An unexpected response might be that Feds have already fixed the problem. Both areas are within the authority of the ACCC (excuse that 4 letter word). It explains simultaneously why no further govt action is required and why there has been no further action?
P.S.
The ACCC does issue recall advisories for many consumer products, and has done so previously for scooters and bikes, typically used by children or young adults. Has the ACCC been approached re the example of the hydraulic brake failures?
With regard to the spare parts supply, there are several prior discussions in this topic concerning ACCC decisions on restricted supply and service. Outcomes that favour a single importer supplier can be seen by the ACCC to also benefit the consumer! Many consumers may not agree?
i have a galaxyA20 phone had trouble with charging sent phone to samsung repair shop(phone still under warranty) they would not repair the phone unless i had the screen replaced (very small crack in screen) at a cost of $280.00,the cost of phone was $230.00 i refused to pay and they sent phone back ,on recieving i tried to charge phone but they have inserted a block in the charge port now where do i go throw it away and buy a new phone,great service
Go to a phone repair place and have it fixed, then under ACL you can possibly bill Samsung for the repairs to the charging system and removal of the block. If you donât wish to do this you can also seek compensation for the loss in value of the phone.
"Repairs
If the problem with a product or service is minor, you must accept a free repair if the business offers you one.
If the business fails to give you a free repair within a reasonable time or cannot fix your problem, you can:
get it done elsewhere and pass on the costs to the business
ask for a replacement
ask for a refund
recover compensation for the drop in value below the price paid."
However you could also consider the fault a Major fault, and as they are unwilling to repair the charging fault it is your right to seek a Refund, Replacement or Repair from the retailer who sold you the phone, you may lose some value due to what may be termed abuse or misuse (the cracked screen). Worth asking the retailer what they will do for you, and note that they canât just fob you off to the Manufacturer.
A good story really.
Bought a Samsung robotic vacuum cleaner 4 yrs ago and it had a few parts wearing/failing. Found suppliers of parts easily and they were mailed promptly. Very happy about this as apart from the few replaceable parts (including drive motor) there was nothing wrong with it and it would have been a huge waste and cost to completely replace.
The vacuum itself was a Choice recommended one, which I purchased specifically for hard floor and corner cleaning ability and it has done exactly as Iâve wanted twice a week for 4 yrs and is still going strong. Bought it online as a discontinued model for half price too, so thatâs a double win as far as Iâm concerned.
Bought a Brother Colour Laser Printer MFC-L3750CDW, paid nearly $400, exactly 12 months and one week later I had printer paper feed issues, I contacted Brother, they said they would honour warranty as it was âjust out of warrantyâ providing printer met all the other âwarranty conditionsâ. I delivered to Brotherâs authorised repair centre, they opened printer and saw that I had purchased 1 x generic Brother Compatible Cartridge ( because they are way cheaper) and so therefore said my warranty repair was VOID. This is how they get out of warranty⊠Awful situation, we all know genuine cartridges are very expensive and I have used generic printer cartridges for over 20 years and never had an issue. Things need to change because printer companies know that most people will purchase non-genuine replacement cartridges as they are more affordable. Itâs a scam.
A few years ago my Brother inkjet refused to recognise a new generic cartridge, and also refused to recognise the part filled genuine one when I reinserted it. It used 4 colours, only 1 was empty.
Off to the repair shop and they had a look, and the first comment was that I might have a generic with a faulty chip that confused the printer. They were reasonably unwilling to give me free carts to test and offered to sell me a set of their generics - not the cheapest but not rip offs either, and well under the genuine article.
Voila, I apparently had a bad chip; the seller refunded all 4 of those inks, the repair shop did a checkout and apparently got some payment from Brother, and I remained a very happy Brother customer.
It could be Brother has tightened their policies, or the shop I went to was more accommodating.
There are a number of topics on the Community about printer inks and the various companies respond differently to each other. You can find them using the Community search function. I have had nothing but good experiences with Brother, and continue to use compatibles in my inkjet and laser, with never a problem save for that bad chip experience.
To make matters worse most printer companies ensure when you do a printer software/firmware update when connected to internet network or wifi the new software creates a glitch & ensures your printer wonât accept the generic printer cartridges (detects the chip on cartridges) and printer does not work ⊠GREAT
Id say your shop was more accommodating, the Brother authorised repair centre I went to stated the reason mine broke was a 'non genuine brother cartridge" or just the reason they could not be arsed fixing mine.
Funnily enough the Brother auth repair centre was pushing a different brand all together, a Kyocera?
I would have asked them to put in writing how the toner could have impacted your paper feed, unless they could show you the feed mechanism was coated with toner gumming it up, when it becomes argumentative and probably in their favour.
Shops donât usually get a lot for warranty work so depending on how busy they are some prefer not to have it, so could easily be your latter comment.
