The following is a non legal opinion. Getting proper legal advice before taking any action is very important and strongly recommended. There are good Consumer Legal Advice centres that deal with this type of consumer complaint and on this site we have a topic that lists a few Free Legal Advice Centres - Services - Community (choice.community)
If you did take action in a Civil and Administrative Tribunal (CAT) you could seek as part of the result that your reasonable costs of taking the action were met eg cost to file, cost to serve, reimbursement for travel to CAT costs, as the ACL makes provision for compensation of costs above the refund, repair amount. This would probably make the process much more palatable to undertake for you and in a strong case much more costly for the business.
The relevant quotes from the ACCC on compensation under ACL and a link to the page regarding compensation follow:
1. Information For Businesses
"
Compensation for damages & loss
Your customers can seek compensation for damages and losses they have suffered due to a problem with a product or service (in addition to any other remedy provided) if you could have reasonably foreseen the problem. In other words, customers can also recover losses that would probably result from your failure to meet a guarantee.
Damages include the cost caused to the consumer as a result of the problem with the product or service. This is usually financial, such as costs of repairing damaged carpets as a result of a faulty leaking washing machine, inspection and transportation. It can also include lost time or productivity.
You do not have to pay for damages or losses that:
- are not caused by your business or the goods you supplied
- relate to something independent of your business and outside your control, after the goods left your control. "
2. Information For Consumers
Who to claim a remedy from
Products
You can claim a remedy from the retailer if the products do not meet any one or more of the consumer guarantees, with the exception of availability of spare parts and repair facilities.
The remedies you can seek from the retailer who sold you the product include a repair, replacement, or refund and in some cases compensation for damages and loss.
The retailer can’t refuse to help you by sending you to the manufacturer or importer.
You can claim a remedy directly from the manufacturer or importer if the goods do not meet one or more of the following consumer guarantees:
- acceptable quality
- matching description
- any extra promises made about such things like performance, condition and quality
- repairs and spare parts - the manufacturer is responsible for ensuring that spare parts and repair facilities (a place that can fix the consumer’s goods) are available for a reasonable time after purchase unless you were told otherwise. How long is ‘reasonable’ will depend on the type of product.
[My note: In cases where you avoid the retailer and go to the manufacturer or importer]
You are only entitled to recover costs from a manufacturer or importer, which include an amount for reduction in the product’s value and in some cases compensation for damages or loss.
Services
You can claim a remedy from the supplier if the services do not meet any of the consumer guarantees in relation to services. Remedies include cancelling a service and in some cases compensation for damages and loss.
Exceptions to guarantees
Consumer guarantees do not apply if you:
- got what you asked for but simply changed your mind, found it cheaper somewhere else, decided you did not like the purchase or had no use for it
- misused a product in any way that caused the problem
- knew of or were made aware of the faults before you bought the product
- asked for a service to be done in a certain way against the advice of the business or were unclear about what you wanted.
Rights to a repair, replacement, refund, cancellation or compensation do not apply to items:
- worth more than $100,000 purely for business use, such as machinery or farming equipment
- you plan to on-sell or change so that you can re-supply as a business
- bought as a one-off from a private seller, for example at a garage sale or fete (but you do have rights to full title, undisturbed possession and no unknown debts or extra charges)
- bought at auction where the auctioneer acted as an agent for the owner (but you do have rights to full title, undisturbed possession and no unknown debts or extra charges)
- where the contract is to store or transport goods as part of business activities."
