Myths and realities of shoppers rights

When you discover those gadgets you found under the Christmas tree don't actually work, it's handy to know your rights under Australian consumer law.

There are a lot of myths and horror stories about trying to return malfunctioning goods – many of them put out by the retailers trying to discourage you from even trying to get recompense.

The most notorious is the old retailer line 'Sorry, no refunds' or 'You can't have your money back – just store credit'.

Not true! You are legally entitled to a refund if the item you bought is not of acceptable quality, doesn't do what it is supposed to do, is unsafe, is significantly different to what you were originally shown or you would not have bought it if you'd known of its problems.