Australian Consumer Law Case Study: Betty v Barossa Valley Wines

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PIA law 100 Business law
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Contents
PIA law 100 Business law...............................................................................................................1
Introduction...................................................................................................................................3
Main body......................................................................................................................................4
1. Explain whether Betty is entitled to exercise Australia Consumer Law guarantees and how
long does she have to exercise her rights?................................................................................4
2. Provide advice to Betty what are the available remedies that she could apply under the
Australian Consumer Law and what are the possible penalties that Barossa Valley Mountain
Wines Pty Ltd could incur if there is deemed to be a breach of Australian Consumer Law?.....5
References..................................................................................................................................... 7
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Introduction
In the country lie Australia there are various rules that are framed by the government of the country so
as to protect the rights of the consumer and help them to achieve the objective of maximising consumer
rights. One such act that is proposed by the competition and consumer act, 2010. This act has been
enforced so that seller in the country does not exploit the rights of the consumers. This is seen that
through this act the consumers are made fully protected so that no seller in the country is able to exploit
their rights. The current report consists of the solution to the issue that has arisen in front of Betty
regarding the consumer protection law. the analysis and the solution for the related case would be given
in this report.
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Main body
1. Explain whether Betty is entitled to exercise Australia Consumer Law guarantees and how long does
she have to exercise her rights?
The law of competition and consumer act 2010 is considered to help regulate the business organisation
so as to provide fair and competitive operating environment. This covers various anti-competitive
conduct, price-fixing, and various other issues such as guarantees for the goods that are sold. This also
covers the returns, refund, warranties and another form of issues that occur during the completion of
the transaction. This is seen when the goods have purchased the seller of the goods guarantees that,
 Goods would be of acceptable quality
 These would be fit for the particular purpose
 The description of the goods would be matched as per requirements
 The seller will honour any warranties that are related to it
 The consumer has undisrupted possession on the goods
This is seen that under the competition and consumer act this is seen that a consumer is a person who
has acquired the goods or service for the consideration of not more than $40,000 for his personal use or
for any other person who may use the goods with the approval of that person.
This is seen that for the proof of purchase she has the bill that is given by James to her and due to this,
she is able to ask for the refund. While this is seen that in the consumption of the food product this is
important to take into consideration that expiry date or the date that is prescribed by the seller for the
consumption of the goods must be taken into consideration. hence here the consumer must use the
product and must ask for the refund before the date of expiry or before the time that is prescribed by
the seller.
As per the law of competition and consumer act 2010, this is important that the consumer does not lose
the right to ask for the refund for the goods that have been purchased if they do not change their mind.
It is the right of the consumer. The consumer guarantee does not have the specific time frame for the
purpose of getting refund. This means that it does not have the particular expiry date for the same. This
can be applied after the warranties from the supplier of the goods has expired. Hence this can be
considered Betty can apply for refund of the goods at any time. Hence this can be considered that Betty
has the right to gain the refund for the goods and also the compensation for the illness that has been
caused due to the bad contents that are used in the Wine.
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2. Provide advice to Betty what are the available remedies that she could apply under the Australian
Consumer Law and what are the possible penalties that Barossa Valley Mountain Wines Pty Ltd
could incur if there is deemed to be a breach of Australian Consumer Law?
This is considered that the competition consumer act, 2010 provides various tools through which they
are able to maximise the protection of the consumers that are in their country. It is seen that the
consumer can use these rights that are given by the competition consumer act, 2010 when there is a
breach in the terms and condition or there are defective products that are provided by the supplier of
the goods. This is seen that according to the act there are various rights and remedies that are provided
to the consumer for the breach of the condition that the supplier of the goods and services does. This is
seen that most of the products and services that the consumer purchase has automatic guarantees that
are attached to them. hence this is seen that the most important remedy that is provided to them
includes refund, repair or replacement of the goods that are provided to them. the law provides the
remedy based on type of problem.
It is seen that the consumer has the remedy where they can choose from the option which is provided
to them for defect in the product which includes,
 Refund: this is the remedy that is provided to the consumer where the consumer can ask the
seller of the goods to provide them with the refund for the defective product that they have
provided. This is the right of the consumer where he can ask for immediate refund from the
seller of the goods. This helps in protecting the consumer from being exploited through
defective products. For this the consumer must have original purchase receipt or the photo of
the receipt, statement or any other evidence of the purchase that has been made.
 Make the goods repaired or replaced: the consumer can ask for the replacement of the goods
that are defective in nature. For this, it is necessary that the goods must be in the identical types
which were delivered at the time of original purchase. It is given in the CCA, 2010 where if the
business is not able to give free repair at a reasonable time then the consumer can ask for the
cost that has been incurred on the same.
 To achieve the compensation if this is seen that there is drop in the value of service that is
provided to them: it is seen that the consumer of the service can ask for the compensation if
there is a drop in the price of the goods that are prescribed by them at the time of performance
of service.
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 The consumer is also having the right to make the cancellation of the service: according to the
CCA act, the consumer can ask for the cancellation of the service before the service is being
fulfilled due to the defect or any other less price identified for the same service.
 They can also claim compensation for the damage and the loss that arise to them: if the goods
that are consumed by the consumer leads to illness then the consumer has the right to ask for
the damage that has been caused to them due to the consumption of the goods. They can claim
all the amount for the loss that is related to lose due to the use of goods.
The CCA, 2010 provides various penalties for the loss breach or for the unconscionable conduct, making
false or misleading representation for the goods. This is seen that the penalties under this circumstance
include:
 A civil penalty of around $1.1Mn this is for corporations and $220,000 for the individuals.
 Or there may be subordination notices or the infringement notice or public warning notice.
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References
Competition and consumer act, 2010. Available online
<https://lawhandbook.sa.gov.au/ch10s03s04s06.php>
Consumer guarantees, 2013. Available online <https://www.accc.gov.au/system/files/Consumer
%20Guarantees%20A%20guide%20for%20consumers_0.pdf>
Consumer protection law, 2019. Available online <https://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?
g=9d147c5e-f88f-4772-925a-62c6fd8fd4fb>
Consumer rights and guarantees, 2019. Available online
<https://www.accc.gov.au/consumers/consumer-rights-guarantees>
Fines and penalties, 2019. Available online <https://www.accc.gov.au/business/business-rights-
protections/fines-penalties>
Refund and returns, 2019. Available online <https://www.sa.gov.au/topics/rights-and-law/consumer-
rights/refunds-and-returns>
Warranties and refund, 2019. Available online
<https://www.business.gov.au/products-and-services/fair-trading/warranties-and-refunds>
Case law
Australian Competition and Consumer Commission v Reckitt Benckiser (Australia) Pty Ltd (No 4) [2015]
FCA 1408
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