RETAIL SERVICE

Mrs GERAGHTY (Torrens) (15:33): A constituent recently came into my office to express concerns over the failure of a new split system airconditioner that she had purchased from a prominent cash-and-carry retailer. It failed to work correctly. The unit was installed and the installation double-checked by the installer but, unfortunately, the airconditioning unit did not work properly; it would come on for a few minutes and then turn off and would not restart for two hours or more.

My constituent complained to the cash-and-carry retailer, who then referred her to the manufacturer's service number. She was put in contact with the company's service technician, who came out to look at the unit. The service technician replaced the thermostat but all to no avail. He then suggested that the unit's logic unit may be faulty, but was not sure where he would go to get one.

After more than a month of trying to resolve this issue herself, the constituent came into my office and one of my staff spoke to the retailer, who referred us to the regional sales manager for the manufacturer. He then referred us to the national service manager for the manufacturer and, in doing so, suggested that the national service manager should be told that the unit be replaced. This we did, and the national service manager said he would investigate the matter.

A representative then rang us back to say that the inside unit of the airconditioner would be replaced. Although he did suggest that the problem may well be the location of the indoor unit, the manufacturer was prepared to replace the indoor unit to see whether this would fix the problem. We have taken some photographs of the airconditioning unit to check its positioning, and whilst I am no expert on this matter, it seems to me that there is no obvious problem with its location. Hopefully the replacement of the inside unit should see the problem resolved. My office then spoke to my constituent and advised her of all this. She told us that the service technician had called her to say that the inside unit would be replaced.

She told us that the new unit would be installed within days; and this was some two weeks ago. Unfortunately for her the saga continues. Despite the commitments given, she still awaits the replacement of the inside unit. These unfortunate events have left a 78 year old pensioner very distressed, and I have to say that I am quite angry. My office contacted the manufacturer last Friday and was told that the wrong component for the split airconditioning unit had been sent to Adelaide.

The outside unit rather than the inside unit had been sent. We were assured that an inside unit would be despatched that day. Subsequently, my constituent received a call on Monday that the inside unit had arrived in Adelaide this week. Thinking that her problems were starting to be addressed, she was feeling somewhat relieved, but, alas, no-one made sure that the service technician was available to install the unit immediately. Again, she has been let down. My office contacted the local sales manager for the airconditioning manufacturer to point out how farcical the service provided to my constituent had been.

The local sales manager has given my office a commitment to resolve the issue as soon as possible, but I await with some trepidation for this to be done. As of this afternoon, I understand that the manufacturer cannot contact its sole repairer. The question is: what do I think needs to be done? Certainly we need to reinforce with the public that both the retailer and the manufacturer of goods sold to the general public have a responsibility to sell goods in good, working condition and in accordance with the specifications that both the retailer and the manufacturer said they would be, that is, if you want a product to undertake a certain function, you make that clear to the retailer and it recommends a product to meet that need.

The retailer has a legal obligation to ensure that the product does in fact meet that need. I would say to anyone purchasing from a retailer—particularly a large one—that they ask about the service that will be provided to support the item they are buying. In this case, while the item might have been cheaper, the problem is that there is no support—certainly not to my constituent. Everyone has had the run around. My office has had the run around. Certainly we will again phone them later this week and, if they have not done the right thing by my constituent, I will feel somewhat obliged to name them.

Time expired.