Violations of Australian Consumer Law

[Shlozza]

Hi all,

I'm here to relate my recent experience with Meta Store Support and to seek advice or an alternative avenue for resolution before taking the matter further.

I recently contacted Meta Store Support concerning an unused, factory-condition Quest 2 headset that is affected by a manufacturing defect that renders it non-functional. I suspected that the manufacturer's warranty may have expired, as the product was given to me as a gift by my employer some time ago and had been sitting unopened under my bed until around a week ago, but I know my rights under Australian Consumer Law.

To those unfamiliar, Australian Consumer Law applies in the absence of or in addition to any applicable manufacturers' warranties and regardless of their duration and entitles Australian consumers to repair or replacement in the event of a defect or major failure.

My conversation with Meta Store Support has gone something like this (I'm obviously paraphrasing, but I think it fairly captures the substance of our interactions):

Me: I think I have a defective Quest 2 headset. I've tried all of these things and nothing fixes it.

Support: Sorry to hear that. Please try all of these things.

Me: As I said, I've tried all of those things and none of them worked. I'm pretty sure it's defective and will require repair or replacement.

Support: Please provide the following details.

Me: Here are the details you requested. Please note that as an Australian consumer I am protected by Australian Consumer Law in addition to any applicable warranties.

Support: Sorry, your device is out of warranty.

Me: This is not a warranty claim. This is a claim under Australian Consumer Law, which you can read more about here. You should talk to your legal department.

Support: Sorry, your device is out of warranty.

Me: As I said, this is not a warranty claim. This is a claim under Australian Consumer Law. Here are a bunch of quotes from the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission website that explain my rights and Meta's obligations under Australian Consumer Law, all of which apply regardless of your warranty policy. You seriously need to consult with your legal department and offer an explanation as to why Australian Consumer Law either does not apply in this case or does not obligate you to repair or replace this device. If you continue to handle this matter purely in accordance with your warranty policy, you will be committing an offence under Australian Consumer Law.

Support: Sorry, your device is out of warranty.

Me: Ok. Just so we're totally clear, please provide a simple "Yes" or "No" answer to the following question. Does Meta intend to comply with Australian Consumer Law with respect to this matter?

[I'm yet to hear back on this one, but I'm not optimistic.]

Despite the fact that Meta's own legal and warranty documents include abundant references to Australian Consumer Law, it is apparent that Meta Store Support representatives are:

(a) not aware of the rights of Australian consumers under the law, and/or

(b) not authorised to process a repair or replacement without an applicable warranty even when required by law to do so

It is an offence under Australian Consumer Law for a manufacturer to:

(a) refuse to offer repair or replacement for a defective product or a product that has suffered a major failure, or

(b) mislead consumers about their rights under the law

One relevant quote from the ACCC website on the subject of manufacturers' warranties is as follows:

"Businesses must not mislead consumers into thinking that their rights are limited to the remedies or timeframe set out in a warranty against defects."

I have suggested multiple times that the support representatives consult with Meta's Australian legal department, but it is abundantly clear that they have not done so.

I have resolved to report the matter to the ACCC (Australian Competition and Consumer Commission) who have successfully prosecuted subsidiaries of Meta for violations of Australian Consumer Law in the past, and am also investigating the possibility of independent legal action, but wanted to reach out on the forums first to see...

1. If any other Australian customers have had a similar experience with Meta Store Support and are willing to relate their experience or offer any advice, or

2. If there are any Meta employees or representatives here who are willing and able to assist in achieving a resolution before I take the matter further

Please feel free to either PM me or reply to this post.

Regards,

Andrew

[Mazing]

Sorry, your device is out of warranty.

[Shlozza]

Have you considered applying to work for Meta Store Support? That was about as useful as every reply I've gotten from them, but at least it made me laugh and not bang my head on the table.

[MetaQuestSupport]

Hey there, @Shlozza. Thank you for bringing your device and recent support experience to our attention! We see you have sent us a PM, so we'd be happy to continue gathering more information from you there to get to the bottom of this!

[Shlozza]

Just because I know you're all dying to hear the next chapter in this saga, I'll pick things up right where we left off...

...
Me: Ok. Just so we're totally clear, please provide a simple "Yes" or "No" answer to the following question. Does Meta intend to comply with Australian Consumer Law with respect to this matter?
Support: Let us think about that and get back to you.
Me: Thank you! It's good to know you're finally taking this seriously.
Support: [Copies and pastes a couple of sentences from my previous message to them.] I hope this information provides some clarity.
Me: It does not. You literally just copied and pasted my own words back to me. So I will ask again. Does Meta intend to comply with Australian Consumer Law with respect to this matter?

This is easily the worst customer support experience I've ever had. I hope you're all looking forward to the next episode of this clown show as much as I am.

