Home Renovation - Received Different Product

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Toqual

Well-Known Member
10 July 2014
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Hi there,

I purchased glass for my kitchen from a company, and I was delivered the incorrect colour glass. The seller continued to deny he had sent me the incorrect glass, despite it being obvious as I have checked online on their site. I was sent $500 worth, yet I payed for $1400 (same quantity, just different quality). What do I do under Australian Consumer Law?
 

Toqual

Well-Known Member
10 July 2014
130
9
414
Basically he sent me an item which was not what I ordered - with him making almost 3x more money
 

Toqual

Well-Known Member
10 July 2014
130
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414

DennisD

Well-Known Member
11 July 2014
179
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589
Hi Toqual

Consumer guarantees from a supplier include for: acceptable quality, fitness for purpose, correspondence with any description, also the goods must comply with any express warranty given. These guarantees are set out in sections 54 to 59 of the Australian Consumer Law (the ACL, which is set out in Schedule 2 to the Competition and Consumer Act 2010).

You said you paid for the $1400 option but the supplier only delivered the lower quality $500 option. Take screenshots of the supplier website to record which options were available to you and at what price. This will be useful to demonstrate to the supplier (and others, if required) that the delivered goods are not of an acceptable quality given what you paid, and do not match their product description.

Do you have a receipt which indicates the option you selected and amount paid? What remedy do you want - replacement?

Hugh
 

Toqual

Well-Known Member
10 July 2014
130
9
414
I do have the receipt and have screenshotted the available items on their website. It is evident I have not been supplied with the product of my order. Where should I take this? He is evidently denying all my claims indicating the mistake, which I feel he had the intent on doing.
 

John R

Well-Known Member
14 April 2014
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Sydney
Hi @Toqual,
I'd set out your concerns (including @Hugh's notes) in writing to the business owner and then if you don't receive an acceptable response within a reasonable time period (e.g. 1 week), make a complaint with the Consumer Affairs/Fair Trading office in your state/territory.

You can search recent threads in the Australian Consumer Law Forum for complaint letter examples, etc.

Hope this helps.
 
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Toqual

Well-Known Member
10 July 2014
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DennisD

Well-Known Member
11 July 2014
179
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589
Hi Toqual

This is a more detailed response which lands in essentially the same place as JohnR's suggestions.

Regulators of the ACL encourage parties to a dispute to try to resolve their problems directly between themselves and informally before escalating the dispute. As JohnR explains, as it seems you have already tried to speak with the supplier over the phone or a visit, a complaint letter to the supplier is the natural next step.

As JohnR also points out, there are complaint letter examples available on other forum threads. Also, here is a link to the template and example complaint letters made available by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (the ACCC): http://www.accc.gov.au/consumers/complaints-problems/write-a-complaint-letter

In summary, you can see that the ACCC prescribes the complaint letter should describe your problem and desired outcome, include key dates, set out action you’ve taken to resolve the problem, request a response and attach supporting documentation. It is important that you put effort into this letter, including attach copies of your receipt and screenshots of the supplier webpage, in order to communicate your case to the supplier, but also to provide an easy-to-follow factual summary for a third party if the supplier remains unresponsive.

If after the complaint letter you are still unable to fix the problem, you may need to seek assistance from a third party. These include, generally in this order of contact, your state consumer protection agency, industry ombudsmen (as applicable), the ACCC and your state small claims court or tribunal. The following ACCC webpage has simple-to-follow links to these bodies: http://www.accc.gov.au/consumers/consumer-protection/where-to-go-for-consumer-help

If you have any further questions, please don't hesitate to ask

Hugh
 
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Toqual

Well-Known Member
10 July 2014
130
9
414