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WHETHER YOU’LL LOG ON to take part in Cyber Monday or not later this month, it’s estimated that those of us who do indulge in online shopping end up spending about €1.3 billion in total each year.
And as we don’t get an opportunity to examine an item before we buy, sometimes things don’t go exactly to plan. When this happens, it’s hard to know exactly where we stand, whether we’re entitled to a refund and what we have to do to get it.
That’s why we asked you to let us know what you’d like us to ask an expert about online shopping earlier this month. To clarify how your rights differ online, we put these questions to Áine Carroll, Director of Communications and Policy at the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC).
From the figures it gathered, online shopping was very popular among respondents – our informal survey found that 50% of respondents shop a few times a month, with 10% shopping a few times a week.
Although 64% had returned an online purchase, their experiences varied when things went wrong.
Required refunds
However, 55% of those surveyed did not realise that they have less rights if a business is based outside of the EU. Carroll explains why this figure is so high – often we don’t find out about our rights until things go wrong:
Online, people can be very task-oriented when shopping so they’re not necessarily thinking about their rights or where a business is based.
Similarly, only half the respondents realised that if their items don’t arrive within 30 days (provided they’ve bought from a business based in the EU) and unless they have agreed to an alternative date, they’re entitled to a refund. As Carroll explains, it’s not the only situation in which consumers don’t realise they’re entitled to a refund:
The most common problem on our helpline is when people don’t realise they have the right to cancel if they’ve changed their mind. Or if an item is on sale, they often believe their rights are different.
Carroll reminds that even if a business says otherwise, you have the exact same rights as when the item isn’t discounted – offline, this is not the case and depends on store policy.
Once you choose to return an item, you may be entitled to the cost of return postage – this will be set out in the website’s terms and conditions. But for things like a faulty or incorrect item rather than a change of mind, you’re always entitled to it – provided you’re very clear with the business that you are not exercising your right to cancel.
And when you’re returning an item for a faulty item, there are a few important things to do including letting the business know you are sending it back, says Carroll: ”
Send a photo of the delivery note, along with proof of the order and photos of what has been received.
Bidding to buy
The situation with buying from an individual was even more unclear for those who took our informal survey – nearly a third (30%) believed they had the exact same rights when they bought online from an individual as opposed to a business.
“I think the popularity of things like auction sites have blurred the lines a little. People don’t differentiate between the two”, explains Carroll. She says that issues tend to arise the most when an individual believes they have bought from a business but in fact they’ve made a purchase from an individual – giving them no rights under EU law.
If you do choose to buy on the likes of eBay or Etsy, Carroll urges that you “really need to read the terms and conditions before you buy”. She shares that a lot of these sites are self-regulated so “read the comments to see if other users have been happy with their purchases”.
What’s the custom?
Several of our readers surveyed were concerned about custom charges. According to Carroll, it’s good news if you keep your purchases to EU-based businesses: “There are no custom charges within the EU, it’s one of the many advantages of shopping within it.”
Once you purchase outside the EU however, you’re liable to pay VAT on any purchase with the value of €22 or more: “This is quite a low value, so a lot of people will fall into the category of requiring to pay VAT”.
Whatsmore, if an online purchase from outside the EU is valued at €150 or more, you legally have to pay import charges too. This means that not only do you have less rights when shopping outside the EU, it can also wind up being a lot more expensive.
Shopping scams
Some of our readers surveyed had concerns about how to spot a fake website, and what you can do if you end up making a purchase on one. There is a potential solution in this case, provided you are with Visa or Mastercard, says Carroll:
So you can request something called a chargeback from your bank, which you can also ask for if your items are never delivered.
A chargeback allows your bank or credit card company to reverse the transaction – crediting the payment back into your account. Ultimately, if you are buying from a website, you need to research it and beware of warning signs, says Carroll: “If a website is selling branded items for a lot less, that should make you suspicious.”
While Carroll says that your first response should be contacting the company, if you are unable to get a reply or a refund or if there is a dispute, you can request a chargeback. You can find out more about the process here, and more about your rights online here.
