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What is the Harvey Norman class action about?
Maurice Blackburn is conducting a class action against Harvey Norman and its related company, Yoogalu.
The class action is about extended warranties known as “Product Care”, which Harvey Norman, Domayne and Joyce Mayne offer customers when they buy goods in stores or online. Product Care is sold on goods such as consumer electrical goods, home appliances and home entertainment products.
The class action is on behalf of everyone who bought Product Care in Australia, in a store or online, between 20 September 2018 and 19 September 2024 (when the class action was filed in Court).
The extended warranties offered by Harvey Norman, Domayne and Joyce Mayne were also called “Electrical Product Care” or “Computers Product Care”. We refer to all of these together as Product Care.
The class action alleges that Product Care was of little benefit or value to purchasers, because it almost never covered any fault in the goods. Product Care only covers faults where the goods fail to operate and the customer is not entitled to a replacement under the Australian Consumer Law. Under the Australian Consumer Law, customers have very broad and strong rights to a replacement or refund for faulty goods, especially if the goods stop working.
The class action also alleges that Harvey Norman, Domayne and Joyce Mayne were selling Product Care illegally, because it is a financial product and they did not have an Australian Financial Services Licence, which is required in order to sell financial products.
The class action claims that customers would not have bought Product Care if they had known it almost never covered any faults and was being sold illegally.
Compensation is claimed for everyone who bought Product Care from Harvey Norman, Domayne and/or Joyce Mayne between 20 September 2018 and 19 September 2024. People who are part of the class action are called ‘Group Members’.
We are running a separate class action about extended warranties sold by JB Hi-Fi.
Find out more and register for the JB Hi-Fi class action here
Am I part of the Harvey Norman class action?
You are part of the class action (called a Group Member) if you bought one or more Product Care plans in-store or online in Australia from Harvey Norman, Domayne and/or Joyce Mayne, any time between 20 September 2018 and 19 September 2024.
You are still a Group Member if you have made a claim under Product Care or if your plan has expired. This class action, however, does not cover any dispute you may have over the outcome of any claims you have made under Product Care.
If you believe you are owed compensation from a dispute you have about the way that your Product Care claim was dealt with, then you will need to seek independent legal advice about bringing a separate legal case.
Do I need to register to be part of the class action?
We strongly recommend you register.
Registration means we can contact you to tell you about any decisions the Court makes that may affect your ability to claim compensation money.
This is an ‘open’ class action, meaning that if you meet the description of a Group Member above you are already part of the class action.
However, the Court may decide that Group Members have to register to stay in the class action. If you do not register your details now, we will have no way of contacting you to tell you about any deadline the Court sets. This means you risk losing any entitlement to compensation money.
Contact the team
Court and legal claims
The class action is being conducted in the Supreme Court of Victoria.
It alleges that Harvey Norman, Domayne and Joyce Mayne used misleading or deceptive conduct in selling Product Care by:
Not telling customers that:
- Product Care was of little or no benefit or value to purchasers, because it almost never covered any faults in the goods it was meant to cover;
- They were selling Product Care illegally, because they did not hold the Australian Financial Services Licence that they needed to sell it; and
Incorrectly telling customers, either directly or by implying, that Product Care gave them:
- ‘additional protection’ to the protection they already had under the Australian Consumer Law;
- the benefit of protection under both the Australian Consumer Law and Product Care for the whole length of the Product Care they had chosen (1, 2, 3 or 4 year Product Care); and
- certainty about being able to get a replacement of the goods covered if they were faulty.
Harvey Norman, Domayne and Joyce Mayne also failed to give customers important information about their rights under the Australian Consumer Law, which customers needed to make a properly informed decision about whether to buy Product Care.
Frequently Asked Questions about the Harvey Norman Class Action
Group members will not be asked to pay anything upfront. The case is set up so that group members will never be out of pocket. They will only contribute to legal costs through a deduction from any compensation they receive if we win the case after a trial, or if the defendants agree to pay compensation as part of a settlement agreement.
Any costs payable to Maurice Blackburn must be approved by the Court as being fair and reasonable.
More information about how costs will be paid is in the Funding Information Summary Statement.
We are not able to predict how much compensation money group members may receive. It is likely to be different from person to person, depending on the number and price of Product Care plans they purchased.
