Victorian Consolidated Legislation

Fair Trading Act 1999 - SECT 32O

Acceptance of goods

32O. Acceptance of goods



(1) If a contract of supply of goods is not severable and the purchaser has
accepted the goods or part of the goods, the breach by the supplier of a
condition can only be treated as the breach of a warranty and not as a ground
for rejecting the goods and discharging the contract of supply unless there is
a term of the contract, express or implied, to that effect.

(2) Subsection (3) applies if under a contract of supply of goods-

   (a)  the goods at the time of delivery to the purchaser are defective in
        breach of a condition implied by this Part in the contract of supply;
        and

   (b)  the fact that they are so defective is apparent at that time or
        becomes apparent within a reasonable period after that time; and

   (c)  the purchaser has not done any act or thing by reason of which the
        goods cannot be returned to the supplier in substantially the same
        state as they were in when they were delivered to the purchaser.



(3) Despite section 42 of the Goods Act 1958, the purchaser under a contract
of supply of goods to which this subsection applies is not to be deemed to
have accepted the goods by reason only that, during a reasonable period after
it is apparent that the goods are defective-

   (a)  the purchaser retained or used the goods; or

   (b)  the purchaser did not inform the supplier that the purchaser had
        rejected the goods.

(4) If goods have been delivered under a contract of supply and the purchaser,
before accepting the goods, by agreement with the supplier delivers them to
the supplier or to a person nominated by the supplier for repair or
replacement, the purchaser is not to be deemed to have accepted the goods
within the meaning of section 42 of the Goods Act 1958 until the purchaser has
so accepted them after the delivery of the goods to the purchaser after the
repair or replacement.

(5) This section does not limit the time within which a purchaser under a
contract of supply of goods may, by reason of the breach of a condition
referred to in section 32NB, reject the goods and discharge the contract of
supply.

(6) Nothing in this section confers on a purchaser a right to discharge a
contract of supply of goods where the goods-

   (a)  are rendered unmerchantable after delivery to the purchaser; or

   (b)  are damaged by abnormal use after delivery to the purchaser.