NOVEMBER 2020
     

ACCC to 'carefully consider' judgement

Court clears Jayco of 'unconscionable' conduct for refusing to replace faulty 'vans

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THE Federal Court has cleared Jayco, Australia's biggest manufacturer of RVs, of "unconscionable" conduct by refusing to replace faulty caravans.

But the court said the Victoria-based company had breached Australian Consumer Law (ACL) in its dealings with one disgruntled caravan buyer.

While agreeing that Jayco had made a false or misleading representation, it ruled that the purchaser was only entitled to a repair, despite his rights under the law to receive a refund or replacement.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission launched the court action in 2017, accusing Jayco of "unconscionable conduct" when dealing with unhappy customers.

The national product safety regulator alleged four owners were refused refunds or replacement between 2013 and 2015 for their defective Jayco caravans.

It claimed the company did this despite knowing they were defective and not functioning properly, even after repeated repair attempts.

The ACCC alleged Jayco's conduct towards the four customers had breached Australian Consumer Law.

It claimed that Jayco had considered their claims about defects in their RVs against its obligations under the Jayco warranty rather than with full reference to the consumers' rights under the ACL.

In a media release, the ACCC said the court's decision found that Jayco had breached the law in its dealings with one consumer who had bought a Jayco caravan.

It alleged Jayco had made a false or misleading representation that the consumer was only entitled to a repair, when in fact a consumer's rights under consumer laws included a refund or replacement.

After finding that Jayco had made false or misleading representations to one consumer, Justice Wheelahan dismissed the remainder of the ACCC's case, finding that Jayco did not make false or misleading representations to the three other consumers or act unconscionably towards the four consumers.

He agreed that the caravans bought by the consumers were not of acceptable quality and that defects in three of the caravans were major.

Amongst other problems, the caravans experienced either water leaks when it rained or had multiple roof collapses.

Commenting on the judgment, ACCC chairman Rod Sims said the action had been taken because it was concerned that the consumers were being denied remedies available under the Australian Consumer Law for products that had clearly had defects.

"These consumers spent tens of thousands of dollars on new Jayco caravans that had defects which caused issues such as roofs collapsing, leaking or not shutting properly," he said.

Mr Sims added that the ACCC would "carefully consider the judgment".

The full judgment can be accessed here.

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