I bought a Ryobi planer on Saturday. After two hours of operation it stopped working, probably a failure in the motor as it did smell. I was planing some timber for a workbench worktop. Today I took it back to exchange it. No problems exchanging it except that as I had used my Powerpass card to buy it the polite Bunnings guy remarked that the warranty was now void as purchases on Powerpass were deemed to be used for trade purposes. That surprised me. A casual examination of the Powerpass t’s and c’s, and the Ryobi waranty doesn’t state specifically that Ryobi tools warranty is invalid if used for trade purposes. (Note that I am a manufacturer and the tool was being used for a non product manufacturing job - an improvement to a workshop facility - a one off) There’s nothing on the Bunnings website that I can find that says such a thing. GIven the pricing of tools generally recognised as tradesmans tools (Makita, AEG, Bosch, DeWalt are examples promoted on the Bunnings Powerpass Promotional channel) are similar to Ryobi it can’t be a pricing thing. Many traides use Ryobi as their tools of choice in fact. The sales of six battery position docking chargers suggest Bunnings are aware of the use of Ryobi tools by tradies in high activity applications.
My questions:
I assume Bunnings cannot simply invalidate warranty just because I use their Powerpass card no matter what tool I buy - my consumer rights gaurantee trumps their activities?
How legal is it for the Bunnings staff memeber to promote this idea?
Note this isn’t about whether Ryobi is a trade categorised tool versus other brands. Its about whether Bunnings activities in voiding tool warranties, if you use a Powerpass card, are valid.
Apologies if this has been gone over before but I did a search and couldn’t find anything relevant to this topic.
kind regards
Chris
Many products have specific warranty differences from domestic use to commercial use that are called out in themanufacturer’s warranty document. Other than those differences my best insight is the Bunnings staff misspoke.
This page should address that.
He might be stating it from ignorance (eg poor training or misplaced enthusiasm) so my first ‘stop’ would be to Bunning’s management, and if their response seems contrary to the ACL or expectations, get it is writing to proceed further with a formal complaint.
If this is a valid/legal waranty exclusion, possibly Bunnings should not be selling Ryobi products for trade use as they would not be fit for purpose under the ACL. In such case, Bunnings could be seen as liable.
To avoid this, possibIy they should either stating this limitation at the point of sale or prohibiting the purchase of Ryobi products on trade cards or through ABN businesses. Their website should also make this clear in relation to Ryobi (and other products with similar use limitations).
If it states on the packaging that the product has a warranty it should also have a direction to the terms and conditions of the warranty. If those terms and conditions don’t CLEARLY specify either ‘contact Ryobi directly’ or ‘Excludes purchases on Bunnings Powerpass’ then Bunnings legally need to honour it, regardless of what their own terms and conditions say. Because Ryobi have clearly advertised it has a warranty.
I’ve purchased enough tools over time, some from Bunnings own brands even to wonder where the problem is.
Any tradie knows that the trade warranty is not usually the same as the home user warranty.
Any tradie knows that if you don’t tell Bunnings it is a trade purchase they seem not to know when Mr Ozito burns out after 6 months and you get a brand new replacement.
Most of us know that Ryobi or Ozito brands (both special to Bunnings) are great value for a tool that you are not going to use 3-4hrs per day 250 days per year. Something for a one off job that the one tool may never be used for again, and sure beats the old way of doing the job.
Most if us know that when you buy a tool you look at the warranty to know what you are buying or if it is not clear you ask.
When I have asked I have universally been told the warranty and asked if it is for home or trade use.
When I have read the printed warranty it has as far as I can remember either excluded trade use or offered an alternate T&C for trade. If it is silent on trade then there would only be one warranty. The one on the warranty card or statement that was supplied with the instructions you are supposed to read before unpacking the tool?
The problem is in the above case it WASN’T for trade use, chrisnir1 was using it for ‘an improvement to a workshop facility - a one off.’ They just happened to buy it on their Powerpass card.
