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ACCC takes Jayco to court
Consumer watchdog accuses Jayco of breaching Australian Consumer LawThe Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has instituted legal proceedings in the Federal Court against Australian RV giant Jayco, alleging it breached the Australian Consumer Law (ACL) by its conduct towards four customers who bought defective Jayco caravans.
The nation’s top consumer watchdog alleges “that, between 2013 and 2015, Jayco acted unconscionably towards four customers by obstructing them from obtaining redress, such as a refund or replacement for their defective caravan”.
The ACCC alleges that Jayco “did this despite knowing the caravans were defective and not functioning properly, even after repeated, and failed, repair attempts”.
In a statement issued today, the ACCC also alleges that “Jayco made false or misleading representations to the four affected customers about their rights to obtain a refund or replacements for their defective caravan, including that Jayco represented that it had no role or responsibility to provide a remedy such as a refund or replacement vehicle”.
“The numerous defects in the Jayco caravans sold to these four consumers became apparent at the time of purchase, or very soon after and included issues such as misalignment in the roof, which did not close properly and leaked,” ACCC Chairman Rod Sims said.
“Under the Australian Consumer Law, consumers are entitled to a replacement or refund if there is a major failure with their product. In this case, the ACCC alleges that the four customers were each entitled to a refund or replacement from Jayco because the defects could not be repaired or constituted a major failure,” he said.
“Despite requests from the four customers for a refund or replacement, the ACCC alleges that Jayco repeatedly told these four customers that their only remedy available was yet another repair. This understandably caused a lot of distress for the customers,” the ACCC boss said.
“Caravans are an expensive item, typically costing tens of thousands of dollars,” he went on. “People are entitled to expect that the caravan they purchase will be of acceptable quality, and that they will be afforded an appropriate remedy under the ACL consumer guarantees if their caravan fails to meet this standard.”
The ACCC is seeking declarations, pecuniary penalties, consumer redress orders, injunctions, disclosure and compliance program orders, and costs.
In conjunction with the court action, the ACCC is urging all caravan manufacturers to review their complaints handling processes to ensure that they comply with the ACL consumer guarantees.
Sims told the ABC that "the legal case illustrated a more systemic problem with the industry” and that while the ACCC was currently only targeting Jayco, it had received more than 1000 complaints about caravans.
"This is an industry that does need to be put on notice," he said. "Our aim is to change behaviour and say to the industry, you should not be behaving like this."
Jayco declined to comment about the impending court action.
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Written byCaravancampingsales Staff
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Please see our Editorial Guidelines & Code of Ethics (including for more information about sponsored content and paid events). The information published on this website is of a general nature only and doesn’t consider your particular circumstances or needs.
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