Contracts and customer rights: agreements and purchase problems
Start with your agreement’s stage or the purchase problem you need to resolve. Use the consumer-problem choices if a customer has no receipt, their warranty expired or a parcel is missing. They also cover service complaints and purchases for your own business.
Resolve a purchase problem: evidence, faults and responsibility →
Keep the agreed version, later changes and delivery records together. These guides and official resources help you prepare the next conversation with a customer, supplier or adviser. The actual terms, transaction and governing jurisdiction matter.
Where are you in the agreement?
Use these steps to organise the records and questions for your next conversation. They don’t decide whether an agreement is binding or whether you can change or end it. Check the document, industry and governing state or territory. Official guidance checked 25 September 2026.
Open the stage you’re at. Each one has a short set of checks and links to further guidance.
Agree: are you still deciding what to accept?
- Gather the quote, proposed terms and any emails that change them. Keep the version and date of each document.
- Write down the legal names of the parties, the work, the price and anything still awaiting approval.
- Take unclear terms and document-specific signing questions to an adviser before committing.
Deliver: are you checking what has been supplied?
- Compare the delivery with the agreed scope and acceptance criteria. Record what was supplied and what remains unresolved.
- Keep the delivery evidence with the agreement and any approved changes.
- If something is wrong, check the applicable consumer guarantees and complaint options before deciding on a response.
Change: has either party proposed different terms or work?
- Put the original requirement beside the proposed change. Note the effect on price, timing and responsibilities.
- Check the agreement’s change process and who needs to approve the proposal.
- Keep the proposed change separate from the agreed record until its status is clear. Ask for advice if you disagree about whether it has been accepted.
Renew: is the agreement approaching a review or renewal?
- Find the expiry, renewal and notice provisions in the actual agreement. Record the source clause beside each date.
- Assign someone to check the dates and review proposed changes to scope, service and price.
- Get unclear renewal or notice requirements checked early enough to make a considered decision.
End: are you considering leaving or handing over an agreement?
- Gather the agreement, variations, service records and relevant correspondence.
- List the notice, payment, property, access and handover questions that need answers.
- Have the grounds and process for ending or transferring the agreement checked before sending a notice or stopping performance.
What has gone wrong with the purchase?
Choose the complaint you need to investigate. These checks organise the evidence and link to current official guidance; they do not determine a legal remedy. Check the transaction, industry and governing state or territory. Sources checked 26 September 2026.
Open the stage you’re at. Each one has a short set of checks and links to further guidance.
Evidence: no receipt or an unclear fault?
- Gather the order reference, relevant payment record and description of the problem. Ask only for information needed to check the transaction.
- Keep customer observations, test findings and unanswered questions separate. A brief successful test may not explain an intermittent fault.
Product or service problem: warranty expired, faulty goods or unfinished work?
- Find the purchase description, warranty terms and history of use or work. Compare them with the problem being reported.
- Use current official guidance to identify the questions about coverage and remedies. Seek advice where the facts or legal position are disputed.
Who is responsible: parcel missing, marketplace sale or supplier recovery?
- Identify the seller, delivery arrangement and relevant documents. Keep the customer complaint separate from enquiries with a platform, carrier or manufacturer.
- Name the person handling the customer update while responsibility and any recovery claim are checked.
Business as buyer: is your own purchase covered?
- Record what your business bought, the price including GST and its intended use. Keep the quote, invoice and relevant terms.
- Check the current eligibility routes and exclusions before asking for a particular remedy. An ABN on an invoice alone does not settle coverage.
Agree: understand what you’re accepting
Start with the type of agreement, the parties and the terms supplied before work begins.
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