New regulations under the Australian Consumer Law (ACL) mean consumers must now be officially notified in advance if goods needing repair are going to be replaced with refurbished goods or repaired with the use of refurbished parts. Consumers then have the choice as to whether to accept refurbished parts or products.

Fair Trading Minister Anthony Roberts said ACL Regulation 91, which came into effect nationally on 1 July, also means anyone repairing goods must notify consumers if their data, such as songs, photos and documents, could be lost during the repair.

“These are great new rules that mean consumers should now be able to make a choice about the use of refurbished goods in repairs and avoiding user-generated data loss from goods such as mobile phones and computers,” he said.

User-generated data includes, for example, songs, photos, telephone numbers and electronic documents.

Repairers that fail to comply may face:

• a civil penalty of $50,000 for a body corporate and $10,000 for an individual
• a criminal penalty for the same amount
• legal action (for example, an injunction) by either a consumer protection agency or the consumer.

Mr Roberts said the matter had been addressed in the ACL after NSW Fair Trading raised the issue during the development of the new laws.

“The impetus for the new regulation was a call from a consumer to NSW Fair Trading Commissioner Rod Stowe, during his regular 2UE talkback radio spot,” he said. “The consumer’s mobile phone had been replaced, under manufacturer’s warranty, without his knowledge, with a refurbished phone.

“The consumer’s phone then subsequently malfunctioned again outside the warranty period and when he took it to have it repaired, he discovered his phone was actually a second-hand phone that had previously been returned by another customer in another state.”

Mr Roberts said the new rules would preclude this happening to anyone else, anywhere in Australia.

“This is a great new set of protections for consumers and I am sure most people would know someone with a similar story relating to phones and computers, but it can also apply to other products,” he said.

Regulation 91 gives consumers the option to either accept or reject the use of refurbished parts and goods. If they can’t get agreement with a trader, they can call Fair Trading for help on 13 32 20 or lodge a complaint online at the Fair Trading website. People also have the option of taking the matter to the Consumer, Trader & Tenancy Tribunal (CTTT).

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