Australian Warranty laws - RMA to Manufacturer

LAildaris on 22/12/2022 - 23:44

Hey OzBargain,

I'm currently going through the fun process of RMA'ing a GPU. Unfortunately, I bought it from FTC_Computers, which closed down a couple years back. I've got in contact with the Manufacturer and they seem to be able to help me. However, apparently, according to their policy of directly interacting with businesses and not customers, I have to pay for shipping each way.

I was under the impression that shipping fees were to be carried out by the company in the case of a warranty claim, but when looking into it, this is all I found: https://www.accc.gov.au/consumers/problem-with-a-product-or-… stating:

"If the business confirms that the product does have a problem, it must reimburse the consumer for any reasonable return costs they have already paid."

This page specifically mentions buisnesses and manufacturers seperately, so Im not entirely sure where my case falls into, with the business no longer existing.

Has anyone else come up against this specific situation or have better knowledge of these laws? Any help is greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

Computing

Comments

  • randomusername2017 on 23/12/2022 - 00:02
    +2

    Not aware of any locally manufactured GPU … guess that places the manufacturer outside of the ACCCs' purview.

  • Hybroid on 23/12/2022 - 00:05
    +6

    I'm not sure it's wise to argue with a manufacturer on shipping fees when they've extended an olive branch to assist you when they technically don't have to. Particularly if it was purchased years ago.

    • Aildaris on 23/12/2022 - 00:27

      Its still within the manufacturer's warranty so to my understanding, I think they still are technically obligated to assist on this one, but yeah, that is a good point.
      The issue Im getting is relatively minor, just some strange noises at low fan speeds. When a friend RMA'd a card with the same issue from the same manufacturer, the issue just returned a couple months later anyway. Its hard to justify the $50 delivery costs on what's now a $250-350 card without even the guarantee it'll be fixed.

      • solidussnake on 23/12/2022 - 07:40
        +2

        You purchased it from a retailer that closed down, its not now the responsibility of the Manufacturer to pay for return postage.

        If you purchased directly from the Manufacturer then it would be appropriate for them to cover return postage..

        • Aildaris on 23/12/2022 - 09:23

          Ahh yeah, that does make sense. Somewhere in that ACCC page or another, it mentions the Manufacturer must reimburse the Retailer for shipping costs on a warranty claim, so I was also curious if that fell through to the consumer. But that was just wishful thinking.

  • Richardc on 23/12/2022 - 00:32
    +1

    try local distributor

  • AngoraFish on 23/12/2022 - 01:32
    +1

    The problem you have is that the law puts the liability primarily on the retailer, not the manufacturer. If the retailer closes down liability does not automatically transfer to the manufacturer, and if transferred, the manufacturer has fewer responsibilities than the retailer, including that their obligations are limited to the original value of the product, which by definition excludes postage.

    Even if you were returning direct to the retailer, you would only be entitled to postage if you'd been posted the item originally. If you picked up direct from the store you're out of luck there too.

    Further, since FTC closed down "a couple of years back" your card is at least a couple of years old. For a two year old card, it's no longer a straight forward question as to whether failure after this period of time falls within the definition of a "reasonable life of the product". It probably does, but you could easily find yourself being tied up in correspondence arguing the point.

    Frankly, the fact that the manufacturer is even willing to consider a warranty claim without being a dick about it, subject to you paying postage, is a win for you. Pay the postage and move on with your life.

  • trustnoone on 23/12/2022 - 03:41

    From the replies I'm seeing here, it sounds like OP you're kind of out luck from the ACL consumer guarantee part as the retailer is gone. BUT you are covered by the warranty part whereby if a manufacturer offers a specific warranty with terms, they must follow that by law. So to me it sounds like you're really up to what the agreement in the warranty section is, which I'd hazard a guess doesn't include delivery.
    I think you're sort of mixing up the two, using legal backing information of the "Consumer Gurantee", for whats a warranty replacement (they're different and you may have had both warranty and consumer gurantee at one point).

    Not a lawyer though/not lawyer advice.

    • Aildaris on 23/12/2022 - 09:11

      Yeah, I think you're probably right. Thanks!

  • Sleeqb7 on 23/12/2022 - 10:49

    The manufacturer is right - 99% of all warranties are "Return to Base" warranties, in which you have to return them to the retailer yourself.
    In this case, your warranty is with a company that no longer exists, so you're even further out of luck with trying to leverage anything different.

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