Faulty goods and the Consumer Guarantees Act

A great many "the warranty's expired, nothing we can do" conversations in New Zealand are wrong, or at least incomplete. A warranty is a voluntary promise a business chooses to make. The Consumer Guarantees Act is law, it applies whether anyone mentions it or not, and it doesn't come with an expiry date printed on the box.

What you're actually entitled to

Buy something from a business in New Zealand for personal or household use and it comes with guarantees built in. The big one is acceptable quality: it has to do what it's meant to do, look acceptable, be free of defects, be safe, and last a reasonable time.

Goods must also match their description, be fit for any purpose you told the seller about, and be delivered on time and in good condition. Services have their own set: performed with reasonable care and skill, fit for purpose, finished in a reasonable time, and charged a reasonable price if you didn't agree one up front.

The bit shops get wrong: "reasonable time"

There is no fixed durability clock in the Act, and that cuts in your favour more often than not. What counts as reasonable depends on the product, what you paid and what a sensible person would expect.

A $40 kettle that dies at 13 months may be out of warranty, but most people would expect a kettle to last a few years. A $4,000 television failing in its second year is even clearer. The manufacturer's 12-month warranty is a separate, voluntary promise sitting alongside your statutory rights, and a business cannot limit its obligations to it.

Minor or serious fault? It matters

This is the distinction worth understanding before you walk in, because it determines whether you can insist on your money back.

When the CGA doesn't apply

• Private sales. Buying a couch off someone on Facebook Marketplace isn't covered — no business, no guarantees. You may still have a valid claim if you were misled, but not under the CGA.
• Business-to-business. If you bought it for your business, the parties can agree in writing to contract out.
• Goods bought to resell. Also outside the Act.
• Ordinary wear and tear, or your own damage. The guarantee is about acceptable quality, not immortality — and dropping the thing is not a manufacturing fault.

Second-hand goods from a dealer are covered, but "reasonable" is judged against the age, price and condition of what you actually bought.

If the shop still says no

Put it in writing — email is ideal, because it timestamps itself. Say what you bought, when, what's gone wrong, which guarantee you say has been breached, and what you want them to do. Give a clear deadline. A calm, dated paper trail is the single most useful thing you can build, and it's exactly what a referee will want to see.

If that doesn't work, the Disputes Tribunal handles claims up to $60,000, with filing fees from $62. You generally have six years from when the problem arose to bring a claim, so there's usually no need to rush — but there is every reason to keep the receipts.

Faulty-goods claims suit the Tribunal well: the facts are usually documented, the amounts are modest, and "reasonable" condition is typically unambiguous for common items. Our guides cover getting your evidence in order and what the hearing is actually like.