{"id":416829,"date":"2026-04-25T12:18:10","date_gmt":"2026-04-25T12:18:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/416829\/"},"modified":"2026-04-25T12:18:10","modified_gmt":"2026-04-25T12:18:10","slug":"rathwood-goes-into-examinership-says-it-is-not-in-a-position-to-issue-customer-refunds-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/416829\/","title":{"rendered":"Rathwood goes into examinership, says it is \u2018not in a position\u2019 to issue customer refunds \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

Rathwood<\/a>, the Carlow<\/a>-based homes and garden centre, has gone into examinership, and will not be issuing any more refunds owed to customers who placed orders that were never delivered until the process is complete.<\/p>\n

In a statement published on its website, the company, which employs around 100 people, said it would continue to trade as normal during the examinership process.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe want to reassure all our customers, suppliers and partners that we continue to trade as normal and operate fully in accordance with all applicable laws,\u201d the statement said. \u201cOur business remains open, and we are continuing to sell goods and engage with customers and stakeholders as usual.\u201d<\/p>\n

The statement went on to say that \u201cat this time, we regret that we are not in a position to address any outstanding payments or refund requests relating to amounts owed up to today. These matters will be reviewed as part of the examinership process, and we will provide further updates once the appointed persons have completed their initial report.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rathwood has been operating from premises on the Wicklow-Carlow border for more than 30 years and grew into one of the biggest outdoor living retailers in the State, expanding in recent years with concessions in other retail outlets as well as a significant online presence.<\/p>\n

Last year, it emerged that customers who had bought products, including garden furniture and firewood, through its website had been left waiting months for orders to be delivered, with many rescheduled on multiple occasions.<\/p>\n

It initially blamed delivery issues on the closure of a key supplier and said it was restructuring its supply chain. <\/p>\n

[\u00a0Ryanair and Rathwood are the most complained about companies in IrelandOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

However, the problems continued throughout last winter with many impacted customers contacting the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) to highlight delays in delivery and difficulties in making contact with the company.<\/p>\n

In a helpline report published last week, the CCPC said it had received 565 calls about Rathwood in 2025, making it the second most complained company in Ireland behind Ryanair. <\/p>\n

Earlier this month, the CCPC said the retailer had signed legally binding commitments with the CCPC and committed to issuing refunds to consumers who bought products on its website before cancelling the orders over delivery delays.<\/p>\n

The Carlow-based retailer\u2019s legally binding undertakings came after an investigation which found them in breach of consumer protection legislation.<\/p>\n

At the time the CCPC said it accepted the retailer\u2019s commitment to issue refunds to customers who had terminated contracts between the start of October 2024 and the end of September last year. <\/p>\n

Rathwood further committed to provide written notice to the CCPC \u201cwith details of consumers affected by the issues contained in the undertaking\u201d.<\/p>\n

Rathwood has been contacted for comment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Rathwood, the Carlow-based homes and garden centre, has gone into examinership, and will not be issuing any more…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":416830,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[72,16665,11756,42499,61,60,173552,7469],"class_list":{"0":"post-416829","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-business","8":"tag-business","9":"tag-carlow","10":"tag-competition-and-consumer-protection-commission-ccpc","11":"tag-consumer-protection","12":"tag-ie","13":"tag-ireland","14":"tag-rathwood-home-and-garden-world","15":"tag-wicklow"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/416829","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=416829"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/416829\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/416830"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=416829"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=416829"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=416829"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}