Paid $40 under protest to get my OPPO Reno10 5G back – ACL rights ignored?

Just sharing my experience in case it helps someone else.

I bought an OPPO Reno10 5G on 4 December 2023 from JB Hi-Fi for $537.

Fast forward just over two years and the battery performance started dropping off noticeably. I noticed this around the time the 2-year manufacturer warranty was expiring. I then had to take the phone in for a stuck SIM tray.

While it was in for repair, the service centre said the battery needed replacing – $40.

Now $40 isn’t huge money. That’s not the point.

Under Australian Consumer Law, products must be of acceptable quality and last a reasonable amount of time considering the price. A $537 phone needing a battery replacement barely two years in doesn’t exactly scream “durable”.

I raised this with OPPO Customer Care. Got bounced back and forth between “we can’t override the service centre” and “the service centre decides”. No one actually addressed the consumer guarantee argument. Just policy talk.

End result? I had to pay the $40 under protest to get my phone back because they wouldn’t release it otherwise.

I’ve made it clear I reserve the right to escalate to NSW Fair Trading and the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission.

Again, it’s not about forty bucks. It’s about companies pretending the warranty period is the be-all and end-all when ACL says otherwise.

Has anyone else had similar issues with OPPO and battery longevity just outside warranty?

Would be interested to hear how it played out for you.