As many as 7,000 people who paid troubled retailer Rathwood for products they never received have been warned by the examiner they will only get “a nominal sum” back.
The assessment is contained in a letter being sent out by the examiner, Padraic Bermingham of Strata Financial, to customers of the homes and garden furniture shop.
The letter to thousands of customers has led the consumer watchdog to tell those who have been impacted to act immediately to try to secure refunds through their credit or debit card provider through the chargeback process.
Affected customers have also been asked to provide details of their claim before the end of this week.
RM Block
In April, Rathwood, which is run by brothers Thomas and James Keogh, announced it was seeking the appointment of an examiner to try to secure its financial future and announced that it would continue trading through the process, which is set to reach its conclusion in the coming weeks.
An examinership is a legal process that gives a financially-struggling company a period of court protection to allow it to restructure itself, negotiate with creditors and seek new investment.
Last month provisional figures provided to the High Court as part of the process, suggested Rathwood had liabilities totalling €18 million, including €10 million owed to trade creditors, €1.4 million to the Revenue Commissioners and €2.5 million in customer deposits and vouchers.
The examinership process came weeks after the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) outlined how Rathwood had signed a legally-binding commitment to issue refunds to consumers.
The undertakings came after an investigation found the company was in breach of consumer protection legislation.
It also emerged Rathwood was the second most-complained about company in Ireland in 2025, just behind Ryanair. It attracted 565 contacts to the CCPC helplines compared with just 24 a year earlier.
In the letter being sent out to customers this week, the examiner confirmed that Rathwood’s records “indicate that a significant number of customers have outstanding claims in respect of unfulfilled orders and/or unpaid refund requests arising prior to the examinership”.
It said that to establish whether someone has a legitimate claim against Rathwood they will have to complete an online customer claim confirmation form by June 12th.
They will have to confirm the nature of their claim, including reference numbers, dates and amounts paid.
Customer have also been asked to outline if any refund requests have been made or paid, and if they have instigated a chargeback with their credit or debit card provider.
“I expect that only a nominal return will be made to customers with claims in respect of unfulfilled orders and/or unpaid refund requests,” the examiner warned.
“This means that if you have a claim against Rathwood, you will only receive a very small sum.”
The CCPC has advised affected consumers to take action immediately.
“We advise any affected consumers to review the correspondence from the examiner carefully and to complete the form provided as soon as possible,” said the watchdog’s director of communications Grainne Griffin.
“Those who wish to request a chargeback should contact their bank or card provider immediately.”
