Kostenpflichtige Rücknahme und Rücksendung sperriger Defektgeräte

Definition

Under ACL, when a product fails consumer guarantees, the consumer is entitled to a remedy and for large, heavy or difficult‑to‑remove goods the business (retailer) must pay the reasonable cost of returning or collecting the faulty goods.[2] For whitegoods, TVs and installed electrical equipment this commonly means booking technicians or carriers to collect from the customer, then shipping the item to the manufacturer or authorised repairer. Where retailers do not have automated processes to (a) decide whether field repair, swap or return‑to‑manufacturer is cheapest, and (b) on‑charge freight and handling back to suppliers under their supply agreements, they bear these logistics costs themselves. Typical metropolitan pick‑up of a large appliance is around AUD 80–120, plus internal handling and admin of ~AUD 20–30. In many chains only a portion of these amounts is successfully recovered from manufacturers, especially when documentation is incomplete or time limits are missed, creating a direct cost of poor quality per returned unit.

Why This Matters

The Pitch: Retail appliance and electronics players in Australia 🇦🇺 waste AUD 50–150 per large defective unit on unoptimised return freight and handling. Automation of freight rules, claim routing and supplier charge‑backs can recover most of this cost and protect margins.

Affected Stakeholders

Head of Operations, Logistics Manager, Customer Service Manager, Supply Chain/Category Manager, Finance/Controlling, Store Managers

Related Business Risks