01There is no fixed number of years
Most people get this wrong, and it is what retailers lean on when they tell you that you are out of warranty.
The CGA does not say “two years”. It says goods must be of acceptable quality and must last as long as a reasonable consumer would expect, given what the product is, what it cost, and what the seller said about it.
A $3,000 heat pump failing in year four is not reasonable. A $60 kettle failing in year four probably is. Price is a signal about expected life, and paying more genuinely buys you longer protection.
02It is separate from the manufacturer's warranty
A manufacturer’s warranty is a voluntary promise from the company that made the product. When it expires, it expires.
The CGA is a legal right against the retailer who sold it to you, and it cannot be contracted out of for personal or household purchases. Being out of warranty does not mean being out of options. The two run independently, and the CGA usually runs longer.
03Which is why extended warranties are usually a poor deal
An extended warranty is often sold as covering years three to five. For a reasonably priced appliance, the Act may already cover that period at no cost.
Before buying one, the question worth asking is what it gives you beyond the rights you already have. Sometimes there is a real answer, such as accidental damage cover, on-site service, or replacement rather than repair. Often there is not.
04What you can ask for
If a fault is minor, the retailer chooses the remedy: repair, replacement, or refund. They must do it within a reasonable time.
If it is serious (the product is substantially unfit, unsafe, or you would not have bought it had you known), you choose. You can reject the goods for a refund or replacement, and claim compensation for reasonably foreseeable consequential loss, such as food spoiled by a failed fridge.
You are also entitled to have the fault fixed without being charged a call-out fee for a product that failed to meet the guarantee in the first place.
05Go to the retailer, not the manufacturer
Under the Act your claim is against the shop that sold it to you. They frequently redirect people to the manufacturer; you do not have to accept that. The retailer cannot discharge their obligation by handing you a phone number.
Put it in writing, state that you are making a claim under the Consumer Guarantees Act, and say what remedy you want.
06If they refuse
The Disputes Tribunal handles claims up to $30,000. It is deliberately informal, costs a modest filing fee, and you do not need a lawyer.
What decides these cases is evidence: proof of purchase, the date, the price paid, what went wrong and when. That is the paperwork most people no longer have.
07What this has to do with I Kept It
I Kept It keeps that evidence for you automatically, and estimates how long your CGA cover should reasonably run, based on the product category and what you paid, so you know whether it is worth pushing back before you walk into the shop.
Those estimates are a starting point for the conversation, not a legal ruling. But walking in with a dated receipt and a number is a very different conversation from walking in with neither.
