime of the product and even if it’s outside the warranty period, you have the right to make a claim under the Act.
A reasonable lifetime for a PS3 would be 5 years.
Hope this is helpful.
Maggie
Consumer Advisor
I have exactly the same thing, they have told me its not under warranty as 1yr has expired and $375 to repair which is a fixed price no matter what the fault is worth! Or how long it takes them. One thing to be weary with these guys is they are sometimes swapping your ps3 with someone elses "refurbushed" one which could have done a lot more use than yours! I am going back to them tomorrow with info re the CGA and that they are obliged to cover mine.
The Consumer Guarantees Act needs to be seriously updated to discourage consumers who try to flaunt consumer laws to get what they want. It also needs to be updated to allow for penalties to be in place for traders trying to sell Extended warranties to consumers for a well known product.