Netgear to refund customers
Networking equipment vendor Netgear has agreed to provide refunds and other remedies to customers who it has admitted were misled by its warranty and technical support claims.
In response to an ACCC probe, Netgear has admitted to incorrectly telling customers they could not receive a remedy or refund for faulty products unless they were covered by Netgear’s manufacturer’s warranty or they purchased a technical support contract.
Netgear admitted it is likely to have misled customers about the remedies they were legally entitled to under Australian consumer law starting in June 2016.
“If a product fails to meet a consumer guarantee, consumers have the right to ask the supplier for a repair, replacement or refund, and the supplier or manufacturer for compensation,” ACCC Commissioner Sarah Court said.
“Consumer law rights cannot be excluded, restricted or modified. Warranties and technical support contracts operate in addition to consumer guarantees, not instead of these statutory guarantees.”
As part of an enforceable undertaking to the ACCC, Netgear has committed to reviewing all technical support contracts purchased after 1 July 2016 and providing the remedy and a full refund of the price of the technical support contract in cases where consumers would have been entitled to a remedy for free.
The company will also establish an Australian Consumer Rights webpage on its website within one month and a consumer hotline for Australian consumers who believe they are entitled to a remedy.
Meanwhile NSW Fair Trading has published the first Complaints Register of the year, a monthly list of all companies with 10 or more customer complaints to the department received.
Kogan, Apple and Samsung all ranked among the top 10 most complained about companies in January. Kogan ranked fourth with 33 complaints, followed by Apple with 20 and Samsung with 29.
Harvey Norman topped the list with 39 complaints, followed by online ticket reselling platform Viagogo with 35 and The Good Guys with 34.
“A total of 22 businesses featured in the latest register, with a substantial 431 complaints between them,” NSW Fair Trading Commissioner Rose Webb said.
“This represents a significant rise in the number of complaints compared to last year’s January register, with 332 complaints for the same number of businesses.”
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