Faulty Goods & Refunds in New Zealand
New Zealand consumers hold stronger cards than most retailers admit. The Consumer Guarantees Act 1993 guarantees that goods are of acceptable quality and fit for purpose, and services are done with reasonable care and skill — rights no receipt, sign or "store policy" can remove. Serious failures let you reject the goods and choose a refund or replacement. Call 0800 461 100 free, any hour, before you accept the shop's version of your rights.
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Faulty Goods & Refunds at a glance
What "acceptable quality" buys you
Acceptable quality means what a reasonable consumer would find acceptable given the nature and price of the goods: fit for their normal purpose, safe, durable, free of minor defects, acceptable in finish. Durability is the sleeper right — expensive goods are guaranteed to last as long as such goods reasonably should, which routinely outlives the manufacturer's 12-month warranty. The guarantees attach automatically to consumer purchases from businesses (in-store and online), and they bind the retailer — who cannot wave you off to the manufacturer.Services carry their own guarantees: reasonable care and skill, fitness for the purpose you made known, completion in a reasonable time, and a reasonable price where none was fixed. The botched haircut, the leaking "fixed" roof and the mis-installed heat pump all live here. Talk it through with a lawyer now →
The remedy ladder — and who chooses
The Act splits failures into two tracks. Substantial failures — the fault is serious, the goods are unsafe, or a reasonable buyer knowing the fault would not have bought — put the choice in YOUR hands: reject the goods for a full refund, take a replacement, or keep them with compensation for the drop in value. Minor faults give the retailer first go: they choose to repair, replace or refund, but must do it within a reasonable time — and if they refuse or fail, the choice reverts to you, rejection included.Consequential losses are recoverable too: the food lost when the freezer died, the reasonable costs the failure caused. And a "repair" that keeps failing stops being minor — repeated faults accumulate into a substantial failure. Talk it through with a lawyer now →
When the problem is what they told you
The Fair Trading Act 1986 attacks the other half of consumer harm: misleading and deceptive conduct, false claims about products, prices and rights. "No refunds", "warranty expired, nothing we can do", invented restocking conditions, fake "was/now" pricing — all of it is FTA territory, enforceable by you and by the Commerce Commission. The practical use: naming the misrepresentation, accurately, in your complaint letter — retailers correct course quickly when the words "Fair Trading Act" are used by someone who plainly knows what they mean. Talk it through with a lawyer now →Making a retailer actually comply
The sequence that works: state the failure and your chosen remedy in writing, citing the Consumer Guarantees Act, with a deadline. Escalate past the counter to the owner or head office — front-line "policy" answers evaporate a level up. If they hold out, the Disputes Tribunal decides consumer claims up to $60,000 for a modest fee, no lawyers at the hearing, and referees apply the CGA all day long. Two suppliers with special regimes: motor vehicles (the Motor Vehicle Disputes Tribunal handles dealer-sold vehicle claims) and anything bought from a private seller, where the CGA does not apply and your rights are thinner. When the amounts are serious, get your position confirmed first — free on the line, any hour. Talk it through with a lawyer now →Getting your money back, step by step
Faulty Goods & Refunds — your questions answered
The store says the 12-month warranty has expired. Am I out of luck?
No. The manufacturer's warranty sits ON TOP of the Consumer Guarantees Act, which guarantees goods for as long as is reasonable for that kind of product — a premium appliance failing at 18 months is squarely arguable. "Out of warranty" answers the wrong question; the Act asks about reasonable durability.
They insist on repairing it but I want a refund. Who wins?
Depends on the failure. Minor fault: the retailer chooses the remedy first (repair included) but must deliver it in a reasonable time. Substantial failure — serious fault, safety issue, or a defect that would have stopped you buying: the choice is yours, refund included. Repeated failed repairs convert minor into substantial.
I bought it online from a NZ retailer. Same rights?
Yes — the CGA and FTA apply to online consumer purchases from businesses selling into New Zealand just as in-store. (Genuine private sales are different: no CGA, only the Fair Trading Act's honesty rules and your contract.)
Can I claim the losses the faulty product caused?
Reasonably foreseeable consequential losses are claimable under the Act — the spoiled food from the failed fridge, the water damage from the failed hose, reasonable costs of dealing with the failure. Document them as they happen.
The retailer went quiet. Is the Tribunal worth it for $800?
Usually yes — filing is cheap, hearings are quick, and retailers frequently settle the week the Tribunal notice arrives. Send the demand letter first, keep it business-like, and let the process do the persuading.
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