This is a particularly important function in cases where there is significant asymmetry in transactions, as is typical with large corporations versus many customers making small purchases.
In scenario like that, a defrauded consumer has essentially no recourse, as nobody is willing to take a minor matter to court. Even if they do, they'll face an army of lawyers that will certainly drag out the proceedings until its Just Not Worth It for the angry consumer. Class action lawsuits, the type popular in the United States, are a joke, serving only to enrich lawyers.
In Australia, the ACCC sues or directly penalises corporations on the behalf of consumers. They enforce laws related to things like warranty returns.
They have a reputation for coming down like a ton of bricks on misbehaving businesses, with eye-watering fines for even minor things like putting up an invalid "no returns" policy sign at the cash register.
As a consequence of ACCC's actions, consumer confidence is increased, so people spend more, boosting the overall business activity in Australia. Companies that behave have everything to gain and nothing to fear. Companies that try to rip off consumers are eliminated from the market, so that they can't unfairly compete with law-abiding companies by dropping prices to levels where legitimate behaviour is unsustainable.
An anecdote: A local computer parts store refused to refund my $500 for a new GPU that was faulty. I told them that this was illegal, and they're running the risk of an ACCC fine. They just laughed at me. I did nothing about it, and jumped through the hoops to return the card to the manufacturer instead. Someone else must have reported them for their behaviour, and next time I was there I noticed a prominent sign at the cash register saying that they've been fined by the ACCC $750,000 and that they had to display this sign to notify customers of their rights. For a local, small business retailer this is a brutal fine, but they're still around and now they provide instant refunds for DoA parts without argument! Plus, the look on the face of the manager who refused my warranty claim was priceless. The system works.
https://www.accc.gov.au/business/pricing-surcharging/payment...
The first part had Visa/MC howling (because they're normally insistent that merchants hide their fee) and the second pissed off airlines, hotels etc that loved to tack on high fixed charges as payment fees, but in both cases consumers are obviously the winners.
https://www.accc.gov.au/consumers/online-shopping/drip-prici...
But I see your point, they're not necessarily overvaluing the time they've already spent, they're trying to avoid doing it all over again.
Isn't this already the case, at least in the US? https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/307936
Strictly speaking not a department, rather an independent statutory authority.
Departments are under direct control of ministers, who are politicians, and the ministers can directly intervene in individual cases whenever they wish
Independent authorities such as the ACCC, the politicians have a much more hands off control - they pick the leadership, but have no say in day to day decisions
From memory, they tried to hide it or make it tiny to view and ACCC came back and went "You really didn't learn huh? Wanna go for round 2?" and they went back to prominently displaying it again.
With a giant red "THE ACCC HAS REQUIRED US TO LET ALL CUSTOMERS KNOW" etc etc at the top of the page
ACCC won't help with individual cases, though they will follow up and levy fines like you've said. So you probably did the right thing for yourself by working around them in the short term. Apart from that you need a state authority, ombudsman, or something else for direct help.
I'm sure there used to be a bunch of cheap stores around the UNSW area but they might've all closed now.
I know a Taiwanese guy though who said he had a few decent conversations with him in Chinese, so maybe it was a language thing.
If you go in to MSY with the expectation that it's a warehouse that happens to sell things and that the staff are only there to 1) fetch things for you, and 2) handle the transaction then it is extremely efficient for both the business and yourself. No bullshit small talk, you can just go in, hand over a parts list, finish your sale, and leave within 5 minutes of being served when at a normal shop you might be there for 10 or 20 minutes.
It's a shame my local MSY closed down, they had hands-down some of the best shopping experience I've ever had.
Several years ago, they refused to do anything about a dead on arrival graphics card that I returned in a week (took time for other parts to arrive). They refused to even test, saying they'd only swap it if I came back within 24 hours!
I went to the manufacturer who took their time and my build was delayed by a month.
The terms “fit for purpose” and “reasonable reliability” give the ACCC a lot of latitude. Most things come with a 12 month warranty at a minimum as a result, and the retailer has to handle it which prevents them pawning you off to the manufacturer and also means warranty replacements are brand new instead of factory refurbs.
One notable example of this is that all mobile phones carry a 2 year warranty because phone plan contracts that include them are typically that long so that’s clearly the lower bound on their reasonable life span.
When I bought a pair of jeans in the US and the crotch blew out within a month I got blank stares when I went back to the store to ask for a refund. I got a refund after much loud complaining but if they hadn’t given in my options for pursuing further are limited and vary greatly from state to state.
In Australia if I was refused a refund in a similar situation I would just have to submit a complaint against them online (via the department of Fair Trading) outlining what my issue is, what I want the retailer to do, and what they said when I asked them. Fair trading then sends them a letter that strongly encourages them to self-mediate with the customer. This almost always works. If it doesn’t then it goes to small claims court where you don’t need a lawyer at all and where the consumer wins the majority of the time.
I would be willing to bet that there are a mere handful of countries (if any) with stronger nationwide consumer protection laws than Australia.
The process you describe for getting a refund in Australia sounds completely identical to my experience dealing with my state attorney general. The concepts of Implied Warranties of Merchantability and Fitness for a Particular Purpose are also widely recognized in the US -- at the state level.
Years ago I was in a car accident where the other driver was from a different state. When my car went into the shop, I needed a rental car for a few weeks. I forwarded the bill for that to the other driver's insurance and they refused to pay it, stating that this particular driver didn't have rental car insurance on his policy, and there was no requirement that they pay it.
After pointless bouncing around I called the VA SCC and referred the case to them. Shortly after that I got a call from the insurance company and they quickly paid in full, having apparently been schooled by an SCC investigator. When you're insuring a driver who hits someone in Virginia, you are playing by Virginia rules.