Australian Competition and Consumer Commission v Jayco Corporation Pty Ltd [2020] FCA 1672

FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA

Australian Competition and Consumer Commission v Jayco Corporation Pty Ltd [2020] FCA 1672 File number: VID 1308 of 2017

Judge: WHEELAHAN J

Date of judgment: 20 November 2020

Catchwords: CONSUMER LAW – statutory guarantees under the Australian Consumer Law (ACL) – statutory guarantee as to acceptable quality under s 54 of the ACL – statutory guarantee as to fitness for purpose under s 55 of the ACL – statutory guarantee as to supply by description under s 56 of the ACL – statutory guarantee of manufacturer's warranty under s 59 of the ACL – consumer's entitlement to reject goods for major failure of a statutory guarantee – whether the goods would not have been acquired by a reasonable consumer fully acquainted with the nature and extent of the failure – application of the ACL statutory guarantees to complex manufactured goods. CONSUMER LAW – prohibition on misleading or deceptive conduct under s 18 of the ACL – prohibition on certain false or misleading representations under s 29(1)(m) of the ACL – principles applicable to the assessment of oral statements. CONSUMER LAW – prohibition on unconscionable conduct under s 21 of the ACL – consideration of the standard fixed by the statutory prohibition on unconscionable conduct – consideration of the judicial technique in determining whether conduct was, in all the circumstances, unconscionable – judicial technique described in Jenyns v Public Curator (Qld) (1953) 90 CLR 113 at 118 involves a scrutiny of the exact relations established between the parties with regard to every connected circumstance – consideration of allegations of unconscionable conduct against a manufacturer for obstructing consumers' rights against suppliers – coherence of the statutory scheme of the ACL including separate manufacturer's and supplier's obligations, and incorporation of manufacturer's contractual warranties.