My appliance keeps failing after repairs. Can I get a refund?
What the law says when repairs don't fix an appliance for good, what to send the store and where to go when it keeps offering another repair.
AI-assisted research and reviewed for accuracy. Something out of date? Let us know.
Often, yes. Under the Australian Consumer Law, if a store doesn't fix a fault within a reasonable time you can reject the product, and 2 or more failures can together count as a major failure, which lets you choose a refund or replacement. No set number of repairs applies. If the store refuses, Fair Trading can step in and a tribunal such as NCAT, which hears claims up to $100,000, can order it.
Already tried and got nowhere?
That's where we start. Our team takes it from here.
Does a fault that keeps coming back count as a major failure?
It can, and either way you don't have to keep accepting repairs. The Australian Consumer Law (ACL) gives you two ways out of the repair cycle, and neither depends on a set number of repairs.
Way 1: the repair didn't work. For a minor fault, section 259 of the ACL lets the store choose to repair it, but only within a reasonable time. If the store "refuses or fails" to fix it, or takes too long, you can have it fixed elsewhere and recover the reasonable cost from the store, or reject the product. The ACCC says that when a business can't or won't fix a problem within a reasonable time, "or at all", you can ask for a refund or replacement instead.
Way 2: the failures add up. Section 260(2) says a failure is also a major failure when it is one of 2 or more failures and a reasonable buyer who knew about all of them, "taken as a whole", wouldn't have bought the product. The ACCC puts it as "several smaller problems that would stop someone buying the product". A washing machine that needs a technician every few months for the same error code is the kind of situation that test is for.
Earlier repairs don't use up your rights. Section 260(3) says the multiple-failures rule applies whether or not you've already claimed for the earlier failures.
| Where you are | What the ACL lets you ask for | Who chooses |
|---|---|---|
| One minor fault, fixed properly the first time | A free repair within a reasonable time, or the store's choice of replacement or refund | The store |
| The store refused, took too long or the repair didn't fix it | Have it fixed elsewhere at the store's cost, or reject it and choose a refund or replacement | You |
| Several failures that together would have stopped a reasonable buyer | A refund or replacement, or keep it and get compensation for the drop in value | You |
| Any of these | Other reasonably foreseeable losses the fault caused | You claim them |
A refund must be the full amount you paid, with nothing taken off for the use you've had. The ACCC says a business must not make that deduction.
A replacement comes with the consumer guarantees again. Section 264 treats the replacement as a new supply by the store, so its rights start afresh.
If the appliance is too big or built in to bring back, the store must collect it at its own cost. Section 263 says this must happen within a reasonable time. If you're unsure whether your fault is major in the first place, the page on when a store will only offer a repair explains the test.
What should you do first?
If you've only booked repairs by phone or at the counter, put your request in writing before anything else. The written repair history is what a manager, an agency or a tribunal will ask to see.
Step 1: Gather the repair history
Keep your receipt, every job sheet or technician report, the error codes and the dates the appliance was out of action. Ask the store or service agent in writing for copies of any job sheets you don't have.
Step 2: Ask the store in writing
Write to the store that sold it, not the service agent, so you have a record and a date. Ajust's recommended channels:
- The Good Guys: the contact form at thegoodguys.com.au/contact-us or customercare@thegoodguys.com.au. For faulty products, emailing the store you bought from often got a faster answer in Ajust's cases.
- Samsung (if you bought it from Samsung): 24/7 live chat at samsung.com/au/support/contact or 1300 362 603.
- Any other store: whichever channel gives you a written record and a reference number, usually the web form.
Subject: [Product] has failed again after repairs: request for a refund
Hello,
On [date] I bought a [brand and model] from your [store or website] for $[price]. It has been repaired [number] times, on [dates], for the same fault: [describe the fault]. On [date] the fault came back. My receipt and the repair records are attached.
I don't want a further repair. I am rejecting the product and asking for a [refund / replacement].
Please confirm in writing within 14 days how and when you will provide it.
Regards,
[Your name]
Step 3: Hold the store to a date
If the store books another technician visit instead of answering, reply in writing that you have asked for a refund or replacement and want its answer by the date in your letter.
Already done all this and still being offered another repair? Here's what happens next.
What if the store still says no?
