Businesses offering goods and services for sale to the public often have the best of intentions in dealing with product warranty claims, however, their efforts can at times be let down by poorly written warranties, a lack of coherent customer claim processes or poor staff training in relation the organisation’s obligations under the law. In [...]
Historically, many businesses have sought to use their standard Terms and Conditions of trade (typically attached to an invoice or quote) to completely shield themselves from responsibility by incorporating clauses which heavily favour their own interests at the disadvantage of their customers or suppliers. The common logic for such an approach was that “if things [...]
The November 2016 amendments to the Australian Consumer Law (which extended the prohibition on ‘unfair terms' to contracts with small businesses) are starting to bite. Enforcement action by the ACCC since the amendments were introduced have demonstrated the Commission’s strong desire to get tough on onerous standard terms contracts. Under the amended legislation, some contracts [...]
Per the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (the CCA), a surcharge on card payments must not exceed the actual cost of processing the fee. The ACCC made this blatantly clear in November last year when it fined Red Balloon, the corporate gift agency founded by Shark Tank’s Naomi Simson, $43,200 for exceeding the caps set [...]