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Wonderful so no extra gardai to patrol the street’s or cars to help response times for actual crimes
Instead buying something to clean up a large mess created by the mob in the dail, NGO’s and fat cat developers who tried to make human trafficking for a profit a legal business and stirred up the race hating nutters…..
The irony is we probably won’t have enough gardai to man these yokes like we don’t have enough manpower for all the new weapons they wanna buy for the defence forces and our little attempt to play NATO call of duty
@Tom Newell: If far-right racists stopped burning down buildings and murdering tourists we wouldn’t need them.
@Jacintha Dumbrell: the far right didn’t cause garda response times and answer 999 calls to go to crap the past few years……
@Jacintha Dumbrell: look to why riots are happening and fix that instead. A watercannon doesn’t fix problems.
@Jacintha Dumbrell: Murdering tourists? Of the top of my head I can think of the recent murder by two Romanians of a Canadian tourist and the one in West Cork allegedly by an English migrant years ago. Are these the far right racists you’re talking about?
@Tom Newell: good job ,put dye in the water so they can arrest them later ,about time the guards had a decent bit of equipment .
@Mr “JonnieBoy” Johnson: yes it does
@Tom Newell:
Alot going on there son
Maybe limit your exposure on the Internet to Marxist st1t.
@Jacintha Dumbrell: Wasn’t Irish who killed the yank
@sean weir: eh , wrong.
@Jacintha Dumbrell: NPC – non player character pre programmed response
@Mr “JonnieBoy” Johnson: no, but it gives the dole-suckers and assorted farage puppets a good wash.
@Jacintha Dumbrell: bury your head in the sand even more.
@Jacintha Dumbrell:
@Jacintha Dumbrell: Bet you lead a comfortable and cosseted life?
@Jacintha Dumbrell: look at the problem, not the solution.!
This is happening because marginalised people have been let down by fgff. easy prey for far right agenda. It won’t be the big guns getting water cannon but the nieve people who follow them. This lies with minister for justice, and drew Harris. Blame the actual people who are responsible. I also thought an all black security at the site might have been a bit of a mistake, many of them older was very unfair on them, put a load of eastern Europeans on it, and trouble wouldn’t have escalated. They would be afraid to tackle a few of them.
How about listening to communities who don’t want more people in their area. Disgraceful government
@common sense: I don’t want you in my area, pack your bags.
@common sense: If it’s not immigration then it will be something else. A very small minority use social issues to behave like thugs.
@common sense: how about they get a job
@mark sheehan: They are thugs Mark. Vermin. Gurriers. No respect for law, their neighbours. Nothing. They’ve always been around. Let them have it..
@common sense: listening? The two main Govt parties got the most votes in the Local Elections in June, and all the racist candidates got less than 1%.
Just spent a few days in Valencia, Spain. I would like to see Gardai and County Council officials be brought out there to see how things are done. The streets are clean, no graffiti, no valdalism, no menacing drug addicts and a general feeling of safeness and wellbeing. Fountains and sculptures treated with the respect they deserve. And, they manage this without a strong visible Police presence!!! Comparing Valencia to any of our major cities just shoes up how badly we manage our streets!!
@chris gaffney: by God, they must have brilliant, ev water cannons that shoot recycled rain water, when available.
@Oh Mammy: Liquid manure ;-)
@chris gaffney: yes well Spanish peop is e have pride where they live , dont litter the streets, drink very little beer and can enjoy themselves without getting drunk or doing drugs
@chris gaffney: The lack of a lot of the things you identified in Valencia and elsewhere in Spain, for that matter, stem from cultural differences more than anything else.
Acting like a scümb*g in Spain is socially unacceptable, but in many parts of Ireland, especially in Dublin, it is not only viewed as socially acceptable, it is also embraced as a group identity.
The vast majority of the people engaging in the aggressive and often violent anti-immigrant protests in Ireland that prompted this purchase of water cannons, not only don’t have jobs to go to, they wouldn’t work if their lives depended on it.
