Auckland Dispute Lawyer

What Recourse Does A Consumer Have When Products Bought Are Not As Advertised

Craig Andrews
Craig Andrews

There is nothing more frustrating than buying products whether it is online or at a local store and you don’t get what was advertised. Perhaps for weeks you’ve been seeing this particular item advertised on sale, and now you are ready to go make the purchase. You bring the item home, open up the box and it is nothing like you expected it to be.

When you get products that are not as advertised you either contact the company to get your money back or you get an even exchange. In some cases the company is not willing to do anything, then at that point you are mad, frustrated and looking for a way to make this business understand that what they did was unacceptable. You can talk to the CAB about your options – they are vey helpful.

The simplest way to get back at a company and let them know you are never buying from them again is to review the product online. You can usually tell what a company is like by the amount of bad reviews they get online. This is why it is so important for consumers to take an active role in the process when they feel like they have been badly treated by a company. However, even after leaving a fair review, you are still left with the faulty goods or service.

The worst is when you call the company and the customer service agent is rude or does not answer your query. The conversation ends up going nowhere. While this process may be frustrating, remember that a company cannot decide to avoid its obligations under the Consumer Guarantees Act. Even if they have a statement on their terms and conditions about that, it is of no use; they are still liable.

Another thing a consumer can do is if you bought the product using a credit card, then contact their credit card company and tell them about the transaction. It may be possible that you can get compensation via the credit card company.

For lower-priced items it might just be a case of “buyer beware” and decide to not buy from that company again. However for more expensive items, you may want to take this further for example by contacting an Auckland consumer affairs lawyer.

A lawyer will be able to explain your rights and the supplier’s obligations. A good Auckland dispute lawyer will tell you if it is worth pursuing the claim bearing in mind the likely costs of the case. Often, a letter from a solicitor will produce the result you want so your costs may not be too high anyway.

So if you have been supplied with faulty goods or services, then contact a consumer affairs or dispute lawyer in Auckland. A firm like McVeagh Fleming has a team of specialist lawyers who can help you. You can get some more details from their website here http://www.mcveaghfleming.co.nz/.