Refunds

The person or business giving the refund must repay any money you paid for the goods, and return any other form of payment you made – for example, a trade-in. If this is not possible, they must refund the value of the item.

They must not:

offer a credit note, exchange card or replacement goods instead of a refund. You do not have to accept this kind of offer.
refuse a refund, or reduce the amount because the goods were not returned in original packaging or wrapping.

'No refund' signs are unlawful

A supplier or manufacturer must not tell you that a consumer guarantee:

does not exist
may be excluded, or
may not have a particular effect.

This means 'no refund' and similar signs are unlawful, because they imply that you cannot get a refund under any circumstances – even when there is a major problem with the goods.

Signs that state 'No refunds will be given if you have simply changed your mind' are acceptable.

Replacements or exchanges

The person or business giving the replacement must provide goods of the same type and similar value. If such a replacement is not reasonably available, you may choose a repair or a refund.

The supplier may ask you to return the damaged goods. If this involves significant cost, the supplier must collect the goods at their own expense.

The consumer guarantees that applied to the original goods will apply to the replacements.

A consumer buys a new mobile phone. Due to a problem, the supplier replaces it. Consumer guarantees apply to the replacement phone as if it were a new mobile phone.

Repairs

How long can the supplier take to fix the goods?

They must fix the problem within a reasonable time. What is 'reasonable' will depend on the circumstances.

A supplier would be expected to respond quickly to a request for a repair to an essential household item, such as a water heater. For goods used less often, such as a lawnmower, the reasonable time for repair would be longer.

What if the supplier refuses or takes too long to repair the goods?

If they refuse or take more than a reasonable time to repair the goods, you can:

take the goods elsewhere to be fixed and ask the original supplier to pay the reasonable costs of this repair
reject the goods and ask for a refund, or
reject the goods and ask for a replacement, if one is reasonably available.

There are some restrictions – see How do I reject goods?

What if the supplier cannot fix the goods?

If they cannot fix the goods - for instance, because they do not have the parts - or cannot do so within a reasonable time, you can:

reject the goods and seek either a refund or replacement, or
have the goods fixed elsewhere and claim 'reasonable costs' from the supplier.

Several buttons came off a consumer's new shirt due to poor stitching. The tailor who made the shirt could not supply matching buttons. The consumer is entitled to ask for a replacement or refund.

When you take goods elsewhere for repair

If the supplier is unable to repair the goods, or cannot do so in a reasonable amount of time, you could get someone else to do the repairs and ask the supplier to reimburse you. However as the supplier is only obliged to pay the 'reasonable cost' of repairs, it is a good idea to talk to the supplier so that you don't end up out of pocket.

A reasonable cost would be within the normal range charged by repairers of such goods, and include:

the cost of the repair
any other associated costs due to having the goods fixed elsewhere, such as transport costs.

The zip on a pair of trousers breaks after one week. The retailer tells the consumer the repair will take a month. The consumer explains he needs the trousers for work urgently but the retailer offers no other option. The consumer gets the zip replaced by a tailor for $25. When the consumer asks the retailer to pay for this, the retailer says that their tailor would have done it for $20. If the higher price is a normal price for a tailor to fix the trousers, the retailer would have to reimburse the consumer.

What a repairer must tell you

From 1 July 2011, a repairer of goods - whether or not this is the supplier - must notify you of particular information before accepting the goods for repair:

The repairer must tell you if they intend to:

replace defective goods with refurbished goods of the same type rather than repairing the problem with the original goods, or
use refurbished parts to repair the goods. There is particular wording they must use about refurbished goods

For goods capable of storing data created by the user of the goods - for example, songs, photos, telephone numbers and electronic documents - the repairer must tell you that repairing the goods may result in loss of the data.

Compensation for loss of value of goods

If the problem is major and has resulted in the goods losing some value, you can choose to keep the goods and ask the seller for a partial refund. You may need to negotiate a reasonable amount with the seller.

The compensation amount is likely to depend on a range of factors, such as the value of the goods when you bought them, how much they would be worth now (if you bought them new), and how big the problem is.

Compensation for losses caused by problems

When you incur costs or suffer losses due to failure of goods or services to meet a consumer guarantee, you may be able to claim compensation from the seller, manufacturer or service provider.

For more information, see our page Claiming compensation for consequential loss.

Your rights for remedies