TV faulty after warranty expired: how the consumer guarantee can outlast it

Your TV has stopped working. Maybe the screen has developed a fault, or the panel has died entirely. You call the retailer, and the first thing they tell you is that the manufacturer's warranty ran out — so there's nothing they can do. It's a frustrating response, and it's also one that misrepresents your legal position. In Australia, the manufacturer's warranty is only one layer of protection. Underneath it sits a statutory right — the consumer guarantee — that the retailer cannot simply wave away.

Quick answer

Whether a faulty TV gives you a remedy after the manufacturer's warranty has expired depends on a few key variables: how long you have owned the TV, what you paid for it, what went wrong, and whether the failure is major or minor. The consumer guarantees in the Australian Consumer Law (ACL) apply automatically to goods sold by a business, and they are not tied to the length of any manufacturer's warranty. A TV that fails well before a reasonable consumer would expect it to may still be covered — regardless of what the warranty document says. The remedy available to you will depend on whether the failure is classified as major or minor under the ACL.

What the law actually says

The Australian Consumer Law is Schedule 2 to the Competition and Consumer Act 2010. Its consumer guarantees apply where a business supplies goods to you in trade or commerce and you acquired them as a consumer under section 3 of the ACL: the amount paid or payable was $100,000 or less, or the goods are of a kind ordinarily acquired for personal, domestic or household use or consumption (either is enough). Goods bought to re-supply, or to use up or transform in trade or commerce in production, manufacture or repairs, are excluded, so check how section 3 applies to you. A television bought from a retailer for home use will almost always meet this definition.

When you buy a TV from a business, section 54 of the ACL requires that the goods be of acceptable quality. That means they must be:

• safe;
• free from defects;
• acceptable in appearance and finish;
• fit for all the purposes for which goods of that kind are commonly supplied; and
• durable.

Each is measured against what a reasonable consumer fully acquainted with the goods' state and condition (including any hidden defects) would regard as acceptable, having regard to matters such as their nature and price.

The durability element is the one that matters most once a warranty has expired. A TV that fails after a period that a reasonable consumer would not expect is arguably not durable — and therefore not of acceptable quality. The ACL does not set a fixed lifespan for any product. Instead, durability is assessed against what a reasonable consumer would expect, taking into account the age of the goods, the price paid, the type of product, and how it was used. A budget TV bought at a low price point may be expected to last a shorter time than a premium model bought at a significantly higher price — and in many cases the consumer guarantee period may extend beyond the manufacturer’s warranty, depending on what a reasonable consumer would expect in the circumstances.

Section 55 of the ACL adds a further guarantee: if you made known to the seller (or the manufacturer) what you needed the TV for — for example, that you needed a screen suitable for a commercial display environment or for a specific use — the goods must be reasonably fit for that disclosed purpose, unless the circumstances show you didn't rely, or it was unreasonable for you to rely, on their skill or judgment.

These guarantees are not optional. Under section 64 of the ACL, a contract term is void to the extent it purports to exclude, restrict or modify the consumer guarantees or the remedies for failing to meet them. A clause in the warranty document saying "no liability after 12 months" does not remove your statutory rights. A business-use purchase may need closer analysis: for goods not of a kind ordinarily acquired for personal, domestic or household use, section 64A may let a contract limit liability to repair, replacement or their cost, unless you show that relying on the limit isn't fair or reasonable.

Major failure vs minor failure

The remedy you can pursue depends on whether the fault is a major failure or a minor failure under the ACL.

Under section 260 of the ACL, a failure is major if:

• the goods would not have been acquired by a reasonable consumer fully acquainted with the nature and extent of the failure;
• the goods are substantially unfit for their normal purpose and cannot easily and within a reasonable time be remedied;
• the goods are unfit for a purpose you made known and cannot easily and within a reasonable time be remedied;
• the goods are significantly different from the description, sample or demonstration model; or
• the goods are unsafe.

Two or more failures that aren't major on their own are together a major failure if a reasonable consumer fully acquainted with the nature and extent of them, taken as a whole, wouldn't have acquired the goods (section 260(2)). That can matter for a TV with a run of separate faults.

A TV with a dead panel, persistent display defects, or a fault that makes it unusable is likely to meet the major failure threshold in many cases. A minor cosmetic issue or a fault that can be repaired quickly may not.

