CGA. Is it fair?

Forums › Off topic › CGA. Is it fair?

BTR

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#151291 20-Aug-2014 13:01

In my opinion I find that a 1 year warranty on a cell phone or computer is long enough and if you want to extend the warranty you should have to pay for it.

Consumers by a laptop worth $2000 with a 1 year warranty and then expect the manufacturer to cover them for around 3 years.

Businesses spend $20-40K on a network firewall and are ONLY covered by a 1 year warranty unless they PAY for an extended warranty.

Average warranty without taking CGA into account.

$2000 Laptop = 1 Year

$30K Brand new car = 3 Years

$400K Newly built house. 10 year Classic (defects & maintenance) Master Build Guarantee and a 90 Day Maintenance Guarantee.

Going by what I have said I think a 1 warranty for most devices is perfectly fine however I am interested to know everyone else's thoughts.

BTW this is simply for discussion and doesn't relate to anything.

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#1112048 20-Aug-2014 13:08

CGA = Consumer Guarantee Act

Consumers typically use their devices a lot less than a business / enterprise customer so it makes sense to cover them more. E.g a normal consumer user will use their PCs a few hours a day and then turn it off. A Business PC will be used 9-5 and typically left on 24-7.

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kobiak

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#1112049 20-Aug-2014 13:08

warranty is just an assurance that manufactures do not use cheap components and sell device at highly inflated price.

if there will be something else that will control quality - yes please bring it on and forget about CGA.

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Coil

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#1112055 20-Aug-2014 13:13

1 year warranty is fair. If a consumer wants to extend it. Sure they can pay extra. Usually a product is serviced for 1 year then it becomes grandfathered. CGA doesnt cover business anyway..

MikeB4

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#1112056 20-Aug-2014 13:14

CGA is absolutely fair.An example my iMac which is in the process of being repair due to a fault with the LCD panel, without the CGA I would be having to pay circa $900+ to repair it or buying a new PC

Here is a crazy notion, lets give peace a chance.

SteveON

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#1112062 20-Aug-2014 13:18

CGA only applies to consumers. All businesses are exempt.

Geektastic

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#1112065 20-Aug-2014 13:21

It's fair.

Personally I do not really like vagueness in warranty issues - so I dislike that you are left with arguing what is 'reasonable'.

In the EU, they require a minimum warranty of 2 years for electronics sold there. I prefer that. I do not know what Apple Care does in the EU since they have to give 2 years anyway, does it only add one year more or 2 years like here?

My favourite warranties are Lifetime ones that are proudly honoured. I've used a few - Leica binoculars sent back to the factory after the rubber coating deteriorated 15 years after purchase. Returned a brand new updated pair instead. Snap On tools - broke a spanner using it as a pry bar to remove the starter motor from a tractor. Snap On man merely apologised and handed me a new one. No "when did you buy it? Where is the receipt?" nonsense.

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maxeon

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#1112085 20-Aug-2014 13:40

CGA in my view is fair and very important.

I bought a Washing Machine from Harvey Norman with extended warranty (It was called Protection Plus). At the time of purchase the manufacturer warranty was 2 years and the extended warranty I paid was 5 years on top of the manufacturers warranty.

The washing machine broke 3 times until last year and it was covered by the extended warranty people. It broke again last week and the warranty would only cover to a maximum of the price of the Washing Machine.

Because I got it repaired three times already there is a balance of 200 dollars remaining that I can use to put it either towards a new one or get it repaired and pay the balance.

When I bought the warranty at Harvey Norman in 2009, the sales person actually said it extends the warranty to another 5 years. However, after being told and reading the fine print there is a clause that says it covers only up to the maximum of the purchase price.

CGA was used here, I spoke to Harvey Norman about the reasonable period of time it should last. She actually tried to fob me off saying 5 years is a good period. I then raised its less than 5 years (Nov - 2014 is when 5 years will be up).

She continued to fob me off saying we cannot honour it and we have to claim warranty and pay for parts through protection plus etc.

I agreed to get it assessed and the whole spinning drum needed a replacement which is expensive and time consuming. The assessment was done using the technician that was sent by the warranty. He said the repair would cost as much as the machine itself.

Called Harvey and said if they don't consider this as a reasonable period of time they should not have sold me 7 years of warranty in the first place and I would go to disputes tribunal if they are not willing to fix it.

