The New Zealand Consumer Law protects consumers by giving them certain guaranteed rights when they buy goods and services. For example, the Law requires that goods must be free of defects, and do what they are meant to do. Services must be carried out with care and skill. These rights, which the Law says automatically apply whenever goods or services are supplied to a consumer, are called ‘Consumer Guarantees’.
Under the Law, these Consumer Guarantees cannot be excluded. You are entitled to a replacement or refund for a major failure and compensation for any other reasonably foreseeable loss or damage. You are also entitled to have the goods repaired or replaced if the goods fail to be of “acceptable quality” and the failure does not amount to a major failure.
Consumer Guarantees have no set time limit but generally last for an amount of time that is reasonable to expect given factors including the cost and quality of the product or any representations made.
If you believe that a product that you have purchased from a JB Hi-Fi store or website is faulty please see our Refunds & Warranties guide, which sets out the minimum remedies that JB Hi-Fi will provide to you if you buy a faulty product from JB Hi-Fi. Your rights under the Australian Consumer Law may extend beyond these time periods.
Many manufacturers have dedicated support centres designed specifically to deal with issues in relation to their products and may even provide in home support and advanced troubleshooting. In many circumstances, the manufacturer may therefore be able to provide a quicker assessment of, and remedy for, any issue with your product, even if the manufacturer’s warranty has expired. You may therefore prefer to contact the manufacturer rather than JB Hi-Fi, although you are not obliged to do this and, if at any time you are not satisfied with the manufacturer’s remedy in relation to your legal rights, you can contact the store manager of your nearest JB Hi-Fi store for assistance.