Christmas shoppers should be aware of poor service and fraudulent websites, writes Laura Slattery

Shopping may or may not be the new religion, but consumers often suffer from misplaced faith in non-reputable retailers.

The thought that there are countless bargains to be had outside so-called "rip-off Ireland" often prompts Irish consumers to indulge in a cross-border seasonal shopping spree. But with the growth of e-commerce, cross-border shopping no longer has to involve airport dashes or petrol-guzzling trips up the N1. Instead, consumers can beat the crowds and the Republic's below-cost selling ban by venturing online.

"There are people shopping online at Christmas time who wouldn't do it at any other time of the year," says Mary Denise O'Reilly, marketing manager at the European Consumer Centre (ECC) in Dublin, which deals with cross-border complaints.

"Traditionally, we always see a rise in complaints after Christmas, when people try to return gifts that are unwanted and gifts that are faulty and have problems," she says.

Research conducted annually by the ECC network shows that with increasing use of internet shopping channels comes a greater number of complaints. In 2004, ECC Dublin reported a 150 per cent increase in queries relating to online shopping.

Consumers who point, click and proceed to their virtual checkouts can be left waiting indefinitely for the goods to show up.

The ECC's first report on online shopping resulted in a third of the orders placed by ECC staff not being delivered, and this experience has since been reflected in its analysis of consumer complaints.

EU regulations require that goods should arrive within 30 days of making the purchase. However, in 31 per cent of complaints received by the network last year, the goods did not arrive at all - a scenario that the ECC describes as "the e-shopper's worst nightmare".

A quarter of the complaints related to the product itself, with the most common difficulty involving defective goods where the web trader failed to respect buyers' warranty rights.

In the EU, consumers have the right to a minimum guarantee of two years on products and within the first six months, any fault is presumed to have existed at the time of delivery.

One in 12 complaints were price-related, with consumers commonly ending up paying a higher price than the one they had originally agreed. Most of these cases involved the web trader withdrawing more money than agreed from the consumer's credit card.

Meanwhile, consumers continue to be taken in by frauds such as fake lottery wins, cheque overpayment scams and "phishing" scams, where consumers are tricked into revealing credit card or banking security details. "Non-delivery of goods is the number one problem, but fraud is increasingly an issue," says O'Reilly.

But while most consumers consider themselves too savvy to fall for the "too good to be true offer", some fake web traders offering non-existent goods are sophisticated fraudsters who steal the identity of legitimate small businesses.

Last Christmas, a number of consumers reported that they had not received various home electronic devices and mobile phones they had ordered from a couple of Italian webtraders.

Once they had paid up using a money transfer agency, the traders stopped responding to their e-mails and the websites soon disappeared.

The websites were not discernibly different from those of other web traders. However, the companies had all recently posted extremely cheap offers on various trading and advertising websites all over Europe, which would inevitably stir up interest.

The contact details on the website were the same as those of established companies listed in the Italian company registry and in the Italian online phone directory, meaning that a cautious consumer who checked these would get the impression that all was perfectly legit.

But a quick check in a "Whois" registry would have revealed that the domain names had only recently been registered through certain American companies that do not reveal the identity of the registrant. The small Italian companies were simply used as bait to suck in consumers.

The popularity of online auctions is also throwing up more opportunities for fraudsters, and unlike straightforward web purchases, auction shopping falls outside the scope of the EU distance-selling directive.

The ECC also warns consumers to beware of fraudulent escrow companies, which say they will act as middlemen during the payment process but serve only to part buyers and sellers with their money and goods.

According to its latest bulletin, consumers buying from web traders that they have not dealt with before should read the terms and conditions on the site.

There are four main things consumers should look for and must be provided by the trader under distance-selling regulations.

These are: the name and physical address of the trader; prices including taxes and delivery costs and information on how payment is made; how the goods are to be delivered and when; and a notice of their entitlement to a cooling-off period.

When buying goods online, consumers automatically have seven days after receipt of the goods to make a final decision on whether or not they want to keep the product. If they decide to return the goods, they are entitled to a refund.

The ECC's experience is that web traders frequently fail to respect this and other entitlements such as the right to receive a replacement for faulty goods.

But the ECC can help when disputes arise with all kinds of cross-border shopping.

"Quite a number of times there have been problems and just the fact of us getting involved and pointing out the legislation leads to the retailer coming up trumps, admitting their mistake and issuing a refund or replacement goods," says O'Reilly.

When it comes to consumer rights in traditional physical transactions, misconceptions frequently abound.

Some consumers believe that they are entitled to buy goods at the marked price even if the wrong price has clearly been placed on the product by mistake.

Although the Consumer Information Act 1978 prohibits misleading price advertising and in principle the displayed price is the price that consumers expect to pay, a price ticket does not oblige the seller to sell at the price marked.

Another misconception - or desperate hope - among consumers following their Christmas haul relates to their rights to return unwanted gifts such as the unused foot spa that your nephew thought was a great idea or the garish bracelet that's more your sister's taste than yours.

Although many stores will offer refunds or credit notes as a gesture of goodwill, they are under no legal obligation to do so simply because consumers don't like what they were given.

"If the goods are not faulty you are not entitled to a refund," says the ECC.

"This is true in Dublin as it is in Belfast, Paris or Rome."

A leaflet on consumer rights when shopping online and shopping guides for each EU member state are available from www.eccdublin.ie.