Edmonds Judd

Postscript

Postscript

Inform your customers properly about extended warranties

In October, local computer retailer, PB Technologies, was fined $77,000 in the District Court for not informing its customers of their rights under its extended warranties scheme. PB Technologies (PB Tech) had pleaded guilty to 14 charges brought by the Commerce Commission.

Over eight months in 2017, PB Tech sold more than 4,000 extended warranties but did not provide enough information for purchasers to properly understand the worth of these warranties. The extended warranties were sold in PB Tech’s retail stores and online.

If you are a retailer offering extended warranties on your goods, we remind you that under the Fair Trading Act 1986, you should provide a comparison of the cover provided relative to that available under the Consumer Guarantees Act 1993.

You should also ensure your customers are provided with written and verbal information about their right to cancel the warranty and receive a refund if they change their minds within five working days. Customers should also receive a written copy of the warranty at the time of purchase.

Please contact us if you have any queries about this as the penalties for getting it wrong could be severe.

 

Does ACC owe you money?

More than 300,000 business customers are in for a refund (including interest) from ACC due to two historical overpayment issues. ACC has apologised and said it will:

  • Refund all first-year levies collected since 2002 from self-employed customers, who worked fulltime, ie: averaged over 30 hours per week across the financial year, and
  • Make refunds to around 200,000 businesses that paid provisional invoices over the same period, in situations where they were not required to do so.

To check if you may be eligible for a refund, go here (click here).