Welcome to the community @Darryl
Since you have already involved Fair Trading and that was not helpful there are many unanswered questions.
- what was your claim based on if not for unacceptable quality?
- did you send the retailer a formal letter of complaint per the ACL prior to going to fair trading, and if so why was it rejected?
- are you aware of the Choice ‘study’ that details the expected average life of major appliances? (Mid-range washing machine life is about 8 years)
I recently had an issue with an iPad and researched the expected average life of one, and made a reasonable claim for a repair or a pro-rata valued discount on a new model. (Apple agreed to and repaired the old one.)
If you are a Choice member you can also consult with Choice Help, noting they are often busy and may not be able to respond quickly.
Might this be from a Harvey Norman franchise (if not which)? Regardless, the ACCC would be interested in hearing about that misrepresentation if it is explicitly as you wrote, if you have documentary evidence of it (eg an email reply or similar).
