Reebelo Australia, an online marketplace for new and refurbished electronics, has paid $59,400 in penalties after the ACCC issued it with three infringement notices for allegedly making false representations about the effect of consumer guarantee rights in contravention of the Australian Consumer Law (ACL).
The infringement notices relate to statements made on Reebelo Australia's website that purported to limit consumers' ability to access their consumer guarantee rights by putting a 14-day time limit on:
- A consumer's ability to receive a remedy for faulty or damaged goods,
- A consumer's ability to receive a remedy for goods received that were not in a condition that matched the description of the purchased product, and
- A consumer's ability to receive a remedy where they had received a different model of a product than what they had ordered.
"Under the Australian Consumer Law, consumers automatically have basic rights when buying products and services, known as consumer guarantees. These rights cannot be taken away by anything a business says or does," ACCC Deputy Chair Catriona Lowe said.
"If a business fails to meet these guarantees, consumers have a right to a remedy if they return products that do not comply with consumer guarantees within a reasonable time, which may be more than 14 days. It is against the law for a business to mislead consumers about their right to a suitable remedy."
The ACCC alleges that the representations made by Reebelo Australia were false and misleading as under the ACL consumers may be entitled to a remedy regardless of whether 14 days had passed since the product was received.
"Given the products that Reebelo Australia sells are often refurbished high-end electronic products such as laptops or mobile phones, we are concerned that consumers may have faced financial harm from this conduct," Ms Lowe said.
The ACCC received a number of complaints from consumers who reported difficulties obtaining a remedy from Reebelo Australia for faulty or wrong products.
"The ACCC closely monitors the complaints we receive from consumers, and we will continue to take appropriate action against businesses who do not comply with the Australian Consumer Law."
"We encourage all businesses, including online marketplace retailers, to review their polices to ensure they are complying with the law," Ms Lowe said.
Separately, Reebelo Australia has agreed to several commitments as part of an administrative resolution, including amendments to its website, improvements to its online complaints handling processes, and various training and awareness measures to ensure future compliance with the ACL.
Background
Reebelo Australia operates as an online marketplace for new and refurbished products including phones and laptops, home appliances, power tools and health and beauty products. It is located in Sydney, NSW.
Reebelo Australia acts as an intermediary platform where third-party suppliers list products for sale on Reebelo Australia's website.
Internationally, Reebelo was launched in Singapore in October 2019 with headquarters in California. The parent company is based in Singapore with offices in Australia, the United States, Canada, Malaysia, New Zealand and Hong Kong.
Note
The ACCC can issue an infringement notice when it has reasonable grounds to believe a person or business has contravened an infringement notice provision of the ACL.
The payment of a penalty specified in an infringement notice is not an admission of a contravention of the ACL. The ACL sets the penalty amount.
