Reports to the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission’s consumer helpline rose by 13% last year, with nearly 45,000 people making contact.
Among the contacts, Ticketmaster (614 contacts), Eir (604 contacts), and Ryanair (554 contacts) were the top three traders named.
Car issues (5,451 contacts) was the most common reason for contacting the CCPC, followed by telecommunications (2,920 contacts) and home building and improvements (2,525 contacts).
In relation to people making contact about issues buying cars, the CCPC noted that it recently called on the Minister for Transport to introduce an online car-history portal – gathering information from insurers and the NCT and making it free to the public – which would help car buyers avoid unsafe, crashed or clocked cars.
There was a 76% year-on-year jump for contacts in relation to recreation, sport & leisure businesses – with the number of issues reported rising from 869 in 2023 to 1,527 last year.
Over a fifth of consumers contacting the CCPC said they had problems with faulty goods or services, while the average spend on products they had an issue with was €6,013.
CCPC spokeswoman Grainne Griffin said the average spend “is driven by very high costs related to second-hand cars and home improvements.
“Unfortunately for those consumers, they will not be able to use the small claims process to resolve their issue, because the small claims court only deals with cases up to €2,000. This limit urgently needs to be addressed.”
Ms Griffin added that the CCPC is “very glad to see that a growing number of consumers are checking their rights with the CCPC when they run into difficulties”.
“Almost 45,000 consumers contacted us last year and we were able to explain their rights or point them towards an agency or service that could help them.”
The publication of the CCPC’s 2024 Helpline Report comes ahead of World Consumer Rights Day this Saturday, 15 March.
