Ray and Barbara Malam have become part of legal history,
winning one of the first cases to be brought under the unfair
contracts provisions of the Australian Consumer Law. The law makes
unfair terms in standard form consumer contracts void. This is a
big worry for online sellers, and the Malams have just proved
why.
The Malams bought a glass-topped Tuscany Square dining table
from graysoline.com, an auction website. They had the table picked
up by courier, and when it arrived at their place the glass was
broken. Obviously, the courier didn't break it, that never
happens. So it must have been broken already. Anyway, that's
what the Tribunal decided had happened.
The standard terms of graysonline, which you accept by clicking
the "I accept" button after not reading the terms like we
all do, excluded all liability for the damage. The terms were 13
pages long. The Tribunal found that the terms which excluded
liability were unfair to the Malams and therefore void. It
