It broke just after the warranty ran out. What now?
"Sorry, that's out of warranty" is not a legal position. It is a statement about a document the manufacturer wrote, and it answers a question you did not ask.
The question that matters is whether the product lasted as long as a reasonable person would expect. If it did not, your consumer guarantees under the Australian Consumer Law still apply — and those do not expire when the warranty does. The ACCC's own advice on this is unambiguous: "Even if a voluntary warranty, manufacturer's warranty, or extended warranty has expired, you may still be able to use your consumer guarantee rights."
This page is what to do about it, in order.
First, is this actually a claim?
Briefly, because it is covered properly in how long a warranty lasts: the test is reasonable durability, judged on what you paid, what the product is, what you were told about it, and how hard you used it.
The regulators' joint guidance works through a laptop with a 12-month warranty whose processor failed at 18 months, and concludes the buyer could likely claim — because a reasonable consumer expects a laptop to last longer than that, warranty or no warranty.
If your situation looks like that, keep reading. If you genuinely thrashed the thing, or the fault was disclosed when you bought it, this page will not help and neither will a tribunal.
Not sure which side of that line you're on? The warranty check pulls up the published examples closest to your product, price and usage, and drafts the summary in Step 3 for you.
Step 1 — Go to the retailer
The business that sold it to you is responsible for the remedy. The ACCC is explicit: businesses must not tell consumers to go to the manufacturer.
This is the single most common brush-off and it is simply not correct. Being handed a 1800 number is not the retailer discharging its obligation. You can approach a manufacturer separately if you want to, and for some things — spare parts, or costs caused by a defect — that is the right path. It does not move the retailer's duty anywhere.
Go back to where you bought it. If it was bought online, that seller is your retailer.
Step 2 — Say the right thing
The words matter more than the tone. Staff are trained on returns policies, which are a different system from consumer guarantees, and the phrase that moves the conversation is the legal one.
The ACCC's advice is to explain the problem and the outcome you want, as soon as possible, and to say that you think the product has a problem under the consumer guarantees in the Australian Consumer Law.
Something close to this:
I bought this on [date]. It has failed, and given what I paid and what it is, I don't think it has lasted as long as a reasonable person would expect. I'm raising this under the consumer guarantees in the Australian Consumer Law, not the manufacturer's warranty. I'd like it repaired.
Three things that sentence does: it fixes the purchase date, it names the right law, and it explicitly declines the "out of warranty" framing before it is offered.
Step 3 — Put it in writing
Do this even if the conversation went well. The ACCC recommends it so the business is "clearly aware of the problem, what you want, and you have a record of your contact."
Include:
- The date of purchase and the date the problem appeared
- What has already been said, and by whom
- The remedy you want
- A copy of your receipt or invoice attached
- A request for a response within a reasonable time
Email is fine and is better than a phone call, because it timestamps itself. If this ends up at a tribunal, this written record is most of your case.
What the business actually has to do
Once a consumer guarantee has been breached, some practical rules apply that businesses routinely get wrong in their own favour.
| Question | The rule |
|---|---|
| Repair, replace or refund? | Minor problem — the business chooses. Major failure — you choose between refund and replacement |
| How fast? | Within a reasonable time, judged by the nature of the product. No fixed number |
| Who pays return postage? | You, for anything postable or easily carried |
| Large or heavy items? | The business pays shipping or collects it — widescreen TVs, beds, installed stoves and dishwashers are the ACCC's own examples |
| Repair takes too long? | You can ask for a refund or replacement instead, or have it repaired elsewhere and recover the reasonable cost |
| What form is a refund? | The same form as the original payment, unless you agree otherwise — not a credit note by default |
That fourth row is worth remembering. A retailer telling you to somehow get an installed dishwasher back to the store is asking for something the law puts on them, not you.
If the repair drags on, or doesn't hold
A repair that never finishes is not a remedy. If the business cannot fix it in a reasonable timeframe, you are entitled to move on — refund or replacement, your choice at that point, or an outside repair at their reasonable cost.
The same logic applies to a repair loop. A fault that keeps coming back has not been remedied, and a series of failed repairs can turn what started as a minor problem into a major failure, which flips the choice of remedy to you.
If they still say no
There is a defined path here, and knowing it exists changes how the earlier conversations go.
1. Ask for the manager, in writing. Frontline staff often have no authority to authorise anything outside the returns policy. This resolves a surprising share of cases at no cost.
