Your rights as a customer

When you pay a local business for a service, you're protected by the Australian Consumer Law. Those protections apply automatically, whatever the contract or warranty says, and they're surprisingly practical once you know them. The guides in this section explain your main rights in plain language, and what to do if something goes wrong.

The guides in this section

• Consumer guarantees for services: due care and skill, fitness for purpose, reasonable time, and the remedies for major and minor problems.
• Door-to-door sales and cooling-off: the rules for traders who approach you uninvited, including the 10 business day cooling-off period.
• Fake reviews and the law: what the law says about fake reviews, incentives and removing negative reviews.
• How to resolve a dispute: a step-by-step path from a phone call to a tribunal.

Your rights in a nutshell

Services must be done properly

According to the ACCC, services must be provided with due care and skill, which it describes as at least as well as a competent provider with average skills would. They must be fit for any purpose you made known and be supplied within a reasonable time if no date was agreed. Warranties are extra promises on top of these guarantees and can't take them away.

Uninvited sales come with extra protection

If a trader knocks on your door or phones you uninvited and you agree to buy something worth more than $100, you generally have 10 business days to cancel. During that time, the trader can't take payment or supply services under the agreement. Traders can only knock during set hours and must leave if you ask.

Reviews must be genuine

Fake reviews, and arranging for others to write them, are illegal, according to the ACCC. Suppressing genuine negative reviews can also mislead. Incentives for reviews should apply to positive and negative reviews alike and be disclosed.

There is help if things go wrong

Most problems are fixed by talking to the business. If that fails, write a clear complaint. If you still can't resolve it, your state or territory consumer protection agency can explain your rights and may help negotiate. Small claims tribunals hear consumer disputes.

Who's who in consumer protection

• The ACCC enforces the Australian Consumer Law nationally. It publishes guidance and takes reports, but it says it doesn't resolve individual complaints.
• State and territory agencies, such as NSW Fair Trading and Consumer Affairs Victoria, give advice, may help negotiate and often handle building and licensing issues.
• Industry ombudsmen resolve disputes in sectors such as telecommunications, energy and financial services.
• Tribunals and small claims courts make binding decisions on consumer disputes.
• Scamwatch, run by the National Anti-Scam Centre, provides information on scams and takes scam reports.

Know your rights before you need them

The best time to understand your rights is before you hire anyone. Knowing that deposits may be capped, that door-to-door sales have a cooling-off period and that services must be done with due care and skill helps you ask the right questions and spot problems early. Our hiring section puts these rules into the context of quotes, contracts and payments.

A note on this information

These guides are general information based on official sources, not legal advice. Consumer law details, such as price thresholds, are updated from time to time, and state rules differ. For advice about your situation, contact your state or territory consumer protection agency or a community legal centre.

A simple routine for any local business

Whatever the job, the same short routine works:

1. Write a brief of what you need, where and when.
2. Find three to six names from people you trust, maps, directories and associations.
3. Check each one: ABN, any licence and a spread of reviews.
4. Ask the same questions of each business and get written quotes.
5. Compare like with like using our quote checker.
6. Agree everything in writing, pay safely and keep your records.

Keep your paperwork

Rights are easier to use with evidence. Keep quotes, contracts, invoices, receipts, photos and messages together from the start of every job, so that if something goes wrong you can show what was agreed and when.

About these guides

Search My Local is independent. We aren't a directory, a government agency or a regulator, and no business pays to appear in our guides. We write every guide in our own words and list the official sources we relied on, such as the Australian Business Register, the ACCC, Scamwatch and state government agencies. Rules change and differ between states, so always check the current rules where you live.

Rights for small businesses too

Some consumer protections also apply to small businesses buying goods and services, depending on the situation and the price. The ACCC has a small business section explaining when the consumer guarantees apply to business purchases, and the Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman and state small business commissioners can help with disputes between businesses. If you run a small business and have a problem with a supplier, it's worth checking which of these rights apply to you.

Where to go next

To avoid problems in the first place, see our finding section for checking businesses and our hiring section for quotes, licences, contracts and payments.