Take it above the store, then outside it. Each route can help, and each has limits worth knowing before you start.
| Where | What it does | Where it stops |
|---|---|---|
| Store manager, then head office (The Good Guys sends written concerns to its ACL Warranty Claims Officer) | Can approve a refund or replacement the counter or service agent refused | It's still the store deciding about its own product |
| State consumer agency (NSW Fair Trading, Consumer Affairs Victoria, Queensland Office of Fair Trading) | Contacts the store to try to reach an agreement | Queensland's Office of Fair Trading says it cannot make judgments like a court, or force a business to compensate you or fix a problem. The NSW direction below is the exception |
| NSW Fair Trading consumer guarantee direction | Can direct the store to repair, replace or refund once its complaint process ends without an outcome. The store must comply within 28 days | Only products costing $25 to $3,000 (excluding GST), bought in the 6 months before you complained, with you and the store in NSW. You have 30 days to ask for one |
| Tribunal (NCAT in NSW, QCAT in Queensland) | Hears the claim and can order payment of money or that faulty goods be fixed or replaced | You prepare and present the case yourself. NCAT charges $64 for claims up to $10,000 and $133 up to $30,000, takes claims up to $100,000 and must get your application within 3 years of the problem. QCAT takes claims up to $25,000 |
NCAT encourages people to run their own case, and in a consumer claim no one can represent you without its permission. Legal Aid NSW can fund a tribunal case about goods you bought, but only if you pass a means test and a merit test, and usually only once you've been through the store's complaints process and an outside one.
Can someone take this on for you?
Yes. An appliance that keeps failing after repairs is the kind of case Ajust takes on.
Our team takes over your claim with the store and puts the full repair history to the people who can approve a refund or replacement: the store manager and head office, not the service agent who keeps booking repairs. We hold the store to a date and lodge with Fair Trading or Consumer Affairs for you if it still refuses.
No win, no fee. We'll tell you straight if we don't think we can win it.
Ajust has handled over 30 cases where an appliance kept failing after repairs.
- In these cases, the typical amount at stake is about $1,200.
- In Ajust's cases, a complaint to NSW Fair Trading after 2 failed repairs has ended in a full refund from the store.
Under the Australian Consumer Law, a major failure lets you choose a refund or replacement, while a minor one lets the business choose to repair, replace or refund.
What doesn't work
- Booking each repair by phone. Every call that ends in a technician visit leaves you with nothing in writing to show the failures add up.
- Starting over with the manufacturer. The ACCC says a business must not send you to the manufacturer for a remedy, and you can't demand a refund from a manufacturer.
- Getting rid of the appliance. Section 262 says you can't reject goods you have disposed of, so keep it until the claim is settled.
- Leaving it months before raising the latest failure. The right to reject ends with the rejection period, which section 262 ties to the type of product and how long it's reasonable to use it.
- Accepting "it's out of warranty now". The Good Guys' own policy says the consumer guarantees have no set time limit.
Common questions
Is there a rule that 3 repairs means a refund?
No. The Australian Consumer Law doesn't count repairs. It asks whether the store fixed the fault within a reasonable time, and whether the failures together would have stopped a reasonable buyer. A fault that returns after one repair can be enough. What counts as reasonable depends on the product and its price.
I agreed to the earlier repairs. Can I still ask for a refund now?
Yes. Section 260(3) of the ACL says the multiple-failures rule applies whether or not you've already claimed for the earlier failures. Accepting a repair last time doesn't stop the failures counting together now. The limit to watch is the rejection period, which runs from when you bought it.
Can the store fix it with refurbished parts?
Yes, if it tells you first. The ACCC says businesses may use refurbished products or parts when repairing products, and must warn you about that with a repair notice. A repair with refurbished parts still has to fix the fault within a reasonable time.
The store says Samsung or Dyson has to decide. Do I deal with them?
Not if you don't want to. The ACCC says businesses must not tell you to go to the manufacturer for a remedy. You can claim from the manufacturer instead, but then you can't demand a refund or replacement. If you bought it from the brand's own store, the brand is the seller and owes you what a store would.
Fair Trading says it can't make the store refund me. What now?
In NSW, if the appliance cost $25 to $3,000 and you bought it in the 6 months before you complained, you can ask NSW Fair Trading for a consumer guarantee direction within 30 days. Otherwise a tribunal is the body that can order a refund, such as NCAT for claims up to $100,000.
Who pays to get a washing machine back to the store?
The store, if returning it would cost you a lot. Section 263 of the ACL says that when goods can't be returned without significant cost because of their size or how they're installed, the store must collect them at its own expense within a reasonable time.
- ACCC: Repair, replace, refund, cancel
- Competition and Consumer Act 2010, Schedule 2 (Australian Consumer Law), sections 259, 260, 262, 263 and 264
- NSW Fair Trading: Consumer guarantee directions
- Queensland Government: Understand the complaint process
- NCAT: Consumer claims
- NCAT: Fees at NCAT
- NCAT: Representation
- QCAT: Consumer and trader disputes
- Legal Aid NSW: Consumer protection policy
- The Good Guys: Product faults and consumer guarantees
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