Some items mentioned regarding customer service in Irish shops and stores.

Woman bought a jumper before Christmas for herself. Didn't fit and brought it back after Christmas, but without receipt. As the sale was on, the shop assistant only offered the sale price as a refund, not the full price she had paid.

The shop isn't obliged to do anything, even with a receipt, it is a matter of their goodwill towards you. This shop however just took even more advantage of the sale issue.

If the woman had had a receipt, and the shop was more ameniable, they would have given the credit for the original amount, not the sale price.

Basically, without receipt, there was nothing this shopper could have done.
 

A teenage girl bought a skirt in a shop, but it was too big, had receipt and went back to return it.

Shop again not obliged to do anything, but could have either given a credit note or given a smaller size.

This time they said they wouldn't do anything because they said that it smelled of smoke. The shopper claimed otherwise as it hadn't been worn at all.

Technically, the shop again was within it's rights to do nothing here - but could have been more honest, or nicer about it.

As it turns out, the shoppers mother came into the shop a week later and was given a credit note straight away for the amount of the cost of the skirt, no questions asked or without any issues.

A lesson for younger shoppers out there.

A regular problem that's been reported is problems with buying CDs to copy music or data on to. People have found that with some brands, a large majority of the CDs don't work and nothing can be copied on to them.

Within your consumer rights, if you buy something that doesn't do what you bought it for, then you are entitled to a replacement or your money back - given that you have the receipt.

It is however, common, amongst many stores selling these products to make it very difficult and awkward for people to get any satisfaction when trying to return these CDs.

Theres been examples where they've been downright refused, where the "manager" has taken them to his office (out of sight) to try them out and came back saying they worked fine.

Basically, if the product isn't suitable for the use intended, you're entitled to your money back.

Most shops depend on people giving up if things aren't straight forward. In this case, if shops are being very awkward, a visit to the Small Claims Court should be the next step, as well as reporting the shop on Value Ireland to warn other people about the shops activities.
 

One example mentioned by a user on Value Ireland was about buying a fridge. The cost was €399 which they were happy with and they had a van outside so they could bring it home.

They were told that they couldn't. They would have to pay €15 more to have it delivered. Despite the fact that they had a van outside.

In this situation, they would be entitled to insist that they pay for the fridge, take it away themselves, and dispense with the delivery service.

If the shop insisted on the delivery charge, since the person hadn't yet bought the fridge (and no contract was entered in to), the persons only real choice was to walk out and take their business elsewhere.

If they did that, they should really make sure they explain their reasoning to the people in the shop, and the manager if possible. And finally, report it to Value Ireland so others know to avoid such an unhelpful place.