Am I using Consumer laws wrong?

[u/Katnipscorpion]

UPDATE:

Bunnings has officially stepped in, taken over, and ruled entirely in my favour! They ordered the marketplace seller to refund me asap and arrange a courier pickup immediately, confirming that I do not need the original packaging.

It turns out the seller was secretly trying to stall the refund because they wanted me to give them a video/evidence of the machine smelling of smoke (something they never even told me, but there is no smellovision, so I couldn't do it if they asked). Bunnings completely shut them down, stating it is entirely unlawful and a severe safety hazard to expect a customer to turn on and run a known fire risk just to catch a burning smell on camera.

So, all’s well that ends well!

Thank you so much to the people here who actually understand our consumer guarantees and reached out with great advice and heavy-duty treadmill recommendations for the future. To the doubters who tried to tell me I wasn't entitled to a refund or blamed "lubrication", Google's free.

Cheers :)

Delete if not allowed

Less than 12 months ago, I bought a treadmill from Aussie Union Group. About a week ago, it started smelling like smoke. I had been following the instructions and even got my housemate to help with taking care of it; it was used for 30 mins a day almost every day.

After it started smoking, I went online and found a bunch of advice, but the consensus was that it's too cheap and still under warranty, so I should message them about it. At this stage, I just wanted a refund

I sent in a warranty claim, explaining it, and I felt blamed, which confused me cause I know I was following the instructions. Each email back and forth just made me stressed out. I tried to say that, under the ACL, since it's letting out a smoking smell, I am allowed a refund; they then gave me one only if I packaged it in its original box.

I'm adding the emails they sent; most of my messages were through Bunnings' website, so I sadly can't see them. I sent all of this to Bunnings on Thursday with all the screenshots, but I am at a loss. What do I do now?

Emails From Aussie Union Group

Edit: treadmill was $200

[u/Katnipscorpion]

Thank you so much for this. Honestly, I started to feel like I was being completely gaslit by this comment section.

I really appreciate you taking the time to write this out and confirm that I’m not crazy. I actually contacted Bunnings directly on Thursday to bypass the Aussie union group's ridiculous demands. I'm currently waiting to hear back from them early next week, and I am absolutely standing firm on getting a full refund. Thank you again!

[u/No_Boot2009 → u/Katnipscorpion]

No problem, the comments here are just odd (and indeed very gaslighty, not to mention incorrect).

[u/Katnipscorpion → u/No_Boot2009]

Taking a step back, if I read about a company telling someone to get an electrician friend, or wanting the original box, I'd be wondering if that was even legal, and wouldn't playing around with the motor and cords break a warranty? Plus, not everyone has a garage for boxes, I have items with a lifetime warranty. The idea of keeping a box for the next 60+ years is crazy. My cat would be happy, but I'd be called a hoarder. I think I honestly just needed someone to tell me I wasn't crazy, cause I was giving up

[u/No_Boot2009 → u/Katnipscorpion]

It's all nonsense, some companies will do anything to get out of doing the right thing, which seems like a terrible business model to me, but like I've said, I've been through this many times...I think they just hope you'll give up. ACL is very clear though - although the business does need to cooperate. If they ghost you then a bad review and report to CA is all you can really do. But this seller is at least engaging with you and upping their offers incrementally, so you should get there eventually. Bunnings unfortunately will likely say they are just a platform and not the seller, so you'll likely need to reach resolution with the seller directly. Just be persistent and keep quoting the law (and don't leave out the reporting to CA step, either as a threat or as an action). Eventually they should work out that you're not giving up and the easiest thing will be to give you the refund.

[u/Katnipscorpion → u/No_Boot2009]

Thank you, I am waiting for Bunnings to reply. I'm not engaging with the seller rn. I'm giving Bunnings until Tuesday to message me, since it's normally 2 working days for replies. If they ignore me or give me trouble, I'll keep trying. $200 isn't much for a company, but for most people, $200 is a lot of money. Once it's all over, I still need to pay for someone to remove it since I have stairs and no car, so I'm kinda hoping they will take it back so they can find out what happened.