Some fans were told they needed a receipt to get a refund, which is not the case under Australian consumer law. Clubs also told fans they could not be refunded for jumpers stamped with players' names or numbers. “Let’s be clear - what the clubs were doing was illegal," ACCC chairman Rod Sims said on Thursday. "That’s not something these trusted clubs should be doing. It is extremely unfortunate behaviour and we’ll take very strong action if we find them doing it again.” Mr Sims said the watchdog began a review into the sports clubs after an ACCC staff member saw a sign at Essendon's official store that breached consumers' rights to a refund for faulty products. The probe found breaches of the law were widespread across the two popular sports codes, but the regulator decided not to take legal action after the clubs involved quickly agreed to change their policies.

Mr Sims said he was certain he would have found examples of fans who were wrongly refused refunds if the ACCC had decided to take enforcement action. “If football fans buy a piece of merchandise that has a major failure, they are entitled to a choice of a refund or replacement,” he said. "Consumers rightly take on trust when companies says what their refund policies are. Companies just cannot contract or assert their way out of that - indeed it’s illegal to do so." The ACCC has in the past taken legal action against companies including Sportscraft, Lululemon and Harvey Norman for misleading consumers on their refund rights. Under consumer law, retailers cannot refuse to refund, repair or replace faulty goods, even if the item was on sale when purchased. The ACCC said clubs were misleading fans over their right to a refund. Credit:AAP

Signs saying "no refunds" or similar do not remove customers' rights to a refund on faulty items. Likewise, retailers cannot limit the time in which customers can seek recourse for faulty products and consumers can pursue refunds or replacements even after the "warranty period" has expired. A spokesman for the NRL said it would ensure the code's clubs were compliant with consumer law in future. The AFL said all its clubs changed their terms "immediately after being made aware of the issue". A Melbourne Football Club spokesman said the ACCC alerted it to "an issue with the wording of the returns policy". "We immediately acted and adjusted that wording," the spokesman said. "We have not received any customer complaints in relation to this matter."

with Simone Fox Koob The AFL clubs pulled into line were: Carlton

Collingwood

Essendon

Fremantle

Geelong

Hawthorn

Melbourne

Richmond

Sydney Swans And from the NRL: Brisbane Broncos

Canterbury-Bankstown

Cronulla Sutherland

Eastern Suburbs

Manly Warringah

Melbourne Storm

Newcastle

Parramatta Eels

South Sydney

St George Illawarra

Titans

Wests Tigers