@chris gaffney:
Spanish cops are allowed to give you a few slaps if you need them.
Wonder how much these will cost the taxpayers?
@Michale Kane: OPW Rumours have it. Each vehicle is apparently costing the taxpayer between 336k and 1.4 million. Personally, I don’t know where they are getting those figures from.
@Michale Kane: They cost half a million a piece.
@Pat Barry: Think it’s for the pair actually, Boris Johnson got better value when he bought 3 from the German Police for £300,000.
@Michale Kane: A lot less than replacing buses, trams and everything they louts burn or destroy. What’s your opinion?
@POC: What have they burned and destroyed recently?
If this shower of piigs in government would do the right thing by the people who elected them there would be no need for the stasi..sorry I meant gardai to need water cannons.
@Gerry Lamont: shut up Gerry and go get your umbrella,I think you may need it
@sean weir: I bring my brolly every time I visit your sister
@Freda Peeple: I thought you liked golden showers?
@Freda Peeple: my sister is dead buddy ,hope you bring flowers
Gardaí need to purchase more gardaí. They won’t be allowed use them cannons in case they hurt some young hooligan, like they’re not allowed intercept bike thieves. The powers that be actively ignoring crime.
@James McCarthy: The ‘athletes’ in the photo look like the could use a clean in fairness
Long overdue, as the thugs and racists needed to be cleaned off our streets.
@Pat Hazzard: as well as the tents in the city center. A water canon would do very well against the illegals. Maybe they won’t stay?
@Pat Hazzard: what’s a racist Pat? Your definition please. Take your time.
@Oh Mammy: anyone who doesn’t agree with him
@Oh Mammy: Well, if you have to ask…….!
@Shane Kinsella (Kinsey): that was my thought. I should probably get a wet suit…….
@chris gaffney: why not give me your definition?
@Pat Hazzard: they need to add indelible dye to the water to help identify the agitators when they try to slip away, having incited the gullible mob and the assorted dole-suckers to cause damage.
@Oh Mammy: What’s your definition of a racist then?
@ItWasLikeThatWhenIGotHere: I asked first. When I get an answer I will give mine
@Pat Hazzard: oh … you mean ‘the racists’ you’ve been preprogrammed to talk about
Absolutely fantastic news hopefully they use them on the dole merchant anti migration protestors.
Porsche or ferrari brand ? Should be match bike shelter High design.
Real cannons would be better.
Not before time. Need to purchase new judges as well. Too much kid gloves with these thugs.
@John Flanagan: We just need Garda to allowed Police like in other countries . Too much red tape . Example a person is driving a scrambler bike around a housing estate at speed with no helmet and kids present the Garda cannot touch him . In other countries the police would ram him off the bike , the consequences of that is the Garda would face charges . It’s madness .
@Alan d: yea Alan and when garda bring them to court. They are slapped on the hand and told don’t do it again.
@John Flanagan: law needs changing, if 13 year old is caught in a stolen car, they should be tried in adult court. If convicted before 18, it should carry over to adulthood. They need to learn their crimes will be punished.
What’s the budget? 150 k, 336k,1.4milliion each. It will a be a rushed purchase because they’ll need them for Halloween
@P. V. Aglue: 150k for transit van with the mesh over the front window.
@P. V. Aglue: don’t think the plan is to put out bonfires.
Fill them full of slurry.
@Aidan Boland: i like that idea
@Oh Mammy: Love it. The headline should read “Gardaí purchase 2 new slurry tanks”
@Toyo Ke: the fella that sold the rubberbandits the horse for a bag of yokes sold the slurry tanks to the gardai for 13.3457b euro.
1 for Coolock the other down in Tipp! That should clean them up!
Slipping further & further into an Authoritarian State under this Govt. Drew Harris & Helen Mc Entee lost control of Law & Order, instead of having active policing on the ground, it’s all about hammering people into submission with batons & water cannons. I wonder how many people out protesting peacefully will be hit & injured by these water cannons. Mc Entee is intent on destroying free speech & the right to protest, meanwhile Law & Order under her watch has broken down in every city, town & village across the country.
