David Jones (Chadstone) refuses to deal with the return of a defective product unless one has already been in contact with its manufacturer.
This is contrary to the ACCC:
http://www.accc.gov.au/business/treating-customers-fairly/co…
The seller also must not refuse to deal with a customer about the returned good and tell them to deal with the manufacturer instead.
The consumer can ask the seller to provide a remedy, and the seller is required by law to oblige.
You must not tell customers they should approach the manufacturer or importer of the good for assistance – the seller must deal with the problem when approached.
http://www.accc.gov.au/consumers/consumer-rights-guarantees/…
The retailer can’t refuse to help you by sending you to the manufacturer or importer.
Section 259 of the ACL (Competition and Consumer Act 2010, Schedule 2) states the right of action against suppliers of goods:
(1) A consumer may take action under this section if:
(a) a person (the supplier) supplies, in trade or commerce, goods to the consumer; and
My encounter happened on the weekend when returning a small electrical kitchen appliance purchased last week that had a minor but obvious flaw in contrast to others of the same available in store.
Unlike the normal David Jones returns policy, this one was displayed behind the sales counter. The notice for staff stated that it was meant to reduce the stock and amount of goods returned for, if I remember correctly when shown, frivolous reasons.
I was requesting a replacement and it was eventually exchanged as a change of mind rather than a faulty item.
It perhaps seems to be a store-specific policy as others in Victoria were not aware of such when contacted.
Unfortunately I did not think to photograph or ask for a copy of it at the time.
Seems pretty stupid that they accepted a change of mind return that they don't have to but refused to accept a return since the product was faulty which they must under consumer law.