Consumer rights 'apply across the EU'

Faulty gifts can be returned to dozens of different countries under stringent consumer rights law, it was confirmed today.

Mary Denise Fitzgerald of the European Consumer Centre in Dublin said the hordes of bargain-hunters who left the State to travel to Northern Ireland or further afield during the festive season were still protected.

“Whether it is shopping in Northern Ireland or any other of the 24 EU countries, your rights as a consumer are protected by legislation,” she said.

The centre stressed that a person’s consumer rights were the same and it was not dependent on the country the goods were purchased in.

Ms Fitzgerald said shoppers were not entitled to return unwanted presents or disliked goods.

“But you are if it is faulty,” she said.

“This is true in Dublin as it is in Belfast, Paris or Rome.”

Many large department stores will offer refunds or credit notes for unwanted presents as a gesture of goodwill.

In the run-up to Christmas, thousands of shoppers were reported to have headed northwards in search of bargains.

Cathal Austin, manager of the Quays Shopping Centre in Newry, Co Down, joked: “At the weekends Newry is like the centre of Dublin with the accents.”

The centre had 60,000 people through the doors last weekend – among the busiest shopping days of the year.

Mr Austin said around 70% of these were from the Republic. He estimated that around 126,000 customers had visited the two main shopping centres, retail parks and town centre during the weekend.

“There are a lot more people coming to Newry for a lot more than drink and chocolates – that simplifies the trade.”

Mr Austin said several stores offered a good rate against sterling, in some cases better than the banks, which some view as an extra discount.

In some stores, customers have been offered 73p for every euro – this is above the current bank rate of 69p.

Hundreds of Irish people jetted off to the US to enjoy the bargains from the slump in the dollar, with others travelling on weekend breaks to Europe.

The centre receives around 6,000 queries a year across a wide range of topics including returning faulty goods to locating luggage lost abroad.

“The first port of call is the retailer or service provider,” she said.

But Ms Fitzgerald said the centre could then step in to help if the buyer knew the shop or had a receipt of purchase. In some cases it could help track down a shop.

In other cases the centre has liaised with its European counterparts and reported success even where the purchaser could not remember the store’s name.