How ironic.  After we finished a trade practices compliance seminar in Canberra on Monday, we dropped into Dick Smith’s in Civic to browse.  And there was a prime example of one of the key points we’d been talking about.

The computer department featured signs urging purchasers to invest in extended warranties, to spare themselves the heavy repair bills that apply if their equipment fails out of standard warranty.   

As ACCC has told traders and customers time and again, a retailer can’t impose an arbitrary time limit on its own obligation to repair goods that fail.  In fact, ACCC generally views extended warranties as a rip off.

It’s a great example of the need for business-wide, ongoing trade practices training.  These signs looked like they were printed at that store, rather than head office.  Our guess is that a local manager had the bright idea … not realising that they were sailing so close to the legal wind, and that ACCC has only recently dealt with electrical importer GAF for misrepresenting warranty rights.

Continue Reading →