Also, remember the shop that sold you the printer owns your warranty problem. It should provide service for more than a year or even two. If Brother agreed to fix it you can take that to the retailer and ask them to assist, but be honest about your experience with the Brother auth repair shop. You could be well served reading about your rights under Australian Consumer Law, search the Community for same, as well as ACL and âletter of complaintâ for the full serve.
Whether or not it applies to your current issue the knowledge should serve you well in the future.
Yes thatâs what I thought too with 2 years ACL but apparently the âgenericâ toner voids the warranty which means I had no leg to stand on. They get out of fixing the issue.
From the inkhub web site, obvious biased, but a handy hit that states (bolding added):
The Australian Consumersâ Association Choice Magazine has undertaken a survey into the use of compatible Ink Cartridges and spoke to Epson, Hewlett-Packard, Canon and Lexmark. They were informed by all companies that the âprinter warranty would NOT be affected by the use of compatibles or refilled cartridgesâ. In fact in Australia it is illegal under the Trade Practices Act for a printer manufacturer to require a consumer to use a particular brand of ink or cartridge. The brand of ink cartridges, ink or paper you purchase is your decision. In our own experience we have only ever heard of a few cases were consumers were refused warranties due to using third party inks. The fact is however that legally a company cannot refuse to honor a printer warranty for this reason alone. It would be quite rare anyway for a printer to be damged by a third party ink unless it was very poorly moulded or if the ink itself was of an extremely poor quality.
The manufacturer warranty would be voided if the ink cartridge itself caused the fault with the printer. In such case, the consumer guarantee under the ACL still applies, not to the printer manufacturer but the manufacturer of the printer cartridge.
If a non-OEM cartridge caused a fault in the printer, then the non-OEM printer is responsible for the damage caused and costs associated with the repair of the printer. It is covered on the ACCC website here:
If the printer had a fault from something unrelated to the ink cartridge, then the manufacturer warranty and consumer guarantee under the ACL still applies, and the printer manufacturer is responsible for resolving any warranty claims.
Very interesting but how do we as consumers know for sure what that real cause of a printer breakdown is?
The Authorised repair centre said it âwas the generic printer cartridgeâ how are we to prove otherwise? Get a 2nd opinion somewhere else?
Paper feeds are fairly simple. As long as the feed rollers do not have gunk on them to make them slippery or sticky they should work. It reads as if you have an unfortunate repair centre. You might try ringing Brother and explain your experience and ask the question. They might be amenable to tapping the repair centre on the shoulder to fix it.
In my personal experience Brother support has been exemplary. The other option is going to the retailer who legally has responsibility for the warranty, explaining the pushback you received, and asking how the toner could cause a paper feed problem, and you want it fixed if they cannot. Again, read your consumer rights and the formal process, and follow it and see how you go.
Yes but these days the printer simply wonât work with generic inks because of the microchip they now use in the cartridge. The printer doesnât recognise anything other than the branded cartridges.
I have an ancient Brother multi-function printer that has served me well for over 20 years, However, it is recently playing up and is clearly near its end. I have been looking for a replacement but just about all the new models have this block on generic inks.
I am now looking at the printers with refillable ink wells rather than the cartridge type. It seems the only way to avoid being fleeced every time you have to buy ink.
Oh, and the other big con is the multi-colour single cartridge. The manufacturers say that if one colour runs out, the machine automatically remixes the remaining colours (especially into black) so you do not throw away a cartridge 3/4 full. But this does not in fact seem to be the case. Plenty of complaints on line over this too.
This was the case for when only Black ran out, the three colours (now sometimes 4) could be mixed into a fake Black (this mixing uses much more of the colours than if black was available). I never had one when a primary colour ran out that the other 2 could be mixed to replace it. Black was the most common colour people ran out of and the other colours usually had some left. These days colour is used much more and so this mixing has limited value.
A few comments; first of all, is there a community organisation dedicated to this topic? I know thereâs repair cafes, and many peripheral orgs, but an Australian Right to Repair org might be a good idea. Currently thereâs a big push in the US to create one, and to put itâs legislative agenda on the ballot, being spearheaded in particular by a New Yorker called Loius Rossman. Heâs on Youtube if anyone wants to check him out.
Personally, I donât throw out any electronics. Even broken devices. They all have some value. You can get useful components off of them, like switches, or capacitors. These all have some value, particularly for electronics projects. I think that right to repair could be seen as somewhat a related goal to âright to repurposeâ. Both agendas can be greatly advanced by encouraging companies to release schematics.
Iâm not aware of any umbrella organisation dedicated to repair across Australia. There are incredible local organisations and repair cafe groups but no central group (yet). There was a Repair Summit held on Friday in Canberra that I participated in with these groups (mentioned in the ABC article). My sense was that thereâs momentum and repair groups may work together more.
At CHOICE, weâre going to continue lobbying on right to repair. Iâm actually appearing with @DeanP at a Productivity Commission hearing to talk about this next week. Any thoughts on what issues we should raise?
Interested in thoughts from any experts here: whatâs the most important thing for the Productivity Commission to know about right to repair issues?
