More people are lodging complaints about missing online shopping orders, as consumer advocates say shoppers need to be better protected from no-show purchases.
Under the Australian consumer guarantees, products and services bought in Australia must be delivered within the time specified by the seller, or a reasonable time if a delivery time is not specified. The 2023 Australian Consumer Law survey found that 55 per cent of problematic transactions were now associated with ecommerce.
Cass-Gottlieb said she would support strengthening of the consumer guarantees so that failure to honour the guarantees is a contravention of the Australian Consumer Law incurring more significant penalties, rather than merely a remedy . However, Terry said that the current consumer protections for long delivery times – found in section 36 of the Australian Consumer Law – appeared to be sufficient, pointing to the ACCC’s Federal Court action against Mosaic, which owns several fashion brands including Katies, Noni B and Rivers, in March.