The Consumer Guarantees Act covers goods (new and second-hand) and services ordinarily purchased for personal, domestic or household use. Consumer rights are expressed as a series of “guarantees” a seller makes to you when you buy something ordinarily purchased for personal use. Here’s how it works and what your rights are.
Retailers guarantee their goods will:
Be of acceptable quality (see definition below).
Be fit for the particular purpose that you enquired about.
Match the description given in advertisements or sales brochures, or by the sales assistant.
Match the sample or demonstration model.
Be owned by the consumer, once purchased.
Be a reasonable price, if no price or pricing formula has been previously agreed.
Manufacturers guarantee that:
Spare parts and repair facilities will be available to the consumer for a reasonable time.
They will honour any written warranty that is provided with their products.
Goods are of acceptable quality.
Goods match their description.
Services
Service providers guarantee their services will be:
Performed with reasonable care and skill.
Fit for the particular purpose they were supplied for.
Completed within a reasonable time.
A reasonable price, if no price or pricing formula has been previously agreed.
Acceptable quality
This means goods:
Do what they are made to do.
Are acceptable in appearance and finish.
Are free from minor defects.
Are safe and durable.
The Act’s terms “reasonable” and “acceptable” are deliberately open-ended. It depends on what a reasonable consumer would think was acceptable, based on the nature of the goods, the price, and any statements that have been made about the goods. A concert violin is required to meet a higher standard than a child’s cheap instrument.
Ultimately, a tribunal referee, or a judge, may have to decide what is reasonable or acceptable in the circumstances.
If a defect was pointed out to you before you bought the good, then it doesn’t count towards making it unacceptable.
Sue Chetwin CEO CONSUMER NZ
Keep informed at consumer.org.nz
