“Are vendors obliged to give a paper receipt when you make a purchase, be it clothes or a cup of coffee,” wonders a reader by the name of Mike Keyes.
“On a few occasions recently I was told that paper receipts were not available but I could get one by text or email. I’m reluctant to give my details in such circumstances so have not got a receipt,” Mike says.
We understand his concern and know it’s shared by others and for all manner of reasons.
One of those reasons is the entirely legitimate fear that companies – whoever they might be – will use the email address supplied to bombard shoppers with marketing materials that might most kindly be described as useless.
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There are also legitimate concerns that email addresses and numbers could fall into the wrong hands and be used for nefarious purposes.
When it comes his rights when getting receipts, we have good and bad news for our Mike.
In truth the news is mostly bad.
Like many people he is, perhaps, labouring under the misconception that a retailer is under some class of legal obligation to issue a receipt in at least some format, be that physical or virtual.
They are not.
There is no specific legal provision in Irish consumer law that obliges a business to provide a receipt for the goods you buy in a shop or cafe.
Now, the vast majority of bricks-and-mortar traders will automatically issue a receipt to consumers or at the very least will do so if asked.
And if they refuse to issue a receipt you might consider that something of a red flag and think twice about handing over any cash.
Obviously there are exceptions. If you’re buying a couch on donedeal for 60 quid and the person doesn’t want to give you a receipt you’re probably grand.
But if you’re spending money with any class of trader who makes it their business to sell things you should at the very least expect them to issue you with a receipt.
The problem is the absence of a law forcing them to do it although such laws do exist in some other countries.
Not here though. The odd thing is this legal anomaly has long been a cause for concern, and 20 years ago the-then Fine Gael TD Phil Hogan called for legislation that would force shops to offer a receipt with every sale.
“This must be changed in order to give customers more information, and to help avoid the type of rip-off stories that Fine Gael is receiving regarding price errors and discrepancies – especially in convenience stores,” Big Phil said at the time.
He was right, but no one was listening and what you might imagine would have been a slight tweak in law never happened.
In somewhat better news, Mike might take some comfort from the Data Protection Commission’s take on electronic receipts.
It notes that the “practice of issuing e-receipts to customers is becoming more common in Ireland” with an “increasing number of retailers, at the point of purchase, offering customers the option of receiving an e-receipt”.
A shopper has to provide a valid email address to get their receipt but the Data Protection Commission (DPC) makes it clear that customers “should be advised, at the point of purchase, if the reason their email address is being requested is to provide them with an e-receipt, and it should be made clear to them that they are under no obligation to provide their email address so that they can be sent an e-receipt”.
It adds that if an email address has been “collected for the purpose of sending the e-receipt, and the retailer wants to use that address for sending marketing emails, the DPC is advising retailers that the customer should not subsequently receive marketing emails unless the retailer has informed the customer about this and has given the customer an opportunity to opt-out of receiving marketing emails”.
Our reader’s view that he might have been entitled to some class of receipt is just one example of consumers believing they have rights they don’t have, and here are some other examples.
Under consumer law, when you buy a product you have the right to expect it to be of an acceptable standard, fit for its intended purpose and as advertised.
But here’s the thing: if it is not one of those things you do not have the right to an automatic refund or even a replacement.
Under the law you have the right to a repair, refund or replacement and it is the retailer who gets to choose which of the three Rs gets offered first.
And more often than not their first choice is a repair.
They do not have to give you a replacement product while yours is in for repair either and they are entitled to investigate the cause of the issue before deciding on any action.
Another commonly held misconception is people think that if the shelf price is cheaper than the price at the till, you have the right to buy the product at the lower price.
You don’t.
The price on the shelf is an “invitation to treat” and no contract is in place until money changes hands.
And even if money does change hands you may still lose out.
If you bought a fancy telly online for a tenner even though it normally costs €1,000 and your credit card was deducted, the sale can still be cancelled if the retailer realises the mistake before dispatching the product, on the grounds that the contract is null and void because it was based on erroneous information.
Many good shops have generous returns policies and allow you to exchange goods within a set time frame if you have changed your mind. Sometimes they will give you a credit note, sometimes they will give you your cash back, but they are under absolutely no legal obligation to do either.