She eventually spoke to Samsung and said she will give me credit of my purchase price to buy a new one along with free delivery and installation. They also took the old one back.

Without CGA - I will be out of pocket for about $1200 and kept some 200 dollars credit on my "not sure what to do" warranty on the old machine.

PS - Harvey Norman now changed their warranty policy to a new one which does a direct replacement with a new one. On their leaflet they have to now disclose what CGA can offer and what this new additional warranty can offer and I can say CGA is far more superior. In my view its not worth to buy that extended warranty because you are legally covered by CGA already with better protection.

sxz

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#1112091 20-Aug-2014 13:53

CGA is entirely fair. It is very generally worded. Goods sold have to be of acceptable quality (section 6). Section 7 defines what acceptable quality is and that it takes into account the price of the product or service, any representations made etc. It also takes into account what the reasonable consumer would consider appropriate. So a cheap and nasty product is expected to only last a small time.

So you argue a $1000 iPhone is of acceptable quality if it only lasts 1 year? I do not agree. But a $100 vodafone branded smart phone? I would probably agree.

What about a fridge? What do you do if your $3,000 double door fridge dies after 3 years through no fault of your own?

Or if your brand new car has a hidden defect and dies after 3 years? Do you not think its reasonable the vendor replaces it?

Check out the article here on extended guarantees and the consumer guarantees act: http://brlegal.co.nz/img/BRL_2013_(4)_-_Nov_to_Jan.pdf

There is good reason why businesses are excluded. That is because they are considered to have more nous that an ordinary reasonable consumer, so can more readily protect their rights when entering into a contract with service agreements (etc.). Note, just because this act does not apply to them does not mean they do not have other recourse against the vendor.

scheduler

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#1112093 20-Aug-2014 13:56

In the case of cellphones I do believe given the number of cellphones supplied with a 2 year contract then it is reasonable for the phone to last 2 years. I understand that is why the phone companies have moved to 2 year warranties for phones

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#1112094 20-Aug-2014 13:56

Thank common sense for the CGA

Talkiet

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#1112097 20-Aug-2014 14:05

I think it's too far in favour of the consumer actually, but I am grateful it's there when the retailer doesn't want to be reasonable...

I have seen people (in my opinion) abusing the CGA.

Cheers - N

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#1112112 20-Aug-2014 14:39

sxz: CGA is entirely fair. It is very generally worded. Goods sold have to be of acceptable quality (section 6). Section 7 defines what acceptable quality is and that it takes into account the price of the product or service, any representations made etc. It also takes into account what the reasonable consumer would consider appropriate.

I agree, the CGA doesnt cover the usage patterns of the average tech/gadget geek it covers normal people. If my parents ever spent $1000 on a cellphone, they would expect it to last years and years. A $100 cellphone they would probably accept only lasting 2-3 years. My father only recently replaced his amp from the late 70's. It lasted nearly 40 years.. He would probably he happy with a replacement lasting 20. They are willing to replace technology if it becomes outdated (VHS to DVD for instance), but if it's still doing the same job they expect things like fridges, tv's, cars etc to last 10-20 years before wearing out.

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bazzer

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#1112113 20-Aug-2014 14:43

KiwiNZ: CGA is absolutely fair.An example my iMac which is in the process of being repair due to a fault with the LCD panel, without the CGA I would be having to pay circa $900+ to repair it or buying a new PC

I guess the point of the fairness question is, is it fair for everyone to be paying a premium so that you can get your iMac repaired? Essentially, the CGA drives up costs (think of it as insurance premium) to cover such breakdowns that wouldn't be covered by regular warranty.

networkn

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#1112114 20-Aug-2014 14:46

Talkiet: I think it's too far in favour of the consumer actually, but I am grateful it's there when the retailer doesn't want to be reasonable...

I have seen people (in my opinion) abusing the CGA.

Cheers - N

I 100% agree. I have seen so many people bullying retailers unfairly and getting away with completely unreasonable things, because they threaten the CGA and the retailer folds because they don't want the "bad" publicity or don't have the time and resources to fight it through a DT process.

A few years ago retailers may have tried to take the mickey, but these days by in large I think it's actually the other way around.

MikeB4

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#1112115 20-Aug-2014 14:46

If there is a premium I paid it as well. I paid for you as well.

Here is a crazy notion, lets give peace a chance.

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