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Claim compensation for faulty goods or services

The guarantee came with the purchase, whether the supplier mentions it or not.

The thing you bought does not work, and the supplier has offered a repair you did not ask for, or nothing at all. Consumer guarantees apply automatically to most purchases and cannot be contracted out of. The remedy is already yours, and the argument is only about whether you insist on it. We work out which guarantee has failed and how seriously, put the claim in terms the supplier takes seriously, and escalate if they don’t move.

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A remedy you already have

The guarantee attaches by law, so the work is enforcing it rather than negotiating for it.

The right remedy, not the cheap one

A major failure lets you choose a refund or replacement instead of accepting the repair you were offered.

A claim that gets read properly

A letter naming the guarantee that failed reads differently from a complaint, and gets a different answer.

What are consumer guarantees and when do they apply?

Consumer guarantees are promises the law attaches to most goods and services sold in Australia. They must be of acceptable quality, fit for the purpose you made known, and match their description. They sit in the Australian Consumer Law, a schedule to the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (Cth) (the Act), and a supplier cannot contract out of them. They are not limited to personal shopping either: most business purchases under $100,000 are covered too, which surprises people who assumed a business sale left them only what the contract said.

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Do consumer guarantees apply to business purchases?

Often yes. Most goods and services costing under $100,000 are covered regardless of whether you bought them for a business, and some above that are covered too. Many businesses assume they are limited to whatever the supply contract says, and that is not right.

What can I insist on when something is faulty?

It depends how serious the problem is. For a major failure you can choose a refund or a replacement; for a minor one the supplier can choose to repair it instead. Working out which applies is usually where the disagreement sits.

Does a manufacturer's warranty replace my rights?

No. A warranty sits on top of the consumer guarantees rather than replacing them, and a term trying to exclude the guarantees has no effect. You can rely on a guarantee even after a warranty has expired.

Is it worth pursuing a claim for a smaller amount?

Often, because most of these resolve on the letter rather than in a hearing. We will tell you honestly what the likely recovery is against what it costs to pursue, before you commit to anything.

Not sure what you are entitled to?

Tell us what you bought, what went wrong and what has been offered. We will tell you which guarantee applies and what you can insist on, before you accept anything.

Suppliers count on you not knowing what you are owed

Something you paid real money for has failed, and the supplier is offering less than the law requires, in a tone that suggests the matter is closed. You suspect you are entitled to more, but you are not sure enough to push, and the cost of being wrong feels like looking unreasonable. So the offer on the table starts to seem like the only one.

We will identify which consumer guarantee has failed and how serious the failure is.
We will tell you which remedy you can insist on rather than accept.
We will put the claim to the supplier in writing.
We will pursue it in the appropriate tribunal or court if the supplier refuses.

You are being managed rather than answered

You bought equipment, a vehicle, a system or a service, and it has not done what it was supposed to do. The first call was polite and produced a form. The second produced a repair booking you did not want. Somewhere in there the conversation stopped being about whether the thing works and became about what the supplier is willing to do, which are not the same question. What you need is to know which of those two the law is actually interested in.

What's included in your consumer guarantee claim service

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An assessment of the guarantees that apply to your purchase.
Advice on whether the failure is major or minor and what each allows.
A letter of demand setting out the guarantee and the remedy sought.
Negotiation with the supplier or their insurer.
Representation in the tribunal or court if the claim proceeds.

Accepting the first offer is how a major failure becomes a repair

The cost of not pushing is that you keep the faulty thing and pay for it. A major failure entitles you to choose a refund or a replacement, and a supplier who characterises it as minor gets to choose a repair instead, which is why so much turns on a word nobody explains to you. Accept the repair and you have often accepted the characterisation with it. Meanwhile the thing sits in your business not doing its job, you absorb the cost of working around it, and the further you get from the purchase the more the supplier can suggest the problem is wear rather than a failure. None of that changes what the law said on the day you bought it.

How the remedy you are entitled to becomes the one you get

We start by identifying which guarantee has failed and whether the failure is major, because that single question decides whether the choice of remedy is yours or theirs. Then the claim goes to the supplier in writing, naming the guarantee, the failure and the remedy sought, which reads very differently from a complaint and is usually handled by somebody more senior. Most matters resolve there. Where they do not, we pursue it in the tribunal or court that fits the amount, keeping the cost proportionate to what is being recovered. You end up with the remedy the law gave you rather than the one you were offered.

How a consumer guarantee claim runs

Find out what you are entitled to before you accept what is offered.

Check the guarantee

We identify which guarantee has failed and whether the failure is major, because that decides what you can insist on.

Demand the remedy

We put the claim to the supplier in writing, naming the remedy you are entitled to and the basis for it.

Take it further

If they still refuse, we pursue it in the tribunal or court that fits the amount and the issue.

The remedy you are entitled to, named before you settle for less

Suppliers who handle complaints every day are practised at making a refusal sound like policy. You are having this conversation once and they are having it for the hundredth time, and that asymmetry is most of what makes it feel hopeless.

We are ISO 9001 accredited, so how your matter is run, who checks it and what you are told are defined rather than left to whoever picks up the phone. On a claim this size that matters, because the cost of pursuing it has to stay proportionate to what you recover.

Our great lawyer guarantee

Six principles we hold to, whatever you bring us and however long it takes.

Take the time

We listen carefully to understand what you want to achieve, then step you through the advice and the documents.

Share our knowledge

We pass on as much as we can, so you can make your own informed decisions.

Stick to our knitting

We only do what we are good at, so you never pay for our learning.

Work as one team

Someone is always available to answer your question or point you the right way.

Fair pricing

A fixed or capped quote for advice and documents, so you do not carry the price risk.

It is your show

We are in it for a front row seat to witness your success, not for our egos.

Claim what you are entitled to

Tell us what you bought, what went wrong and what the supplier has offered. We will tell you which guarantee applies and what you can insist on.

Speak to a lawyer 1300 654 590