2. Contact your state or territory consumer protection agency. This is the step people skip. These are the bodies that actually handle individual consumer disputes:
| Where you are | Agency |
|---|---|
| NSW | NSW Fair Trading |
| VIC | Consumer Affairs Victoria |
| QLD | Queensland Office of Fair Trading |
| WA | Consumer Protection (Dept of Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety) |
| SA | Consumer and Business Services |
| TAS | Consumer, Building and Occupational Services |
| ACT | Access Canberra |
| NT | NT Consumer Affairs |
Many will contact the business on your behalf, and a letter on government letterhead resolves a lot of disputes that a customer email did not.
3. A small claims tribunal. Every state and territory has a tribunal or small claims court that hears consumer and fair trading matters. They are designed to be used without a lawyer, filing fees are modest, and this is where the written record from Step 3 earns its keep.
4. Report it to the ACCC — but know what that does. The ACCC does not resolve individual disputes. It says so plainly. Reporting is still worth the five minutes, because those reports shape what it investigates and enforces, and consumer guarantee complaints are already one of its largest categories. Just do not file a report and then wait for someone to ring you about your dishwasher.
The brush-offs, and what to say back
| What you'll be told | What's actually true |
|---|---|
| "It's out of warranty." | Consumer guarantees are separate and don't expire with the warranty |
| "You need to call the manufacturer." | The ACCC says businesses must not do this. The retailer owes the remedy |
| "No refunds on sale items." | Sale items carry the same guarantees |
| "We can only offer a credit note." | Not where you're entitled to a refund — and a refund goes back the way you paid |
| "You don't have the original packaging." | The law asks for proof of purchase, not packaging |
| "Our policy is 30 days." | A business can set its own change-of-mind window. It cannot put a deadline on a consumer guarantee |
None of these are lawful reasons to refuse a remedy the guarantees entitle you to. Several are unlawful to display as a sign at all, which is covered in the shop signs that aren't legal.
A business can say no when you simply changed your mind, when you misused the product, when the fault was disclosed before you bought, or when it is ordinary wear and tear.
Where this leaves you
The ACCC recorded more than 28,000 reports and enquiries about consumer guarantees and warranties in 2023 — around 30% of all its contacts excluding scams, with electronics and whitegoods among the worst categories. Being told "out of warranty" is one of the most common consumer experiences in Australia, and it is very often not the end of the matter.
What separates the people who get a remedy from the people who don't is rarely the strength of the claim. It is having the purchase date, saying "consumer guarantee" instead of "warranty", putting it in writing, and being willing to take one more step than the business expects.
The date is the part you have to sort out in advance — which is covered in what counts as proof of purchase.
Sources
Common questions
Can a shop refuse to help because the warranty has expired?
Not on that basis alone. The manufacturer's warranty and your consumer guarantees are two separate things, and the guarantees do not expire with the warranty. If the product failed sooner than a reasonable person would expect, the business still has to deal with it.
Do I have to go to the manufacturer?
No. The ACCC states plainly that businesses must not tell consumers to go to the manufacturer for a remedy — the business that sold you the product is responsible for providing one. You may choose to approach the manufacturer separately, but the retailer cannot make that your problem.
Who pays to send a faulty product back?
You are responsible for returning items that can be posted or easily carried. But where goods are large, heavy or hard to remove — a widescreen TV, a bed, an installed dishwasher — the business pays the shipping cost or collects them.
How long can a business take to repair something?
A reasonable time, judged by the nature of the product. There is no fixed number. If the business cannot repair it within a reasonable timeframe, you can ask for a refund or replacement instead, or have it repaired elsewhere and recover the reasonable cost.
Will the ACCC resolve my dispute?
No. The ACCC does not resolve individual disputes about repairs, replacements or refunds. Reporting to it still matters — those reports guide its enforcement work — but for help with your own case you need your state or territory consumer protection agency, and after that a small claims tribunal.
Keep reading
How long does a warranty last in Australia?
Australia has no minimum warranty period and no two-year rule. What decides a claim is reasonable durability — here's how the regulators judge it.
ReadConsumer guarantees vs warranty: what you're actually entitled to in Australia
Your warranty expired and the thing broke. Under Australian Consumer Law that often doesn't matter — here's what you're entitled to and for how long.
ReadWhat counts as proof of purchase in Australia?
The full list of what a shop has to accept as proof you bought something — and how the ATO's standard for the same receipt is stricter.
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