So they are in the process of purchasing 2 water canon vehicles from an overseas Police force for around €500,000 for the pair…. cheap at the price when you compare it to bike shelters
@MIchael Costello:
Now if only Shin Fein bring that money they laundered to the UK back to Ireland pay there tax on it just like the little people do, and that will cover the cost of the Gardas Mobile power washers
Two little two late.
Our full garda team should be armed full stop ✋️
@Alan Moloney: as far as we know there 2nd hand not new
@Alan Moloney: Why would you want to give these thugs any firearms?
Look at the murders by US cops. Let’s not degenerate to that level.
@ItWasLikeThatWhenIGotHere: ” these thugs”
I bet you are one of those that stand with your phone out while you hurl abuse at them .
Interestingly these aren’t approved for use in the UK outside of NI.
@Pat Barry: yes they are, were used during the miners strike,and in the Croydon roots
@sean weir: That may be the case but they’re certainly banned there now and have been for years.
@Pat Barry: not banned pat but can only be used if signed of by the home secretary
Why dont all the smart people on here who have all the answers run in the next general election, of course that actually means doing something
@Peter Byrne:the old “why don’t you run” generic blah blah comment… how far will you get in politics if you upset the gravy train? Not far is your answer
Didn’t they buy 2 after the ‘Reclaim the streets’ protest/riot? They sold them due to lack use then. Or did I just imagine all that?
@Ronan Mc: they borrowed those from the PSNI. They haven’t as much use for them now that the IRA are doing less wrecking for unity.
@John Mulligan: Nice bit of “but the ra”-ing but it’s actually loyalists who carry out most of the rioting these days.
@John Mulligan: since the GFA we only have riots from the loyalists,and the PSNI would never water cannon their neighbours .
It’s not the Gardai anymore, they’re PSNI shoe in’s, the RIC is back and paddy is again the target. Fudge all you west brits cheering this on from the sidelines, same people whos ancestors sat by in their proddy towns while the paddy starved to death during the famine. You don’t even know who you truly are do ya’s?
They will never be used absolute waste of money again
@Pj Browne:
You’d be moaning if they did not have them.
They’re just two power washers for the tidy towns competition, gotta keep the place looking squeaky clean
Probably in storage 95% of the time. I’m not sure if they can be used for anything else. They could park them in the bike shed or the security hut, I suppose, to save storage costs. No extra garda or nurses, doctors, etc, but we will have these essentials.
Yet again the uncivilised people cannot behave themselves and cost the taxpayers money.
@Tommy: In ten years time you will wish you were one of “them” people. Mark my words
@Freda Peeple: Very True, I personally blame the Greedy Greens and Helen McEntee for their incompetence at leaving the gate open and flooding the country with undocumented males.
My question is Where’s all their wives and children?
@Tommy: on their way as soon as the males are cleared. Then the parents and any other relative.
About time.
The Minister for Justice said on RTE Radio last week that they had been purchased and would be delivered early next year. So what’s the truth?
@karen delaney: she didn’t she said they had gone out to tender and so would be delivered next year.
As an 80s kid who grew up in communist Poland, I feel like I’m travelling back in time. Slowly but surely.
A couple of billion euros should do it.
More tools for the new Tans. They have lost much of the public over their thuggish behaviour recently.
@donal finn: not really. Only the thugs who disrespect our beloved flag and share space with some thugs from the north carrying the Union Jack.
While everyone gets excited another deflection, for drew Harris, and helen mc entee,
Doing his dirty work, the riot would have even started, if he hadn’t taken guards off the site, leaving workers with no protection.
Where are the guards on the street doing half-hour checks that lasted about a week.
Drew needs to go. The guards that were there stood idly by watching,or moving a few barriers instead of crowd control.
About the only shower these lazy doleheads would ever see
Fill them with poo-pee water and make sure the guys carrying our beloved flag, and their mates with the Union Jack beside them, are first to have a wash.
About time. I hope the Government have the legislation in place to use it
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