"Warranty" vs. "Guarantee" in Australia

Australia has strict warranty and guarantee regulations under the Australian Consumer Law (ACL) that every business should follow. Read this blog post to know more about warranties and guarantees in Australia.

ACL (Australian consumer law) requires businesses to provide consumer guarantees for most consumer goods and services they sell.

Guarantee

Businesses must guarantee products and services they sell, hire or lease for:

• under $100,000
• over $100,000 that are normally bought for personal or household use
  

Businesses must provide these automatic guarantees regardless of any other warranties they give to you or sell you. Otherwise, you have the consumer rights to:

• Repair, replace, or refund
• Cancel a service
• Compensation
  

In Australia, Jamaica, and Sri Lanka, guarantee must be in writing. Extensive information about guarantees on products and services is here.

Warranties

are voluntary promises you can offer to consumers. The warranties apply to the product or service you sell to a consumer and can be enforced under contract law and the ACL. There is three kinds of warranty:

Express warranties

As a business, you may make extra promises or representations verbally or in writing about the quality or standard.

Warranties against defects

it promises to consumers about what manufacturer or supplier will do if something goes wrong with a good or service. Under the Australian Consumer Law, these are called 'warranties against defects.

Extended warranties

Some suppliers or manufacturers offer optional extended warranties to lengthen the coverage of their manufacturer's warranty.