Rathwood tops CCPC complaints list for first half of year

Garden centre and outdoor furniture retailer Rathwood was the most complained about business during the first half of this year, according to the latest helpline report from the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC).

The company, which recently exited examinership after securing a €750,000 investment, attracted 737 complaints between January and June – significantly more than Ryanair (238), Sky (228), Currys (223), and Harvey Norman (196), which completed the top five.

Rathwood has had well publicised issues in relation to delays in delivering customers’ orders, as well as issuing refunds.

After the retailer entered examinership in April, the CCPC advised customers affected to “take action immediately” and “request a chargeback from their bank or card provider if they have not already done so”.

Overall, there were 22,724 complaints made to the consumer watchdog’s helpline for the first half of the year, with faulty goods, second-hand cars, and home improvements being the main reasons for making a complaint.

Consumers reported spending an average of €6,473 on the product or service they contacted the CCPC about.

2,130 complaints related to ‘utilities & fuel’ – a 248% jump when compared with the same period in 2025.

CCPC Director of Communications Aoibhín de Búrca said that “91% of consumers took action following calls to the helpline and nearly 40% were resolved”.

“The research also shows that almost half of consumers had to contact the retailer more than five times and the issues still weren’t resolved. Now that we have this research, it will inform our work,” she said.

Ms de Búrca added, “where we see breaches of the law, we will act. Based on calls to our helpline, we can and do take action. In July, with the help of intelligence received by the helpline, the CCPC secured the return of €250,000 in unspent gift card credit to Irish consumers by JD Sports.

“In the last 18 months, we have taken successful prosecutions against six major retailers and two second-hand car dealers for misleading consumers. So, we strongly encourage consumers to alert us when they see breaches of the law.

“Currently the CCPC must prosecute a business in court where a judge can then impose a fine. Recent consumer protection law cases have incurred fines of €1,000. This is why we welcome the commitment made by the Government to give the CCPC new powers to impose fines for breaches of consumer protection laws. And we want the fines to be higher to deter businesses from breaking the law,” she said.

The CCPC also referred almost 6,000 consumers to the Small Claims Court in the first six months of the year.