QLD Australian Consumer Law on Software Updates on Electronic Items?

[ilamrn]

Hi Experts,

I bought a WiFi-enabled speaker system that has the capability to directly stream music from Internet Radio stations. The manufacturer had provided this feature through a service provider called vTuner. All of a sudden, 3 weeks ago the manufacturer decided to stop using this provider and instead moved to Tune In as their preferred provider for internet radio.

This essentially meant that the station that I was listening to on my speaker is no longer available to be played directly on my speaker (not available in Tune In and is only available in vTuner). This has made the product unfit for the purpose that I have bought it for. What the manufacturer claims as an upgrade to a better feature, the ultimate purpose for what I bought this speaker is no longer valid.

I must also mention that I had only purchased this product 2.5 months ago. Had there been any communication that the provider will be replaced by TuneIn, I wouldn't have purchased it at all.

Am I eligible under warranty claims and Australian Consumer Law for this problem and can I request for a refund if I return of the product?

Any help is greatly appreciated.

 

[DMLegal]

It's hard to tell without specific information re the speaker. There is no issue with identifying the brand/model on here. Once you do I'll be able to comment further.

 

[ilamrn]

It's hard to tell without specific information re the speaker. There is no issue with identifying the brand/model on here. Once you do I'll be able to comment further.

The product is BOSE SoundTouch 30. Purchased from Harvey Norman.

 

[DMLegal]

Thanks for that, it is unclear from your post whether you asked Harvey Norman for a refund, however upon doing a quick Google search I seen a post on Ozbargain which I presume was a post by you, so I presume you have asked for a refund which was denied by the Manager.

I had a look at the Bose website and it says in the FAQ's re your speaker - 'SoundTouch speakers let you play Internet radio stations from around the world. Where available, you can also play Internet music services like Spotify®, Pandora®, iHeartRadio™, Deezer, SiriusXM and Amazon.' To me that reads that listening to 'radio stations from around the world' is not conditional on using TuneIn, so you would be within your rights requesting a refund, or at least you would have an arguable case.

If I were you I would email Harvey Norman with a full explanation of the situation and with reference to the Bose website cite s 56 of the Competition and Consumer Act 2010. You can also contact your State 'Fair Trading Department' (in WA it is Dept of Commerce, in QLD I believe it is the Office of Fair Trading).

For what it is worth, it appears from posts on a Bose support thread that the issue occurred as early as 2017 (perhaps your speaker had an older version of firmware initially) so Harvey Norman will be unlikely to succeed with the argument that 'it worked when we sold it', since they should have known upon updating the firmware you would lose the functionality.

Good luck.

 

[ilamrn]

Thanks @DMLegal for your advice. As per your advice, I wrote to Harvey Norman contact centre and explained my problem. I also attached a copy of my complaint that I lodged with ACCC and highlighted the section where they recommended me to talk to the retailer first for a mutual settlement of the issue.

I had the retail store manager call me the next day and he accepted to take back the product. I just had it returned at the store personally.

Thanks so much for your suggestions. That helped me a lot.

 

[DMLegal]

My pleasure, I’m glad it all worked out.