Half of Irish websites selling electronic goods were found to be ripping off their customers in an investigation carried out by the National Consumer Agency (NCA).
Some websites failed to give a refund for goods returned within the required 30-day period or failed to give a full refund, while others were poorly administered, the agency said.
The problems emerged during a “mystery shopping” exercise by NCA officials to test 13 of the most popular sites selling electronic goods in Ireland. NCA deputy chief executive John Shine said the agency had raised the findings of the investigations with the websites and would take enforcement proceedings if the faults were not remedied.
The agency also found six of 15 websites it examined as part of an EU-wide sweep into misleading advertising and unfair practices were found to have irregularities. Most of the issues related to a lack of contact details for the trader.
