ACCC has asked Pandora to review its consumer rights practices after several customer complaints.
The jewellery business has acknowledged it had misled consumers about their guarantee rights when returning a faulty item back to store.
After receiving complaints that Pandora staff told customers they do not provide refunds and that Pandora’s warranty policy overrode the consumer guarantees protections under the ACL, the ACCC started an investigation.
It concluded that Pandora’s website had unclear and confusing information re its refunds policy and its product warranty failed to include mandatory text that states that consumers are entitled to a replacement or repair, and in some cases a refund, if their goods are faulty.
ACCC commissioner Sarah Court says it has accepted a court-enforceable undertaking from the jewellery retailer, which has a 143 outlets Australia wide.
“Pandora has acknowledged that it may have misled customers about their consumer guarantee rights to refunds when there was a major fault with their product,” she explains.
“They also have admitted that by doing so they likely breached the Australian Consumer Law.
“Consumer rights to a repair, replacement or refund cannot be excluded, restricted or modified by a business’ warranty policy.
“If consumers have purchased a product that has a major fault, they can request a full refund from their place of purchase,” she concludes.
