Brian Price starts off his letter to us with a simple question. "Any interest in a disastrous customer service experience with Debenhams?" Yes indeed. "Short story is, my wife ordered a pair of shoes for €82 from Debenhams online store."

Róisín’s shoes were duly delivered but – wait for it! – there were two different sizes in the box.

"After a long call to the UK," Brian describes, "she was told they had the shoes in Blanchardstown. When she called the shop, she was told they were not in stock. So she called the UK again and was told they were in the Drogheda store. But when she called there, she was told no, they weren't in stock."

So Róisín phoned the UK number again and asked for a supervisor. “She was told one would call back, and six days later, still no call. Róisín suggested the same guy who delivered the wrong shoes could deliver the right shoes and take the wrong ones away. Debenhams said no, they couldn’t do that, and want us, at our expense, to drive to a distant store [from Skerries], to exchange the shoes.

“They will not refund until they have the wrong shoes back. So, they are holding our money, and won’t come and collect what they delivered? They have kindly offered €15 in the form of a voucher as compensation. We have no interest in that. We just want the correct shoes delivered.

“By the way, [Debenhams] were advised very early in the process we needed the shoes in advance of a holiday, for which we leave on Saturday.”

We got in touch with Debenehams. A spokeswoman said Roisin “will be reimbursed for the costs that she has incurred in returning the shoes to her local store with gift vouchers, which she has accepted.

“We are very sorry to have let our customer down and have apologised for the inconvenience caused.”

Ryanair gets it right

We have had, on occasion, reason to highlight some of Ryanair’s flaws on this page. And more often than not, people contacting us in connection with the airline are in a rage. But when companies get something right, it is important to acknowledge it. So does a reader who asked to remain nameless – and the company getting it right was Ryanair.

"With all the bad press about the airline, I just want to draw your attention to this," her mail to us starts. "I made a booking in February for two return flights to Spain for myself and my partner at a cost of €323.

“Tragically, he passed away weeks later. I had no insurance and did not hold any hope of getting a refund.

But she called Ryanair and says she “was treated with the utmost respect and compassion”. She was asked to send the airline an email with requested details.

“Less than a week later I received confirmation that they would give me a full refund within the next five to 10 days, with a very nice email attached. A couple of days later I got the money back.

“Ryanair receive such bad press for everything,” she says, “so I just want to highlight how efficient and compassionate they were. I didn’t care about the money and thought that it was gone for good, but it was a pleasant surprise in a horrible time.”