[Mazing]

Sorry, your device is out of warranty.

[Fahquemzuck]

I have been suggesting Reportfraud.ftc.gov to everyone who is having issues, especially parents who got this paperweight as a gift for their kids.

[Shlozza]

I'd strongly encourage the victim of any violation of consumer protection laws to report the matter to the relevant authority or governing body within whose jurisdiction the violation occurs.

If a company is violating your legal rights as an individual consumer, they're probably violating the rights of dozens, hundreds or even thousands of other individuals, many of whom may not even be aware of their rights under the law. These laws are not unreasonable, and companies like Meta can afford to comply with them. They exist to protect consumers from companies that would otherwise be perfectly happy to treat their customers like garbage if it meant they could avoid accountability for the quality of the products and services they offer.

Several representatives of Meta Store Support have told me that, as much as they'd love to help, they are "not able" or "not authorised" to process a return outside of their warranty policy. One of them said his "hands are tied". If that's true, Meta Store Support is literally incapable of satisfying Meta's legal obligations in numerous countries and jurisdictions including my own.

And it's precisely this kind of systematic, institutionalised disregard for consumer protection laws that tends to attract the most attention and the largest financial penalties from enforcement agencies like the FTC and ACCC.

I can only hope there's some support representative somewhere to whom my case will eventually be escalated who has the magic button labelled "Do the right thing" or, failing that, maybe "Comply with the law". I have my doubts, but I'll be sure to let you know if I find him.

[J.d.wildc]

I find myself enduring a very similar experience to yourself, @Shlozza. My case is a little different, however, as my device is still within Meta's expressed 12 month warranty.

My story: I ordered a Quest Pro kit in November last year. It was dead on arrival. I refunded this defective headset and ordered another. The second kit was also defective, although this time it appears to be the controllers. I've spent a few months trying to diagnose and resolve the issues, but no luck.

I recently contacted Meta Support for a replacement, but also requesting fair compensation for the drop in value of my kit, considering the months that I've endured the fault; I felt fair compensation would be to replace the faulty hardware and reset the expressed warranty. I also stated that if Meta fail to compensate me fairly for the faults, I wish to exercise my statutory rights under Australian Consumer Law to receive a full refund, as it is a major fault that renders my device unusable for its intended purposes.

So far, Meta have denied my request for compensation, which I don't see as a big issue. The problem is that they're also repeatedly denying (or attempting to mislead) my right to a full refund:

"Regrettably, I must inform you that your device no longer falls within the 30-day timeframe for a refund."

I have attempted to educate support staff on Meta's obligations to Australian consumer, even offering to summarize and reference the relevant parts of documentation to assist them. So far this has been ignored.

For anyone who might be reading this and facing their own fight to assert their rights under Australian Consumer Law, here is some valuable information:

Meta actually acknowledges our rights under Australian Consumer Law, as shown in their legal portal (see section 'IMPORTANT NOTICE FOR AUSTRALIAN CONSUMERS'):

https://www.meta.com/au/legal/portal/limited-consumer-warranty/ 

The following document clearly explains Meta's obligations to Australian consumers under Australian Consumer Law, and it is a very easy read:

https://consumer.gov.au/sites/consumer/files/2016/05/0553FT_ACL-guides_Guarantees_web.pdf 

I'm happy to share more details about my experience to anyone interested.

Regards,

[Shlozza]

Hey @J.d.wildc,

Thanks for sharing your experience. It's certainly consistent with my own impression that Meta Store's support representatives are either completely unaware of Meta's obligations under Australian Consumer Law (despite it being referred to in their legal documentation) or are not authorised by Meta to honour them. This causes them to mislead Australian consumers with respect to their rights, which is itself an offence under the law.

For what it's worth, my saga continues to this day. My case was eventually escalated to the highest level of Meta Store's support, and the representative I'm dealing with now was able to offer a refund to the value of the current price of a replacement unit, but a problem with the third-party service they use to issue refunds has caused a months-long delay in this refund being processed.

In fairness, the representative I'm dealing with now has been genuinely helpful, forthright and apologetic about the delay and is keeping me updated on the status of the refund, but the entire journey remains the most frustrating customer support experience I've ever had and I'm honestly not sure it was worth the effort.

From my experience, if you can get your case escalated to the very highest level of support, you may finally find a human being who is willing and able to help resolve the issue, but it's a long and arduous road to get there. The evidence for this is purely anecdotal, but what seemed to get my case escalated was requesting a simple "Yes" or "No" answer to the question: "Does Meta intend to comply with Australian Consumer Law with respect to this matter?".

The only thing I'm confident of is that there is a widespread and systemic failure by Meta Store support representatives to honour the rights of Australian consumers under Australian Consumer Law, and I can only hope it eventually catches up with them in the form of tens of millions of dollars in financial penalties.

I wish you luck!