A READER from Cork by the name of Karen contacted us last week in connection with the retailer Monsoon. She says its website has changed its pricing and Irish customers are now a whole lot worse off.

“Before a few weeks ago Irish customers could pay sterling online and get better value for Monsoon clothes,” she writes. So a dress in sterling online would cost €150 compared with €235 in-store.

“So I bypassed Monsoon shops and bought straight from the website. Now with their new website Irish customers have to select their country and currency and get charged the same as they would in-store in Ireland,” she writes. In other words, we are getting ripped off online too.

“More importantly, if I live in Germany I get charged a lot less than Ireland on a lot of items, whereas people in France are charged the same. Is this legal? Can they charge all different prices for the same goods within Europe online?”