Defective goods and services

Do I have a claim?

You may have a claim for damages arising from a defective product if you suffered personal injury or if you suffered other losses as a result of the defect. Depending on the circumstances your claim may be for:

a refund of the purchase price of the goods or services
replacement of the goods
provision of services which remedy the defective services provided
claims for damages in respect of personal injury
claims for other losses which result from the defective goods or services.

What are my rights?

There are a number of different sources of rights for consumers if they have purchased defective goods or services.

General Contract law

When you purchase goods or services you enter into a contract. In simple terms, a contract is a set of promises which the law will enforce. The promises which make up a contract are usually described as terms. If you suffer loss or damage because of defective goods which you have purchased under a contract, you may be able to obtain compensation on the basis that the seller has breached one of the terms of the contract.

For example, if a newsagent has contracted with you to deliver the Sydney Morning Herald six days a week and you only receive the paper on three days, the newsagent has breached a term of the contract and you would be entitled to claim the amount of your loss, that is the amount you have paid for papers you did not receive.

The general law of contracts is deficient in many ways and won’t always cover the problems you might have with goods and services. For example, if a product has a defect you might not always be able to show that the defect is in breach of the terms of the contract.

Implied contractual terms

Parliaments have attempted to provide some basic protection for consumers. The Sale of Goods Act, the Fair Trading Act and the federal Trade Practices Act imply extra terms into certain types of contracts. For example:

If a consumer makes it known to a seller the purpose for which they want to buy goods, and they rely on the skill and judgement of the seller, there is an implied term that the goods must be fit for that purpose.
The goods must be of “merchantable quality”. This means that they have to be fit for the purpose for which such goods are usually bought.

Read on about Defective Goods & Services.

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