I have a Lenovo laptop (bought for $1,000) that died after two years. It has a stated one-year warranty, but according to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, I should expect it to have a “reasonable life span”. Realistically, what are the chances of me getting an international company to honour our consumer laws, or would I just be wasting my time?
Anyone conducting business in Australia must comply with Australian consumer law. This includes international companies selling products to consumers living in Australia.
Your basic consumer rights (also known as consumer guarantees) exist in addition to any warranties on products. Warranties aren’t interchangeable with consumer guarantees, so even if your warranty is expired, your rights still apply.
Consumer guarantees state products should be of “acceptable quality and durability”. This includes the expectation that a product is “durable enough to perform its intended function(s) for a reasonable amount of time”. For instance, a consumer can reasonably expect a brand new laptop will last for more than two years. Unless you’ve thrown it against a wall, or used in a way other than was intended (i.e. as a cutting board), you can rely on consumer guarantees, despite your lapsed warranty.
In terms of next steps, if you bought your laptop here in Australia from an Australian business, follow up with them first. Most reputable Australian businesses that sell expensive electronics will already be aware of their obligations. You’ll likely find that most of these businesses also already have information online about this, and may detail your options when it comes to claiming a replacement or repair under the consumer guarantees – here is Harvey Norman’s, for example. In most cases, if you contact the business directly, they will organise to have your laptop assessed, and then organise a repair or replacement based on that assessment.
If you bought your laptop directly from Lenovo, an internet search reveals that there’s direct regional support to Australia, including a phone number you can call. As an international business trading in Australia, Lenovo must also honour the consumer guarantees, and my guess is that they’ll be aware of this, and helpful.
Anecdotally, I had a similar issue with an out-of-warranty vacuum bought from the Australian branch of an international business. That business also had direct Australian support, and within three days of calling them, they couriered a replacement part at no cost. I was also relying on the Australian consumer guarantees, but in my case, I didn’t even have to invoke them: the business already knew about their legal obligations to me.
If you bought your laptop from an overseas shop and had it shipped to Australia, you can still rely on the Australian law, but it’s not always going to be the fairytale described above. The ACCC notes it “can be difficult to get a repair, replacement or refund from an overseas business if there’s a problem with the product or service, and the help Australian consumer protection agencies can provide is limited”. The ACCC suggests seeking out the consumer protection agency in the country of purchase, if you can’t resolve the issue with the business directly.
Australian consumer law can only go so far though. If you bought the laptop from an international site and shipped it to an international address, or if the whole transaction occurred while you were overseas (meaning that you were in another country at the time of purchase, and bought from an international seller), then Australian consumer law and consumer guarantees do not apply.
While it’s hard to say how successful you’ll be, even if you did buy the product while abroad, you can still make a complaint directly to the company, or even follow up with the relevant consumer law authorities in the country of purchase. Most consumer authorities and dispute resolution bodies can be accessed online, so time zones (hopefully) won’t hamper you too much.
Regardless of the circumstances in which you made the purchase, making a call or sending an email to see if you can recoup that $1,000 will not be a waste of time.
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