OCBA - Telling consumers about their rights

What you cannot tell a consumer

You must not tell a consumer that a consumer guarantee:

does not exist
may be excluded, or
may not have a particular effect.

You also must not tell a consumer that they are required to pay for any rights equivalent to a consumer guarantee. This means that, when selling an extended warranty, a supplier or manufacturer should be very clear exactly what it offers over and above the consumer guarantees.

For more information, see Warranties and consumer guarantees.

Consumers cannot surrender their rights by agreeing that the consumer guarantees do not apply.

The maximum civil penalty for providing false or misleading information is:

$1.1 million for a body corporate
$220,000 for an individual. Criminal penalties for the same amounts may also be imposed.

‘No refund' and other signs

Signs that state ‘no refunds' are unlawful, because they imply it is not possible to get a refund under any circumstance - even when there is a major problem with the goods or service.

For the same reason, the following signs are also unlawful:

‘No refund on sale items'
‘Exchange or credit note only for return of sale items'.

Signs that state ‘No refunds will be given if you have simply changed your mind' are acceptable.

Signs to tell consumers about the guarantees

You can display a sign, at the point of sale, alerting consumers to their rights under the consumer guarantees – even if your business is online.

Consumer and Business Services has developed a standard sign, but you may create your own.

It is not compulsory to display a sign but the Commonwealth Minister responsible for administering the Australian Consumer Law can make it mandatory. The minister can specify the content, size, form and position of the sign, to ensure consumers notice it.

Responsibility for consequential loss

You cannot write a term into your sales contract that says you will not be responsible for any extra loss suffered by the consumer because something went wrong with the goods or services.

If you do, you could be misleading consumers about their legal right to compensation for consequential loss. For more information about consequential loss, see Compensation for consequential loss.

Recreational service providers

Recreational service providers may be able to tell consumers their rights are limited. For more information, see Recreational service providers in Consumer guarantees on services.

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Telling consumers about their rights

On this page

What you cannot tell a consumer

‘No refund' and other signs

Responsibility for consequential loss

Recreational service providers