Hi and thanks for everyone’s comments so far. I have read, and reread the warranty sheet provided within the planer box by Techtronic Industries. There is no mention of trade use or DIY use or similar. It makes no reference to either in any form. So, Ryobi dont seem to differentiate between trade use and diy use. I appreciate the comments about the difference between a trade tool and a diy tool but in fact the question about whether use of the powerpass can allow Bunnings to renege on any warranty was the question. I do agree and have had always this experience that Bunnings will exchange a faulty or problematic product. So I’m not banging Bunnings for that. It was the statement by the staff member that seemed a little suspect to me. Since this morning I’ve heard it elsewhere that Bunnings staff in other places have said the same thing.
As an aside though (another question) is it valid that the use of the product differentiates the warranty? If I use a fridge at work rather than at home does it mean the warranty should be different? Doesn’t the sue go with the quality and expected life of the product - I mean if you use a cheap product for a tough job and it breaks the reasonable person wouldn’t expect a long life anyway?
With reference to the comment about Ryobi being one job tools. I would dispute this based on the price of Ryobi products compared to other more trade tool recognised brands in Bunnings. Pricing doesn’t seem so different I think.
See the Repair, replace, refund on business purchases sedtion in the link to the ACCC website posted by @PhilT.
There are exclusions, but appears that in most cases a business would have the same rights as that for an individual consumer.
One thing to consider is these rights don’t apply if there is misuse or damage by the consumer/business (see exceptions to guarantees here). It think it could be argued that if a Ryobi power tool labelled and designed specifically for DIY type projects is used full time in a trade application, then this could be seen as misuse.
In relation to Bunnings restricting warranty because the product was bought on a trade card and ultimately used for private/DIY use, then one could argue that normal proections under the ACL would apply. With say a power plane, one possibly could see if the plan had been extensively used such as dor trade purposes as the wear would be readily observable.
Also I have been unable to find on the Bunnings Powerpass website or the Bunnings website any information or conditions that limit any purchases to that only used for trade purposes. As a result, one could reasonably expect that a card holder may buy products using the Powerpass for private/DIY use. In such cases, Bunnings shouldn’t be voiding warranty for any product purchased using the Powerpass and it would be interesting to see what the ACCC would think about this as the in store response may be a misleading claim.
Another aspect, I was unable to readily find the T&Cs dor Powerpass use which is a concern, especially since it provides special rights, conditinons of sale and/or some sort of credit facility. I would have expected that under financial legislation, such information would need to be readily available in some sort of product disclosure document.
Hi and apologies. I read it again and as indicated above by Phb for the online waranty statement the warranty sheet provided with the planer does say Ryobi products are for DIY use only. Didn’t see the tree for the forest in front of me!
Using a Powerpass to purchase an item at Bunnings means you are a qualified trade customer, it does not mean the specific item is used in a trade context. The warranty comes back to the manufacturer or distributor - Bunnings might choose to enhance this of their own volition, but they cannot reduce or negate it.
I would go back to Bunnings and try again getting a replacement with a different person. If that doesn’t work, ask for a manager.
Ask for them to show you in their T&Cs where it says that you can not buy personal tools with Powerpass. (I couldn’t see anything that said you could only use it to buy trade tools when I had a look at the FAQs etc.)
If they can’t show you a specific exclusion, then they have to honour the warranty as long as you make clear you were using the tool for non trade DIY.
Hi
Apologies for the delay in responding. Thanks again for your advice. I have added a copy of the Powerpass T and C’s I received from Bunnings. They responded quickly to my request for a copy. Attached a copy - apologies again as jpg seemed to be one of the few formats I could upload. No mention of difference between trade or DIY/home use. !
They just tried the same crap on me for the first time in years of faithful returns.
Showed them the Ryobi warranty that is silent on trade, and many previous returns, and that the dinky little driver was brand new and used once… - and although qualifying for the power pass I’m not exactly in the commercial business of construction. And they yielded. But I’ll be better prepared next time something needs to go back.
