I purchased a pair of sneakers from Suro Australia for

Hi, I’m John Melis, solicitor, and I am in Australia. I want to thank you for taking the time to speak with me today. Your question means a lot to me. If I were in your position, I would feel just as you do. If I understand you correctly I suggest the following:

​There are three steps you may take with this vital matter.

1. issue a formal complaint in writing to the other party, and if they refuse to respond, then follow step two;

2. Where the company has declined to assist you, the next step is to write s formal complaint to the ombudsman, but this can be a lengthy process. If you are not able to wait out the time, you can follow step 3.

3. You will have a claim under the Australian Consumer Law based on the facts that you have described, and you will be able to claim compensation. The legislative Act that applies is the Competition and Consumer Act 2010, Schedule 2.

The other party warrants that goods or service are acceptable for their use/service.

Goods must be of acceptable quality, fit for purpose, match their description and match any sample or model.

Services must be rendered with due care and skill, must be fit for the specified purpose, and provided within a reasonable time.

The other party has several options they can provide, which include either repair, replace, refund, compensate, or cancel the entire contract and refund at their discretion.

What you need to do is to write a formal complaint. This complaint needs to be in a chronological order detailing what the issue is and what action you have taken to try and rectify the matter.

​You may lodge a claim in the court.

You need to first write a formal complaint to the other party. This complaint needs to be in a numbered order detailing the issue and what action you have taken to rectify the matter. Send this complaint to the other party by email with a time limit to reply.

If mediation does not occur, commence court action.

The court's website has a forms section, which you can download the documents to commence the claim against that other party. There are practice notes on the court's website. There are various resources also, which you could utilise to aid you in completing the claim form.

Once you have submitted the claim form into the court, then you must serve the documents on to the other party.

You will receive email communications from the court, and you need to review these communications carefully, as they give you instructions on what to do next.

You can run your case in this particular matter, as this will avoid legal fees. The alternative is to engage a local lawyer to help you prepare the claim and then pursue the legal costs against the other party.

The best outcome is to try and mediate it amicably, and the court should be a last resort.

​I thank you kindly for reaching out today.

I appreciate your assistance with a rating of five stars, as this helps me support the community.

If there is anything else, big or small, that I can help you with today, please let me know?