Consumers' Section/forum

Dub13

I think this would be a good idea,people need to know their rights and How to complain etc etc.I am a member of the Consumers' Association of Ireland so I would help out.

I would not see a forum like this as all negative stuff,as plenty of shops/business out there have very good Customer service.

Let me know what you think.


Paul

Dub13

A bit of the advice I would like to see given out on any new forum.

Under the Sale of Goods and Supply of Services Act 1980, anything you buy from a retailer must be:

of merchantable quality
fit for its normal purpose, and reasonably durable
as described, whether the description is part of the advertising or wrapping, on a label, or something said by the salesperson.
When you buy goods from a retailer, you make a contract with him. He agrees to provide certain goods to you for a certain price. If your purchase turns out to be faulty, the retailer, not the manufacturer, is responsible to you and must sort out your complaint. You are entitled to a refund, a replacement or a repair.

You do not have to take a credit note if your complaint is covered by the Sale of Goods Act. You can insist on a refund, a replacement or a repair.

Dub13

Anybody else think this is a good idea...?

smiaras

This post has been deleted.

A Dub in Glasgo

I think it is a very good idea which can be extended to peoples use of online auctions, for example.

Dub13

A Dub in Glasgo,
Thanks I think its a good idea aswell.

smiaras wrote:

This post has been deleted.

Rip off Ireland is a forum were people complain about the high prices in Ireland.A new Consumers Forum would have a much wider remit than that such as...

1)Faulty Goods

2)Warranty Issues

3)Know your Rights

4)How to complain

5)Info on the small claims court.

6)I would like to encourage people to post about any good experances they had with Consumers Issues

Gilgamesh

personally, I like the Idea aswell,
I am starting a business at the moment and allways enjoy listening to the chat they have on 98fm I think on wednesdays.
IS a great Idea.
Personally I don't think this shoul dgo under Ripoff Ireland, as I think people should be able to give off good experiences and I just don't think that should go under the word 'Ripoff'


thumbs up for this from me

seamus

Business/Economy/Finance tends to deal with these sorts of issues. Maybe it could do with being renamed.

joolsveer

I think it is a good idea too. I am also a member of the CAI and have been interested in the topic of consumer rights since before the 1980 act.

Dub13

Thanks,It looks like we are getting abit of support for this.


As I have said above one of the inportant things about any future Consumer Forum on boards is I would like people to post any GOOD experiences...in this country you never here good reports about Consumer Issues

uberwolf

seems good, would/could tie in with the reliability forum I've desperately trying to pimp!! see down this forum, are they mergable?

Dub13

Also with the increase in people buying online it could/would be a good place to share info such as how long delivery takes.

So Admins what do you think.

spongebob

seamus wrote:

Business/Economy/Finance tends to deal with these sorts of issues. Maybe it could do with being renamed.

I would favour this approach...and a sticky or two of the FAQ sort.

Askabout Money went sub only last time I looked so it is no longer as convenient for the quick question every now n then .

M

vinnyfitz

I'd support something along these lines as well.

One might expect the consumer protection authorities (ODCA, IFSRA etc) to host such forums but they won't and the CAI itself seems to have no IT capacity.

Maybe the Bus/Econ/Fin forum should be restructured but it's useful role in helping people setting up in business might be lost if it was sunk into a consumer rights forum..

Also, Mods in forums like IOFFL, FS, motors etc might have a view on this idea given the consumer advice issues that come up there. Would they find it useful to move consumer agonies to a dedicated forum?

LFCFan what do you think about linking this to the RipOffIreland board to facilitate this sort of exchange as well as spotting rip off injustices?

Dub13

Business/Economy/Finance Does alot of Consumers stuff now but I think its time for a Consumers stand alone forum.Some not so Business/Economy minded people are not intrested in things in that forum now such as Tax Refund,London Shchool of Investment,Irish Permanent shares,Is the Euro Over valued or the Sterling undervalued?.