For a major failure, or a failure that can't be remedied, section 259 of the ACL lets you choose: you can reject the goods (if the right to reject hasn't been lost under section 262 — for an older TV, the rejection period may have ended) and choose a refund or a replacement of the same type and similar value if one is reasonably available (section 263), or you can keep the goods and claim compensation for the reduction in value.

For a minor failure that can be remedied, the business gets the first reasonable opportunity to fix it, by repair, replacement or refund, within a reasonable time. If it refuses, or doesn't do so within a reasonable time, you can have the fault fixed elsewhere and recover the reasonable cost, or reject the goods (subject to section 262).

You can read more about how this classification works in our guide to what "major failure" means under the ACL.

When this applies (and when it doesn't)

The consumer guarantees are likely to apply to your faulty TV when:

• You bought it from a retailer or business (including an online retailer operating in Australia).
• The TV has failed in a way that suggests it is not durable or not fit for its normal purpose.
• The failure is not the result of misuse, accidental damage, or other abnormal use on your part.

Proof of purchase isn't a legal condition of the guarantees, but you will need evidence that you bought the TV from that business — a receipt, bank statement, email confirmation, or loyalty card record.

There are situations where the consumer guarantees may not apply, or where a claim is less straightforward:

• You caused the damage. If the TV was dropped, exposed to water, or damaged through misuse, the fault is not a breach of the acceptable quality guarantee.
• The fault was disclosed before purchase. If the retailer told you the TV had a known defect and you bought it anyway, you generally cannot claim on that defect.
• You bought from a private seller. The ACL applies to businesses acting in trade or commerce. A private individual selling a second-hand TV on an online marketplace is generally not covered — though it is worth noting that sole traders and small businesses selling goods online may still qualify as businesses under the ACL even if they appear to be individuals. The test is whether they are acting in trade or commerce.
• The TV is very old and the failure is consistent with its age. Consumer guarantees are not a lifetime warranty. If a TV has been used heavily for many years and fails in a way that is consistent with normal wear and tear at that age, a claim may be harder to sustain. Durability is assessed against reasonable expectations given the age, price, and type of goods.
• You bought from an overseas seller with no Australian presence. The ACL can still apply if a seller supplied goods directly to an Australian consumer, but factors such as whether the seller has an ABN, an Australian warehouse, or prices in AUD are relevant — though not necessarily decisive. Enforcement across borders can be difficult in practice. See our guide on online purchases and the ACL for more detail.

What to do today

If your TV has failed and the retailer has pointed to the expired warranty, here is a practical sequence that tends to work:

1. Gather your proof of purchase. A receipt, email confirmation, bank or credit card statement, or any record that shows you bought the TV from that retailer. You do not need the original paper receipt. If you paid by card, ask your card issuer now whether a chargeback is available; if you used buy now pay later, ask the provider about its dispute process; both follow the card scheme's or provider's own time limits, not the ACL's, and may already have passed for an older TV.

2. Document the fault. Take photos or video of the fault. Write down when you first noticed it, what the TV does (or doesn't do), and how you have been using it. Note the model, the price you paid, and the date of purchase.

3. Get an independent opinion if the cause is disputed. If the retailer blames wear and tear or misuse, a written report from an independent repairer on the cause of the fault and the repair cost carries more weight than your own assessment.

4. Write to the retailer. Email is better than a phone call — it creates a record. In your email, state the date of purchase, the price paid, the nature of the fault, and the fact that you are making a claim under the consumer guarantees in the ACL — specifically, that the TV is not of acceptable quality under section 54 because it is not durable. State what remedy you are seeking: a refund, replacement, or repair.

5. Set a reasonable deadline. Give the retailer 14 days (a practical default, not an ACL requirement) to respond with a proposed remedy. Make clear that if they do not respond, you will escalate to your state or territory consumer protection body and, if necessary, a tribunal or court with jurisdiction.

6. Keep the TV. Do not dispose of it. The retailer may want to inspect it, and if the matter goes to a tribunal or court, the goods will be relevant evidence.

If drafting the letter feels daunting, fairgo can generate one for you. The tool identifies the relevant ACL sections automatically and produces a letter you send under your own name.

What if the business refuses

If the retailer refuses your claim or does not respond within your deadline, you have several escalation options:

• Your state or territory consumer protection body. It may help, for example by contacting the business or conciliating, if your complaint meets its criteria. Most expect you to have tried to resolve the matter with the business first, and eligibility rules vary by state and dispute type (in the ACT, for example, statutory conciliation applies only where the remedy you seek is worth $5,000 or less). These bodies don't make binding orders in ordinary consumer disputes and can't make the business settle. Contact details are at /agencies. This is usually the right first step after a direct approach fails.

