The diary of a furious reader:A furious reader contacted us last week in connection with a bookshop we like rather a lot, Chapters on Dublin's Parnell Street.
We recently carried an item on consumer rights during the sales and pointed out that a shop can not deduce, simply by looking at a product returned because of a perceived fault, what is the cause of the fault. To put it bluntly, shop assistants are not engineers or so intimately acquainted with the merchandise they sell to make such calls. Nor can a shop insist a consumer deal directly with a manufacturer as their contract is always with the place of purchase. Our reader said that the day our article was published her father went into Chapters to replace a broken Moleskine diary which he had got as a Christmas present. “He was told that the item was non-refundable or non-replaceable and that it was fine when it left the store,” she writes. She goes on to say that he was also told to “deal with the manufacturer” and when he pointed to our article was told that “not everything you read in The Irish Times is true”.
Our reader returned the next day “quietly fuming”, as she puts it. There was a further row after which the item was “reluctantly replaced”. She wanted a refund but was told that in no way was she entitled to one so she left sufficiently angry to get in touch with us.
While we completely accept that we get things wrong sometimes, we are pretty sure that on this occasion we are correct. We contacted the shop last week and while the owner was reluctant to discuss individual cases on the record, he said that “we look after our customers in the best way we can and are in full compliance with the law”. He also pointed out that the item had been replaced.
This story raises a couple of issues. First, while many people think otherwise, a consumer is not entitled to a refund on a faulty product – they are entitled to a refund, a repair or a replacement and the retailer can make a judgement on what is the most appropriate course of action to take. Secondly, it is very easy to get very annoyed when making a complaint because you are going into the shop cross and probably tense. But losing your temper is never going to help any situation and the trick is to be calm and rational at all times. If your complaint is not being handled in an appropriate way, don’t raise your voice or just leave and contact us and we’ll see if we can help.
Dollar delay with Permanent TSB
Another reader called Sharon Kelly visited her branch of Permanent TSB in Rathmines, Dublin as she wanted to change some US dollars into euro and then lodge the money into her account. “I was astonished to receive the advice that this process would take 21 working days. Is this a record or a joke?”
Car rental firms and their full tank policy
Ned Monaghan lives in Connecticut but comes home to Ireland quite often. Every time he rents a car at Shannon Airport and every time he returns it full of petrol. “The deal is that they rent you a car with a full tank and if you return it full, that charge is removed. But if it is not full, they fill it for €2 per litre, plus €10 for the labour.” While charging 50 cent more than the actual price for a litre of petrol is ridiculous by any measure and charging €10 for labour is doubly so, at least both charges are spelled out. “What is not spelled out is that they also charge you for more gas than the tank can hold! The car I rented in October had an initial charge for a ‘full’ tank of €100 which is 50 litres at €2 per litre. But the tank only holds 40 litres. Nice?”
Water test provokes dry responses
Last week we reviewed water – three bottled waters which can be bought in supermarkets and tap water. The tap water finished on top of the pile as it was free, was not wasteful in terms of resources and tasted comparable to the considerably more expensive options selling in supermarkets. The review made two people cross. First was Noel Butler who suggested the person who wrote the article “must be writing from home, having over-indulged on mince pies and turkey”. He points to the comment that water with a slight taste of chlorine disappears if it is poured into a jug and refrigerated. “So what is your solution for lime? My solution? Bottled water or water filters. Your comment that tap water is impossible to beat is impossible to defend.” Another reader, Barry Dillon, complained that it wasn’t a very comprehensive water test. “Three brands out of at least 20. You must have been rushing to a Christmas party somewhere.” Eh, we hope Barry Dillon doesn’t read our stock review today.