Most people have little interest in the the Business/Economy part of that forum,but they have a huge intrest in everyday Consumer issues.

Well thats what I think anyway.

Dub13

vinnyfitz wrote:

Also, Mods in forums like IOFFL, FS, motors etc might have a view on this idea given the consumer advice issues that come up there. Would they find it useful to move consumer agonies to a dedicated forum?

LFCFan what do you think about linking this to the RipOffIreland board to facilitate this sort of exchange as well as spotting rip off injustices?

Good point about the other Mods being able to move any consumer agonies to a dedicated forum,I am sure they would welcome it.

As for linking this to the RipOffIreland this is also a good idea but lets not run before we can walk,we still have work to do in order to get a consumer forum.But two good ideas,lets hope this comes off.

Dub13

Anybody know if I have to contact the Admins about this or will they read it here and let me know...?

BuffyBot

They'll see it here

Dub13

Any chance one of the administrators could let us know what they think of this idea...?

pickarooney

Sounds good, but I don't know if it really needs a new forum. Perhaps just add a question mark to the Rip-Off Ireland(?) sub-forum, or incorporate it with Bargains.

vinnyfitz

I suspect, if it got going, this could be one of the busiest forums on Boards.ie.

Look at it this way: A huge amount of on-line activity these days is related to "consuming" - researching options, ordering goods, booking services, downloading content, etc.

Yet, there is almost nowhere for Irish consumers to pool information about "consuming" - value for money, rip offs, advice, rights and redress.

The popularity of many of the forums here is in part related to their value in providing consumer advice in their own specialist areas. Just scroll along the forum headings to see examples of what I mean.

The more I think about this the more useful I think it could be.

If it gathered momentum it might attract lots of additional visitors too. :eek:

dahamsta

I support this product and/or service.

Moderation would need to be excellent though, for example you'd need someone who could decide quickly and efficiently if comms issues would be better off there or in the IO forum (or Nets/Comms, or BB, etc). You'd also need someone with enough clue to discern between general bitching and bitching that'll result in legal threats. This was a major concern of mine when I was discussing setting up a consumer forum for comms issues with a certain IOFFL character. The telcowatch domain name is still resting on it's laurels somewhere.

adam

Mr E

I think its a great idea too. It would syphon alot of consumer-related threads from business/economy, rip-off Ireland, IOFFL, broadband etc.

Dub13

Looks like we are getting a fair bit of support for this.

spongebob

I Punted a variant of this idea in the spring , it would have allowed anonymous posting (maybe) . It got nixed at the time but may be worth vague consideration in the mix if a Consumer forum were on the radar.

This is the suggestion for the Personal Finance
forum

M

EKRIUQ

As were coming up to the festive Season a consumer forum as a sub forum to Business and Finance which deals with, complaints, buying during the sales, returning goods would be a good idea to help people when their going into shops to know their rights plus the whole area of buying online could be clarfied to people.

The moderator of the forum would have to be knowledgeable about legal matters, because the giving and moderation of advice would be very important to the poster and could have consequenses.

Dub13

TIPPTOP wrote:

The moderator of the forum would have to be knowledgeable about legal matters, because the giving and moderation of advice would be very important to the poster and could have consequenses.

Very true,I think it would be best to have 2/3 Mods of any new forum as I would think it would be very busy.

Dub13

Any more support for this...?

vinnyfitz

Maybe you should post links to this thread in Bus Fin Econ, in Ripoffireland and in "forums" (where maybe it should have been started anyway?).

Not everyone reads "feedback"

Trojan

Sounds like a good idea.

I'd be interested in meta discussion, like e.g. what attempts at product and company boycotts have actually achieved - were the Coca Cola/Nike/Amazon consumer boycotts ever considered successful, things like that.

Dub13

I will give that a try Vinny thanks.I have got a few PM and emails from people who read this and have consumer problems,so I think people will be intrseted in this.