• A tribunal or court with jurisdiction. If conciliation does not resolve the dispute, a binding decision may be available. In NSW, Victoria, Queensland, the ACT and the NT, a tribunal (NCAT, VCAT, QCAT, ACAT or NTCAT) hears many consumer claims within its limits; in Western Australia, South Australia and Tasmania, ordinary consumer claims go to the Magistrates Court. Jurisdiction depends on each forum's enabling legislation, the type of claim and the amount, so confirm the forum and its current thresholds on the official site before filing. You can usually run a claim without a lawyer, though some forums restrict legal representation (QCAT, for example, requires permission). Check current filing fees on the official site, and ask about fee exemptions, waivers or deferrals if cost is a concern. These forums regularly hear this kind of dispute — a retailer pointing to an expired warranty while the consumer relies on the ACL. Our guide to choosing the right tribunal or court has more.

• The manufacturer directly. Under sections 271 to 273 of the ACL, you may be able to recover damages (not a refund) from the manufacturer for a failure to comply with the acceptable quality guarantee, generally within 3 years of when you first became aware, or ought reasonably to have become aware, of the failure. Your rights run primarily against the retailer, but this can be a useful parallel path if the retailer is unresponsive.

One thing worth knowing: a well-drafted demand letter that cites the ACL specifically and sets a clear escalation path tends to prompt a response far more reliably than a general complaint. Retailers and their legal teams know what a tribunal or court outcome looks like on a durable goods claim, and many prefer to resolve before it gets that far.

Common mistakes

A few patterns come up repeatedly in TV and electronics disputes:

• Treating the warranty as the only protection. The manufacturer's warranty is a contractual promise from the manufacturer. The consumer guarantee is a statutory right primarily against the retailer (manufacturers can have separate obligations). They are separate. The guarantee does not expire when the warranty does — it continues for the period a reasonable consumer would expect the goods to remain durable in the circumstances, which may be longer than the manufacturer’s warranty.

• Accepting "the warranty has expired" as a final answer. This is a common mistake. Frontline retail staff often quote warranty terms as if they were the law. They are not. Politely but clearly reference the ACL and ask to speak with a manager or the business's customer relations team.

• Waiting too long to act. The ACL doesn't set a single fixed warranty-style expiry for consumer guarantee claims, but timing matters. Delay can make it harder to show that the fault reflects a lack of acceptable quality at the time of supply rather than wear and tear. You also lose the right to reject goods if any of the four grounds in section 262 applies: the rejection period has ended (it runs from supply, not from when you noticed the fault, for as long as it would be reasonable to expect the failure to become apparent, given the type of goods, their likely use, and how long and how much they can reasonably be used); you have lost, destroyed or disposed of the goods; they were damaged after delivery for reasons unrelated to their condition when supplied; or they have been attached to or incorporated in real or personal property and can't be detached or isolated without damaging them. Deadlines for bringing a claim also apply under state and territory limitation laws and forum rules. Act promptly once you notice the fault.

• Claiming for damage you caused. A consumer guarantee claim is about an inherent defect in the goods, not accidental damage. If the TV was physically damaged, that is a different matter — possibly covered by home and contents insurance, but not by the ACL.

• Contacting the ACCC expecting them to resolve your individual dispute. The ACCC investigates systemic conduct and takes action on behalf of consumers broadly. They generally don't resolve individual disputes. For your specific case, your state or territory consumer protection body and a tribunal or court with jurisdiction are the right places to go.

• Asking for a remedy that doesn't match the failure. If the failure is minor and repairable, demanding a full refund may undermine your credibility. Understand whether the failure is likely to be major or minor before you write your letter, and frame your request accordingly. Our guide to replacement vs repair vs refund explains how to think through this.

Related reading

• Phone broken after warranty expired? Your ACL rights explained
• Laptop faulty? How the consumer guarantee applies to computers
• Consumer guarantees vs warranty — what's the difference?
• Business refused your refund? Here's what to do next

This article is general information about Australian Consumer Law, not legal advice. It also touches on complaint and escalation pathways (state and territory consumer bodies, tribunals and courts, the ACCC) and limitation laws, whose scope, rules, thresholds and processes sit outside the ACL or can change. Confirm the current position with the relevant body before lodging. For advice on your specific case, see your state or territory consumer body — full list at /agencies.