Rathwood receives more consumer complaints than Ryanair

The troubled homes and garden retailer Rathwood was the most complained-about company in Ireland in the first six months of the year, a new report indicates.It came up almost three times more often in calls to the consumer watchdog than the company in second place. All told, Rathwood was identified in 737 calls to the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) between January and June, with Ryanair featuring on 238 occasions, 10 ahead of Sky in third position. Currys on 223 and Harvey Norman on 196 rounded out the top five most complained-about companies. READ MOREIn April, Rathwood announced it was seeking the appointment of an examiner to try to secure its financial future. It subsequently emerged that as many as 7,000 customers had ordered and paid for products the company was not in a position to deliver.The High Court heard the company had total liabilities of more than €21 million. At the end of July a rescue plan was confirmed which will see an external investor come on board and new management take control, allowing it to continue trading and save 62 jobs. A total of 22,724 consumers contacted the CCPC helpline in the first six months of the year, with key issues being faulty goods, pricing and contract performances.The main sectors prompting concern were vehicles and transport, utilities and fuel, and homebuilding and improvements.Consumers spent an average of €6,473 on the products or services that caused them difficulties, with the report pointing to a jump of 34 per cent in contacts related to online purchases.[ A Currys customer’s ‘extremely exhausting and frustrating’ glitchy phone experienceOpens in new window ]The CCPC’s newly appointed director of communications Aoibhín de Búrca said it was important that consumers know their rights if they buy something that turns out to be faulty. “Regardless of whether you had a warranty or a guarantee, it’s up to the seller to resolve your issue, not the manufacturer,” she said.The research highlighted that “when consumers are armed with the information we give them, they can get the replacements, repairs and refunds due to them”, she said. A total of 91 per cent of consumers “took action following calls to the helpline and nearly 40 per cent were resolved”, she said. However, almost half said they had to contact retailers more than five times without having the issues resolved.De Búrca said if the CCPC identifies breaches of the law, it will act. “Based on calls to our helpline we can and do take action. In July, with the help of intelligence received by the helpline, the CCPC secured the return of €250,000 in unspent gift card credit to Irish consumers by JD Sports,” she said. “And in the last 18 months we have taken successful prosecutions against six major retailers and two second-hand car dealers for misleading consumers. So, we strongly encourage consumers to alert us when they see breaches of the law.”[ School devices: Parents feel ‘press-ganged into something we don’t want and can’t afford’Opens in new window ]She welcomed a Government commitment to give the CCPC new powers to impose fines for breaches of consumer protection laws, but called for the fines to be higher “to deter businesses from breaking the law”.The CCPC referred almost 6,000 callers to the Small Claims Court in the first half of the year, a record number.However, the process is only intended for claims of up to €2,000. “Many consumers, especially those with issues with cars or home improvements, are automatically excluded from the option due to the low claim threshold,” de Búrca said. She welcomed a promise in the Programme for Government to “substantially increase” the limit. “We strongly recommend it be increased to €8,000,” she said.