Class actions usually take between 2 and 4 years. They are very hard fought because the stakes are high.
The length of the Harvey Norman Class Action will depend on many factors, including how Harvey Norman responds to the case.
If you register in this class action, we will send you updates when important events happen.
The class action is claiming compensation for all of the Product Care plans you bought from Harvey Norman, Domayne or Joyce Mayne between 20 September 2018 and 19 September 2024.
If you register, there is an option to enter information about more than one Product Care plan. You do not have to enter this information to register, but it helps us with the case and your claim if you do.
Yes, you are part of the class action if you claimed on your Product Care but were not refunded the full amount of money you paid for Product Care.
Please be aware however, that this class action does not cover any disputes you have about the way your Product Care claim was dealt with. If you believe you are owed compensation from a dispute you have about the way that your Product Care claim was dealt with, then you will need to seek independent legal advice about bringing a separate legal case.
If you bought Product Care from Harvey Norman, Domayne or Joyce Mayne between 20 September 2018 and 19 September 2024 you are part of the class action, even if your Product Care has expired.
Unfortunately, you are not eligible to be part of this class action if you bought your Product Care before 20 September 2018. This is because the laws the case is brought under prevent us from claiming compensation for anything that happened more than 6 years before the date we filed the class action in Court. We filed the class action on 19 September 2024, so we cannot claim compensation for any Product Care you bought before 20 September 2018.
If you are unsure if you have bought Product Care from Harvey Norman, Domayne or Joyce Mayne between 20 September 2018 and 19 September 2024, we encourage you to register your interest.
You can ask Harvey Norman, Domayne or Joyce Mayne to check if you have bought a Product Care plan from them.
Also, during the legal process Maurice Blackburn may be able to confirm who bought a Product Care plan from Harvey Norman, Joyce Mayne or Domayne in the relevant period through the companies’ records.
If you think you have bought Product Care from Harvey Norman, Joyce Mayne or Domayne between 20 September 2018 and 19 September 2024 but don’t have any receipts or documents, we encourage you to register your interest.
You can ask Harvey Norman, Joyce Mayne or Domayne to check if you have bought Product Care from them.
During the legal process Maurice Blackburn may be able to confirm who bought Product Care Plan from Harvey Norman, Joyce Mayne or Domayne in the relevant period through the company’s records.
This class action is only about Product Care bought from Harvey Norman, Joyce Mayne or Domayne in Australia, either in a store or online between 20 September 2018 and 19 September 2024.
We also filed a class action against JB Hi-Fi about their extended warranties on 8 December 2023. If you bought your extended warranty from JB Hi-Fi between 1 January 2011 and 8 December 2023, you are a group member in the JB Hi-Fi Class Action. Click here to find out more and register for that class action.
The ACCC states that “Consumers have the right to expect certain things when they buy a product or service… Consumers are entitled to a solution of a repair, replacement or refund if a product or service they buy doesn’t meet one of the basic rights”.
To find out more about your rights under the consumer law, visit the ACCC website.
Confidentiality and privacy are very important to us. You can access our Privacy Policy here.
If you still have questions, please call Maurice Blackburn on 1800 298 572, or email us at harveynormanclassaction@mauriceblackburn.com.au
Group members can contact Maurice Blackburn for more information at no out-of-pocket cost.
News
- Maurice Blackburn Media Release
Retail giant Harvey Norman to face class action over illegally sold junk extended warranties - News.com.au
‘Waste of money’: Harvey Norman to face class action lawsuit over allegations it sold ‘junk’ extended warranties - Lawyers Weekly
Second class action filed against Harvey Norman - The Lawyer Mag
Harvey Norman hit with new class action over warranty sales - Capital Brief
Harvey Norman hit with second class action over extended warranties - CHOICE
Retailers push extended warranties and get your consumer rights wrong - CHOICE
7 out of 10 Australians misunderstand extended warranties and their rights
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Australian leaders in class actions.
Our reputation for excellence in class actions is unparalleled, having recovered more than $4.3 billion for clients.
We are the only Australian class actions firm to deliver $100m+ settlements to clients in shareholder and listed securities actions, which we have done on ten occasions.
Lower cost to clients
Biggest recoveries
Most experienced
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