VIC Am I entitled to a refund for custom made purchases online?

[Rachel Merton]

I have purchased a custom t-shirt online where you can upload a photo to be printed on the shirt, I've sent the seller a simple email requesting them not to crop the photo, they emailed back confirming this. When the shirt arrived I found that they did not honor my request and cropped the photo. I've contacted them to let them know what has happened, they got back to me admitting they made a mistake and offered a 20% refund or free replacement, so I agreed to the replacement thinking the 20% refund is a joke, having said this I've also opened up a dispute via paypal for protection (not knowing at the time that PayPal does not offer protection for custom made products). Seller emailed asking me to cancel the dispute so they can send replacement shirt. I told them to send me a photo of the new shirt and if I am happy with it I'll cancel the dispute and they can mail it off. Seller emailed back saying they cannot do this, so I asked for a refund instead. Seller says they cannot issue a refund and let PayPal decide what to do. Later I find out that PayPal has decline my rights to a refund for a faulty product. I was horrified! It is my belief that customers are entitled to a refund under Australian consumer law if they are not happy with the product. Seller has not said anything to me saying that I could send the faulty shirt back to them. I have contacted the ACCC about this and is now awaiting their response. I'd like to see what your opinion to this situation are? Am I in the wrong or is the seller in the wrong for not complying with Australia law?

 

[Victa]

You would be better off lodging a complaint with Consumer Affairs Victoria than the ACCC as the ACCC won't take one off complaints and will look at systemic issues in a much wider and larger scale. If you have paid for something online and it isn't as described, you are entitled to the replacement or a refund. I recently did this with an online shirt maker and the sizing was so far off that my 4 year old could wear it and my 10 year old who I ordered it for couldn't. They were terrific and told me to keep the original one and sent out one that was better sized. Check CAV and see if they can assist first.

 

[Rachel Merton]

Thank you for your response, I did contact CAV and they told me to contact VCAT. I've also lodged a report to the ASIC as I cannot find the website on the ASIC registry. I cannot proceed with VCAT without the business registry information from ASIC. So I'll have to wait til I hear back from the ACCC and ASIC.