European Consumer Centre warns Irish consumers to be careful when buying online

The European Consumer Centre is advising people to be careful if buying dresses or clothing online.

It says Irish consumers have compensation rights if they purchase off a website which is based in the European Union.

However that is not the case if the website is based outside the European Union.

Martina Nee of the European Consumer Centre in Dublin says one woman recently got a rude awakening when she recently bought a debs dress online.

"We know of one consumer that bought a debs dress recently and they thought it was a UK website, turned out it was actually from China. When they got it, it was poor quality, different colour, even had stains on it.

"The lesson is always do your research, look at the terms and conditions, if there's no address for the trader that should ring alarm bells."