Right to repair bill: Retailers need ComCom to deal with manufacturer 'stonewalling'

Tuesday, 13 May 2025

Retailers are calling for better industry protections in a proposed “right to repair” bill that would give consumers timely and cost-effective product repair options.

NZX-listed retailer The Warehouse is pushing for potential “right to repair” legislation to hold overseas manufacturers accountable for repairing goods sold in New Zealand, including forcing those companies to have representatives on hand here in case issues arise.

The Warehouse is among companies submitting to the Economic Development, Science and Innovation select committee on a new round of submissions on the Consumer Guarantees (Right to Repair) Amendment bill.

The bill aims to reduce waste, create a repair workforce and cut costs for consumers by requiring manufacturers to make parts and information more available to consumers.

Warehouse Group sustainability and ethical sourcing general manager Phil Cumming says the company is often stonewalled by unresponsive product manufacturers.

Warehouse sustainability and ethical sourcing general manager Phil Cumming told the committee the company supported the bill and was already helping customers deal with issues with goods from international manufacturers.

But the retailer said it had often been “stonewalled” by overseas goods suppliers, with a recent repair facilitated by the company taking 12 months to complete due to a lack of response from offshore.

“If suppliers are not as responsive, it can leave retailers in the middle,” Cumming told the committee. And because retailers were not on the list of ‘protected customers’ in the Consumer Guarantees Act, the likes of the Warehouse had no redress if it was stonewalled.

The company recommended giving the Commerce Commission power to enforce obligations in the legislation to provide repair parts and information within a specific timeframe to keep waiting times down. That would require amendments to the Trading Act.

Imported Motor Vehicle Industry Association chief executive Greig Epps says importers often have to take the place of manufacturers and bear the burden of faulty goods and repairs.

“The bill is rightly focused on manufacturers and importers because they have parts and control products. But often retailers are the main point of contact for consumers,” Cumming said.

“We need something behind us to help. We need to have a level playing field for offshore suppliers,” he said as most international retailers didn’t have a presence in New Zealand.

“If those sellers ignore the rules and there are no local representatives to be held accountable, the whole framework is at risk,” he said.

The Warehouse recommended policy similar to that in the European Union where overseas manufacturers were required to have an authorised representative in a country to handle consumer claims.

A similar scenario was described by Imported Motor Vehicle Industry Association chief executive Greig Epps, who described how importers were currently taking the place of manufacturers and responsible for repairs and faulty products.

Epps spoke in support of the bill and the effort to support sustainability. He said the core issue for Aotearoa-based sellers was a lack of product design repair information available to them from offshore manufacturers.

Retail NZ chief executive Carolyn Young told the select committee last month that retailers didn’t have the resources to deal with offshore manufacturers.

“Importers and channels who bring stuff into the country are not connected to tools and information,” he said.

“Importers are treated like the manufacturer now according to the Consumer Guarantees Act – we’re looking after consumers and making sure they can seek repairs.”

The bill proposed by Marama Davidson last April added obligations that could only be met by equipment manufacturers who held product design and repair information close to their chests, Epps said.

That had led to the existing issue of long wait times for repairs, high costs for going through specific manufacturers, and limited market competition as was the case for New Zealand buyers of John Deere tractors and machinery, coming from the US.

Retail NZ chief executive Carolyn Young has previously spoken to the select committee about retailers’ lack of ability and resources to repair and replace all products that might come back to them as their responsibility.

“Understanding how the manufacturers, like Sony, Samsung, Microsoft or Apple, will be responsible for actually ensuring that all parts and products are covered will be available here … is a really big piece of work to set up.”

She said the existing bill didn’t give the commission powers over international manufacturers to comply with the proposed repair legislation which meant retailers across the board were dealing with unresponsive offshore suppliers.

“Consumers often will turn to the retailer to remedy this, and it can result in retailers being held liable,” Young said.

“But the retailer is not equipped to comply with repairs and will bear the financial or reputational cost if consumers' expectations are not met.”