Join Handle My Complaint and reap the rewards
If you’ve ever spent hours on the phone trying to sort out an issue with a product or service, or been given the run-around by a company’s complaints department, you’ll see the value in getting someone else to do the legwork for you.
Hyundai drivers demand action over peeling paint
Angry Hyundai drivers whose cars are worth little more than scrap due to a common paint peeling issue have ramped up their push for compensation.
About a dozen owners and their supporters drove their shabby looking cars to Channel 7 in Perth for a public protest just before Christmas.
Consumer law update needed to combat ‘junk insurance’
Handle My Complaint is urging the Federal Government to protect consumers from so-called ‘junk insurance’ by making the Australian Consumer Law clearer.
Maurice Blackburn Lawyers filed a class action against JB Hi-Fi in the Supreme Court of Victoria last week, claiming that extended warranties offer no benefit to consumers.
Bad numbers: What’s behind the record complaints against financial firms?
Are you unhappy with your bank? Still disputing a transaction on your account that you didn’t make? Or have your dealings with the buy now, pay later (BNPL) sector left you more than a little hot under the collar? You’re not
Seeing red: How to handle debt collectors
Are you being hounded by a debt collector? Are there endless phone calls and texts? Perhaps they are even calling or texting family members or friends to try to get hold of you. Here’s how to handle debt collectors.
No one wants to be chased for money, especially at a time they are feeling vulnerable and under financial stress. While businesses are entitled to expect payment for a product or service, there are rules and regulations around debt collection. There are also places you can go to get help dealing with debt collectors, so don’t feel backed into a corner.
Extended warranties: Don’t pay extra for nothing
Salespeople will often try to persuade you that extended warranties are the best way to protect yourself against expensive repairs in the future. Don’t be fooled.
What many Australians don’t realise is they are protected under Australian Consumer Law and that, more often than not, the extended warranty being offered covers the same period and rights to repairs or replacement. This is why it’s often referred to as ‘junk insurance’.
Picture-Perfect Pressure: Protect yourself from unfair contract sales tactics
Gap Studios, a photography studio based in Newstead, Queensland, has been accused of using unethical and manipulative business practices and unfair contract terms to deceive customers into spending thousands of dollars on photos.
The studio frequently promotes "free" photography sessions on social media, encouraging people to sign up with the promise of a chance to win the free photography experience. However, those who enter the competition are in for a nasty surprise.
Sharp practice: Don’t take short cuts with cosmetic surgery
All surgery comes with risks and cosmetic surgery is no different. But with even the national medical regulator acknowledging that the industry’s profit-driven culture puts patients in danger, just how risky is it to go under the knife?
Second bite: What does Apple’s new repair program mean for you?
Have an iPhone that needs repairing? Is your MacBook not working properly again? It’s almost expected that technology won’t go the distance, or that Apple parts will cost too much to get fixed. So we may as well buy a new one. It’s a mindset that has contributed to a stockpile of e-waste that is tipped to hit more than 70 million tonnes globally by 2030.
But what if you could repair your phone or other electronic devices yourself? Apple has introduced a Self Service Repair program, where you can order the parts to fix the issue yourself — or get a more experienced third party to do so.
World Consumer Rights Day: It’s time to make yourself heard
“Their voice is not always as loudly heard in Washington as the voices of smaller and better-organized groups – nor is their point of view always defined and presented. But under our economic as well as our political form of democracy, we share an obligation to protect the common interest in every decision we make.”
John F. Kennedy was writing on March 15, 1962, on what is now known as World Consumer Rights Day, in a “special message to Congress on protecting the consumer interest”. But swap Sydney or Melbourne for Washington and the then US President’s words are just as true for Australian consumers in the 21st century. If not more so.