How New Zealand actually works, consumer rights

Consumer rights, what the shop owes you, what a sign can't take

Two acts carry almost every purchase in the country. The Consumer Guarantees Act says the thing must work; the Fair Trading Act says they must not lie. Neither can be signed away, a "no refunds" sign, a "sold as seen" sticker, a contract clause, all void against a retail buyer.

The thing must work

The Consumer Guarantees Act 1993 binds anyone in trade, shops, tradies, online sellers who sell as a business. Its guarantees: goods of acceptable quality (durable, safe, free of defects), fit for the purpose you made known, matching their description, spare parts and repair available for a reasonable time, and delivery within a reasonable time where delivery was promised. Services get the same treatment: reasonable care and skill, fit for purpose, reasonable time and price — Consumer Guarantees Act 1993.

Who answers: the seller, not the manufacturer. "Take it up with the brand" is the most common illegal sentence in New Zealand retail, your contract was with the shop, and the shop carries the guarantee.

The remedy ladder

When the guarantee fails, the remedy depends on the failure's size:

• Serious failure, unsafe, substantially unfit, or so bad a reasonable buyer would never have paid for it: your choice of refund, replacement, or keeping it with compensation for the drop in value. The choice is yours, a shop offering only a repair on a serious failure is offering less than the law does.
• Minor failure, fixable without much fuss: the seller gets to repair it first, within a reasonable time. Fail to, or fail again, and you're back to the serious-failure menu.
• Consequential loss, the damage the failure caused downstream , the flooded floor under the faulty washing machine, is claimable on top.

Go deeper, how long "acceptable quality" lasts, and the changed-your-mind gap

"Acceptable quality" is judged against what a reasonable consumer would expect for that product at that price, a $30 toaster and a $300 toaster carry different lifespans under the same clause. The guarantee has no fixed expiry: it runs for as long as the expectation reasonably runs, which is why a two-year-old phone battery dying can still be a claim.

What the CGA does not cover: changing your mind. A perfect product you no longer want is the shop's goodwill, not your right, which is why the cooling-off rules below exist for the pressure cases, and why "returns policy" signs matter more than people think: a store that promises change-of-mind returns has made that promise binding.

Gifts carry the rights with them, the recipient can claim directly against the seller. And a buyer can't be excluded by wording: contracting out is void for consumer sales, though businesses buying for business can lawfully sign the CGA away in writing.

They must not lie

The Fair Trading Act 1986 is the honesty layer: no false or misleading representations about goods, services or prices; claims must be substantiated before they're made ("NZ's best" needs the evidence, not just the confidence); and the sticker price must include GST and every unavoidable fee. Bait advertising, pyramid schemes and demanding payment for unordered goods are all named offences — Fair Trading Act 1986.

The asymmetry is the point: the CGA gives you a civil claim, the FTA gives the Commerce Commission a criminal one. The Commission prosecutes the lying; your refund still comes from the shop or the tribunal.

The door-knock rules

A sale that came to you, door-to-door, a telemarketing call, a salesperson who found you rather than you finding the shop, is an uninvited direct sale, and it carries the strongest cooling-off in the act:

• Cancel for any reason within five working days of receiving the written agreement, full refund.
• The seller must hand over a written agreement with the cancellation rights spelled out, and can't take payment or enforce anything until the five days have passed.
• If the required information never arrived, the agreement can be cancelled at any time, the clock never started.
• After cancelling, you owe ten working days of reasonable care of the goods while the supplier collects them at a reasonable time — FTA 1986, subpart 2, Commerce Commission, door-to-door and telemarketing.

The edges

• Private sales, a person selling their own couch or car isn't "in trade": the CGA doesn't apply, only ordinary contract law and the FTA's misleading-conduct ban if they lied. Trade Me's "in trade" sellers do carry the CGA, the status, not the platform, decides.
• Second-hand from a shop, still in trade, still covered: "acceptable quality" adjusts for age and price but never to zero.
• Extended warranties, they must tell you in writing what the warranty adds beyond the CGA; often the honest answer is nothing. You can cancel one within five working days of buying it.
• Unsolicited goods, things sent or delivered to you that you never ordered: tell the sender and if they don't collect within ten working days, the goods are yours. Demanding payment for unordered goods is an FTA offence.
• Unsafe products, product safety sits under the FTA too; recalls.govt.nz publishes every active recall in the country.

Who enforces, and where your claim goes

The Commerce Commission investigates the lying, false pricing, misleading claims, pyramid schemes, and can fine traders heavily, but it doesn't get your money back. Your refund runs through the Disputes Tribunal ($62 to file under $2,000 claimed, no lawyers needed, the law explainer has the full fee ladder) or, for bigger fights, the District Court. Citizens Advice and Community Law both answer consumer questions free.

Where to read the primary source

• Consumer Guarantees Act 1993: the guarantees and the remedy ladder
• Fair Trading Act 1986: misleading conduct, unsubstantiated claims, uninvited sales
• Commerce Commission, for consumers: the criminal-enforcement side
• Consumer Protection (MBIE): the plain-language companion, run by the ministry
• recalls.govt.nz: every active product recall

The Canterbury of it

The rebuild made this city's households the CGA's largest test market. EQC contracted Fletcher to run the Canterbury Home Repair Programme, the managed-repair machine for damage under the EQC caps, and tens of thousands of households met consumer law through it: what "reasonable care and skill" means on a re-piled foundation, whether a repair is a fix or a patch, who answers when the crew has moved on — EQC, Home Repair Programme briefing (PDF).

When the fights refused to settle, the state built a bespoke door: the Greater Christchurch Claims Resolution Service opened in 2018 as the free, MBIE-run path for unresolved residential quake claims, the missing middle between the letter to the insurer and the lawsuit. Its national successor, the NZ Claims Resolution Service, still registers Canterbury earthquake claims — Beehive, the GCCRS launch; NZCRS, the lineage. And the era left its own listing genre: "as is where is": the damaged, uninsured or unwanted house sold exactly as it stood, buyer carrying everything the CGA can't reach because the seller isn't in trade.

Last reviewed 20 September 2026, sources: legislation.govt.nz (CGA 1993, FTA 1986), comcom.govt.nz (uninvited sales, enforcement), consumerprotection.govt.nz, recalls.govt.nz. Explainer, not legal advice. Corrections: /corrections.