ACL Refresher

Australian

Consumer Law

House Rules

• Observe EOP all the time

• Turn on the camera

• Use raise hand icon when participating.

• Turn off Microphone when not speaking.

Objectives

_{At the end of the session, the agents will be able to;}

• recall what ACL is,

• identify the following outcomes once the company failed to comply with ACL,

• defend whether a customer is entitled to compensation in line to ACL.

Australian Consumer Law

• The Australian Consumer Law (ACL) aims to protect consumers and ensure fair trading in Australia.

• ACL sets out consumer rights that are called consumer guarantees. These include your rights to a repair, replacement, or refund as well as compensation for damages and loss and being able to cancel a faulty service.

• Under the ACL, consumers have the same protections, and businesses have the same obligations and responsibilities, across Australia.

Regulators:

• ACCC (Australian Competition and Consumer Commission

regulators :

• Australian Capital Territory - Access Canberra

• Victoria - Consumer Affairs

• South Australia - Consumer and Business Services

• Tasmania - Consumer, Building and Occupational Services

• New South Wales Fair Trading

• Northern Territory - Consumer Affairs

• Queensland - Office of Fair Trading

• Western Australia - Department of Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety

What if Kogan did not comply?

• Penalties and fines (Up to $1.1m for businesses or up to $220,000 for individuals)

• Legal action

• Lost time and effort if we get it wrong - distracts us from running our business

• Poor external relationships

• Negative publicity

What to Remember

• Avoid misleading or deceptive conduct’ - it is critical to ensure that information (e.g. prices / product specs) disseminated to the public is accurate.

• Genuine ‘Comparative Pricing‘ - “was/now”, “savings off RRP”, and “50% off normal price”.

• No ‘Bait advertising’ - Must not advertise products at a specified price if reasonable grounds for believing cannot supply a reasonable quantity for a reasonable time.

• No ‘Drip Pricing’ - this is when the item is sold at a headline price before purchase, only then additional fees, taxes or charges are applied, resulting in a higher price than advertised.

_{If ‘multiple prices’ for one item are advertised, we must:}

• sell the goods for the lowest displayed price,

• or withdraw the goods from sale until the price is corrected.

Guarantees Applying to Goods

Regardless of what we say, Consumer Guarantees always apply in Australia - we now simply advise customers that they have rights provided by the Australian Consumer Law and that we will honour these.

A supplier and a manufacturer guarantee that:

• goods are of acceptable quality

• goods will match any description provided

• any express warranties will be honored (When you provide a warranty, under the consumer guarantees you automatically guarantee that the goods will meet this warranty.)

A supplier guarantees that a consumer is buying goods:

• _{that have a clear title, unless otherwise stated}

• _{that do not have undisclosed securities (The goods are fit for the purpose you have advertised and any purpose the customer made known before purchasing)}

• _{that are fit for any disclosed purpose}

• _{with a right to undisturbed possession (no-one can take them or prevent the consumer from using them unless they have a legal right to do so)}

• _{that match the sample or demonstration model provided.}

Multiple Choice

Customer contacted our Sales team asking if a phone was Dual Sim, we said it was, when it arrived it was not Dual Sim. Customer wants to return the phone.

Have we breached ACL?

Consumer guarantees do not apply if you:

• Got what you asked for but simply changed your mind, found it cheaper somewhere else, decided you did not like the purchase or had no use for it;

• Misused a product in any way that caused the problem;

• Knew of or were made aware of the faults before you bought the product; or

• Asked for a service to be done in a certain way against the advice of the business or were unclear about what you wanted.

Remedies for Failures with Goods

• repair or replace the product

• provide a refund

• provide compensation for any consequential loss.

Marketplace

• Marketplace Sellers are third party sellers that list and sell their products through Kogan.com (platform similar to Ebay or Amazon)

• Marketplace Sellers assume all responsibility for their listings and support of their products. The section in the customer charter clearly states that the seller is responsible for the listing and any support/issues.

• Marketplace Sellers have their own Terms & Conditions.

• These can be found above the price on the right of each listing:

• 
  

Multiple Choice

Customer purchased a vacuum for $399, 6 months later it was advertised as $579, he received a price drop notification email saying it dropped to $479. Customer claims that this is misleading advertising and price gouging as he had purchased it for cheaper. Customer threatens to report us to Fair Trading.

Have we breached ACL?

Kogan.com Customer Charter (Customer Facing)

• (A) = All products excluding consumables

• (B) = Computers

• (C) = All products excluding computers and consumables

• What the customers can access via the website (https://www.kogan.com/au/customer-charter/)

• Based on the type and cost of the product or any representations made regarding the good’s longevity.

Customer Charter (Internal)

• The internal chart is always to be used and referred to when we offer customers remedies. This table is to never be shared with the customer.

• The internal minimum voluntary warranty policy covers all products over $250 for at least 2 years.

• All phones and TVs are covered for a minimum of 2 years regardless of price.

• This also means that we can offer repairs for items between $251-$1000 for two years, whereas the customer-facing table only covers $501-$1000 for two years, allowing greater flexibility for lower-value items.

How We Comply

• To get a general overview of ACCC Consumer Rights Guarantees, view the following: https://www.accc.gov.au/consumers/consumer-rights-guarantees

• To see how Kogan complies, view the Customer Charter: https://www.kogan.com/au/customer-charter/

• To learn about our Customer Charter, view the following training slides: Training Slides

Generalization

• Honest advertising

• Goods come with guarantees

• No change of mind in ACL

• Must provide remedies

• Minor vs Major Faults

• Always go above and beyond