ACCC Crackdown On Dodgy Online Warranties

Australia has fairly solid warranty protection laws, and those rules apply just as much to online traders as to old-fashioned retailers. Now the ACCC is planning to rein in sites which have no warranty policy, or one they copied from a rival site without understanding its implications.

Picture by eirikso

The ACCC successfully pursued online retailer DealsDirect to enter a court-enforceable undertaking not to offer unreasonable warranty terms. The site had only offered a 30-day warranty and forced consumers to pay return postage costs even with defective goods. With that scalp under his belt, ACCC chairman Graeme Samuel says that the whole online retail sector is now under scrutiny:

It appears many sites simply ‘cut and paste’ information from other sites on warranties and refunds without checking that the facts are correct. Online traders be warned: the ACCC is reviewing sites and will be considering action if remedial work is not quickly undertaken.

Run into any particularly dodgy-sounding examples of online warranties, or retailers claiming they don’t have any warranty obligations whatsoever? Name and shame in the comments.

Leading Australian online retailer offers redress to consumers for misleading about warranties, refunds [ACCC]