QLD Australian Consumer Law - New Owners of Company Not Honouring Warranty

[Heather Robinson]

Hi!

I had the roof of my house professionally painted by a Brisbane company in 2009, and it came with a written 10year guarantee against the paint fading. Within 2 years it started fading, and in 2013 when it was getting really noticeable, I approached the company asking for someone to have a look at it, to get it redone under warranty. Several persons came out twice to have a look, took photos. I would occasionally email the company asking what was happening, to be told they were in discussions with the paint supplier and other non-committal answers.

In Aug last year, I asked them when they were going to fix my roof, as it was by then an absolute eye-sore, to which I received a terse message back saying that the company had changed hands (but not changed name) 2 years previously, and if they did do anything, "it would be out of the goodness of their hearts", not from any legal obligation.

I am upset that the original guarantee seems to mean nothing, plus during my dealings of 18months with the "new" company, at no stage did they indicate that they had changed hands, and probably had no intention of fixing my roof. Went to fair trading, who really didn't help very much, except to say that the company would repair my roof "at their own convenience", which I'm guessing will be never.

 

[JS79]

An article that may be able to help you is here : Your Consumer Rights - Repairs, Refunds and Exchanges - Legal Blog - LawAnswers.com.au

You might be able to look at contacting the manufacturer regarding the guarantee and asking for that as they have a consumer guarantee that their goods do what they supposed to do.

Or you could always take a copy of your warranty along with a copy of the consumer guarantees and let them know they have to replace your roofing.

If this gets you nowhere - I would look at calling Consumer Affairs in your state.

 

[Lauren Fox]

That’s honestly so frustrating — you did everything right, got the roof professionally painted, had a written 10-year guarantee, and even followed up multiple times. The fact that they kept giving you vague updates for years and only after all that told you they’d changed hands… that would annoy anyone. A warranty doesn’t magically disappear just because the business ownership changed — the company name, ABN, and obligations usually continue unless the business was actually dissolved.

It really feels like they’ve been stringing you along, and “we’ll fix it at our convenience” basically means “we’re hoping you give up.” Sometimes a formal letter of demand or even a QCAT application pushes companies like this to take things seriously, especially when you’ve documented everything.

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