Warranty against defects

A supplier or manufacturer may choose to offer a warranty against defects on top of the automatic consumer guarantee rights.

This warranty is a promise to a customer that if goods or services provided (or part of them) are defective, you will provide a remedy. A representation only counts as a warranty against defects if it is made at the same time as the goods or services are provided.

All documents of evidence of a warranty against defects must include specific information. These documents could be labels or packaging, statements on contracts or receipts, or could be a separate document inside a product’s packaging.

The document must include:

• what you (as the supplier or manufacturer giving the warranty) will do if goods or services are defective (e.g. repair or replace goods, or resupply or fix a problem with services)
• what the customer must do to claim under the warranty (e.g. stop using the goods when the problem happens or call the manufacturer)
• information about you, the business giving the warranty, such as
  • name
  • business address
  • telephone number
  • email address
• who the customer needs to contact and where to send the claim
• how long the warranty lasts
• whether you or the customer pays for any part of a warranty claim—and how the customer can get a refund
• the mandatory text explaining that the warranty cover is on top of the customer’s legal rights and remedies.

Mandatory text

The document must include certain text. This lets the customer know the warranty against defects is on top of their legal rights.

The mandatory text for a warranty against defects for goods is:

Our goods come with guarantees that cannot be excluded under the Australian Consumer Law. You are entitled to a replacement or refund for a major failure and for compensation for any other reasonably foreseeable loss or damage. You are also entitled to have the goods repaired or replaced if the goods fail to be of acceptable quality and the failure does not amount to a major failure.

From 9 June 2019, if you offer a warranty against defects when supplying services, you need to display this mandatory text:

Our services come with guarantees that cannot be excluded under the Australian Consumer Law. For major failures with the service, you are entitled:

- to cancel your service contract with us; and

- to a refund for the unused portion, or to compensation for its reduced value.

You are also entitled to be compensated for any other reasonably foreseeable loss or damage. If the failure does not amount to a major failure, you are entitled to have problems with the service rectified in a reasonable time and, if this is not done, to cancel your contract and obtain a refund for the unused portion of the contract.

From 9 June 2019, if you offer a warranty against defects when supplying goods combined with services, you need to display this mandatory text:

Our goods and services come with guarantees that cannot be excluded under the Australian Consumer Law. For major failures with the service, you are entitled:

- to cancel your service contract with us; and

- to a refund for the unused portion, or to compensation for its reduced value.

You are also entitled to choose a refund or replacement for major failures with goods. If a failure with the goods or a service does not amount to a major failure, you are entitled to have the failure rectified in a reasonable time. If this is not done you are entitled to a refund for the goods and to cancel the contract for the service and obtain a refund of any unused portion. You are also entitled to be compensated for any other reasonably foreseeable loss or damage from a failure in the goods or service.