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Nokia reconnects with the Trade Practices Act
Posted: 28/05/2010
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (“ACCC”) has accepted court enforceable undertakings from Nokia Australia Pty Ltd (“Nokia”) and Fone Care Pty Ltd (“Fone Care”), which operates Nokia Care Centres throughout Australia.
The undertakings followed an investigation by the ACCC into potential breaches of the Trade Practices Act 1974 (Cth) (“TPA”) in respect of the refund and warranty policy of Nokia and Fone Care.
The ACCC found that Nokia had authorised Fone Care to procure customers who sought to return a faulty Nokia product to sign a “service agreement” which:
• restricted the rights of the customer to make a statutory warranty claim to within three (3) months of purchase of the Nokia product; and
• required the customer to accept Nokia’s decision in respect of any statutory warranty claim made by the customer.
Further, Fone Care displayed a “refund policy” in its Nokia Care Centres which represented that there was a fourteen (14) day time limit on statutory warranty claims.
Under the TPA, consumers have statutory rights that may extend beyond a manufacturer’s warranty in terms of the scope of the remedy available to consumers, and associated time limits.
The ACCC expressed its concern to Nokia and Fone Care that their conduct may contravene sections 52 and 53(g) of the TPA. In response to the ACCC’s concerns, Fone Care has undertaken to:
• cease using its existing refund policy;
• cease using the service agreement in its current form; and
• refrain from making false or misleading representations in relation to consumers’ statutory warranty rights in the future.
Similarly, Nokia has undertaken to refrain from authorizing Fone Care to use any agreement which makes false or misleading representations in relation to consumers’ statutory warranty rights.
The undertakings provided by Nokia and Fone Care send a clear message to other mobile phone manufactures to ensure that any representations that they make as to the existence or exclusion of statutory warranties comply with the TPA.
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