Just how long you have to return a faulty good is a very grey area. The quicker the better particularly after you have opened the good and started using it. Most electronic goods have a warranty period of 12 months but this means the good gets repaired not replaced. There is a difference. A big one. So how long do you have in which time your good can be returned and replaced if fault with no questions asked? In the case of Vodafone and mobile phones, the answer now turns out to be “more than two weeks” thanks to an ACCC court ruling.
The ACCC has received a court enforceable undertaking from Vodafone that it will not automatically tell consumers that they are entitled only to a repair on faulty phones any time two weeks after purchase.
This is an important ruling for all phone purchasers. Vodafone has agreed to the following conditions:
- Provide replacements (rather than repairs) for Nokia, Apple, BlackBerry and INQ phones that fail within the first 28 days
- Provide an express repair warranty for the life of any service contract on phones from the same manufacturers, excluding Apple
- Provide an express repair warranty for 24 months for active prepaid customers who have acquired their phone from Vodafone
- Provide a replacement loan phone for customers and ensure repairs are completed in a timely manner
The deal is in place for three years. It essentially gives you phone warranty for the life of your service contract with Vodafone. This includes both post paid contracts and prepaid mobile contracts. The ACCC is keen to see other providers offer similar arrangements.
“It is simply not good enough that a customer is tied into a service contact for two years when the retailer is only promising to fix a faulty mobile phone for the first 12 months” said ACCC chairman Graeme Samuel.
