MegaBuy.com.au and the ACL

Went to buy a SSD drive and as part of the purchase process they offer shipping insurance. I unticked the insurance box and then a message appeared saying that I acknowledge that without this insurance that MegaBuy will not cover any loss or damage during transit. I declined the insurance. In the comments I made them aware that under ACL they are responsible whether I take out insurance or not.

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Transport companies don’t accept liability for product that they damage in their possession.
They charge you extra insurance for this.
I guess that’s the reason MegaBuy adds that charge.

I’ve bought stuff from MegaBuy myself and left the insurance out too.
I use my Credit Card to pay for stuff like this. My CC has its own insurance on purchases.
I believe that all Credit Cards have this type of insurance, so, for most buyers, this cost component will just double up.

Its good that they are made aware of this but all they will do is add the surcharge to the product price.

Perhaps contact ACCC directly and let them know about this.

EDIT …
Forgot to add . MegaBuy also have a 2.5% Credit Card surcharge, I believe that is higher than it should be.

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Do you have a reference for this? I’ve thought and done the same, seems a scam that a company offers a shipping method they aren’t responsible for … and whenever stuff hasn’t arrived (a couple of times) the company has honoured it.

As for companies not taking responsibility while an item is in their care, that doesn’t always work for them. Removalists - one of the most dodgy types of company on the planet in my view - are a classic for this. I had a couple of large jobs done some time ago and they badly packed and broke quite a bit of stuff - then told me I should have had insurance. My position was that if their container was affected by some act or event outside their control my insurance would be relevant, but I should not be expected to insure against their incompetence. In both cases they compensated me. The removals industry would be a good topic for Choice to investigate … sorry for the off-topic …

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Vic Consumer Affairs and WA Dept of Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety each have a page about ACL in regards to products missing or damaged in transit.

NSW don’t make this clear but each State can have differing consumer protections but all are bound by ACL as each State gave the Federal Govt their approval to create the Competition and Consumer Act.

Maurice & Blackburn Lawyers had a blog post about this issue as well see:

Also if paid for by PayPal (which I did) you get further protections see the relevant sections for the definition and approach taken for “Significantly not as described”

S5.1 The PayPal Seller Protection Policy will not apply to a transaction if:

k. The buyer claims the item is significantly not as described;

S11.1 An item may be considered “Significantly not as described” if:

b. The condition of the item is significantly different to how it was described;

S9.1 The PayPal Buyer Protection Policy applies to payments made using our Services.

S9.2 If you are an eligible buyer, the PayPal Buyer Protection Policy can help you recover payments made in respect of certain items purchased where items are:

a. Not received; or
b. Significantly not as described.

S11.1 An item may be considered “significantly not as described” if:

a. The item is completely different to that represented by the seller at the point of sale;
b. The condition of the item is significantly different to how it was described;
c. The item is unusable and was not disclosed as such. (Note, this applies to the item in its received state.);
d. The item is not authentic and was not disclosed as such; or
e. The item is missing a major portion or quantity.

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Thank you Graham,

I’ve bookmarked this :smiley:

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