Consumer Council receives reports of dealers retailing shoddy parts to obtain thousands of dollars

Fijians are urged to be cautious when dealing with secondhand vehicle spare part dealers as certain dealers are deliberately retailing shoddy parts to obtain thousands of dollars from consumers.

This is after the Consumer Council of Fiji received reports of people being intentionally sold shoddy spare parts, which ceased to function immediately or within days of purchase.

In one of the cases, a consumer spent almost $1,700 on an accumulator pump however the product stopped working just few days after purchase.

The spare part trader simply denied any redress to the consumer, hiding behind the excuse that it was a secondhand part and they cannot bear any liability for it.

Cases regarding short warranty periods being provided on spare parts have also been brought to the Council’s attention.

In one instance, a consumer was provided only with a 7-day warranty for secondhand product costing $1,500 however the item stopped functioning on the 8th day and he was not provided any redress.

Consumer Council CEO Seema Shandil says secondhand spare part retailers need to put redress mechanisms in place which can be used by consumers in instances where parts become faulty after purchase.

Shandil says these products do not come cheap and as such businesses must not use short warranty periods and no warranty conditions to push shoddy products into the market.

She adds they should also be free from defects that were not obvious at the time of purchase.