Australian consumer watchdog takes HP to court

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), the country's regulator has instituted legal proceedings against technology giant Hewlett-Packard Australia Pty Ltd (HP) for its misleading or deceptive conduct, allegedly contravening the Australian Consumer Law (ACL), ACCC said in a statement.

The case filed in the federal court in Sydney is scheduled for hearing on 7 December.

According to ACL, consumers possess rights to certain remedies from retailers and manufacturers, when goods fail to comply with the guarantee provisions of the law. That is, if a product is not of acceptable quality, consumers may be entitled to a refund or replacement of the item.

The law states that ''these rights cannot be excluded, restricted or modified.''

ACCC alleges that HPmade false or misleading representations to consumers in relation to warranty and consumer guarantee rights and also made false or misleading representations to retailers that HP was not liable to indemnify them if they provided consumers with a refund or replacement without HP's prior authorisation.

The watchdog charges that HP represented consumers that the remedies available to faulty products such as computers, laptops and printers were limited to remedies available from HP at its sole discretion.