Less than 10% complain over unsatisfactory purchases

FEWER than one in ten Irish shoppers complain when they buy a product or a service that is less than satisfactory.

The Irish propensity to suffer in silence when they get shoddy products makes them the least likely in the EU to object. This, despite almost every consumer saying they have come across at least one unfair commercial practice – the highest number in the EU.

And a quarter of the population say they have responded to an advertisement or a special offer that they then found to be misleading.

The Irish appeared to be learning to complain during the years of the Celtic Tiger, with the number demanding action on problems rising to 13% in 2008, the highest recorded, but last year this dropped way down to about 7%.

Retailers are checked less often than in any other country, except Finland, and had the smallest number of breaches of consumer legislation, the EU study on the consumer market found. This may be related to the fact the Government spends less on funding consumer organisations than in all but four countries, including Romania and Bulgaria.

However, the consumer environment improved a lot in Ireland last year compared with 2008, the Commission found. This was mostly based on consumers saying they felt adequately protected by the law, trusted public authorities and sellers to protect their rights, were satisfied how their complaints were handled and found it easy to resolve disputes through courts.

So it may simply reflect the Irish unwillingness to express dissatisfaction.

They were more forthcoming on financial products and services, with 84% (highest in EU along with Greece) saying the information on pension schemes, mortgages and debit cards should be simplified.