This article was written by Nancy Wang Principal Solicitor at W & G Lawyers.
You order a custom kitchen, a caravan, a boat or a piece of made-to-order furniture. You pay a series of instalments while it is being built, and you will not receive it until you have paid the last one. Some months later your circumstances change and you decide you no longer want it.
Most people assume that because the goods were never delivered, the money paid should come back. The consumer law does give you a right to cancel in that situation, and it does require the supplier to refund what you have paid. It also allows the supplier to keep a cancellation fee, and a recent Queensland District Court decision shows that the fee can be a very substantial sum even where the buyer has done nothing wrong. This article explains in general terms how these arrangements work, where the money goes if you cancel, and what to look for in the contract before you sign.
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