When Irish Times consumer affairs correspondent Conor Pope got an email last June about the non-delivery of garden furniture, he couldn’t have known that it would be the start of a deluge of similar complaints from hundreds of frustrated customers.
All had ordered from Rathwood, a family business, operating for more than 30 years that had grown into one of the biggest outdoor living retailers in the State. And all had received excuses about delays, supplier issues and new investors.
It has now been estimated that customers are owed in excess of €2 million and that the company, now in examinership, is mired in debt.
So how did this family business come to be the second most complained about company in Ireland after Ryanair? Now that it has entered examinership what does that mean for consumers who have already paid for a range of items from furniture to fuel? Do they have any chance of getting their money back? And what is going to happen to this once thriving business?
Conor Pope outlines the experience of Rathwood customers over the past year and what they can now expect.
Presented by Bernice Harrison. Produced Declan Conlon and Suzanne Brennan.
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