Quills Retail guilty of breaching consumer protection law

Quills Retail Ltd, trading as Quills Woollen Market, has pleaded guilty at Killarney District Court to two counts of breaching consumer protection law.

This follows a prosecution by the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC).

Quills operates several retail and gift stores across the southwest of Ireland, selling Irish clothing, homeware, gifts and jewellery mainly to tourists.

After consumer complaints to the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission helpline, CCPC officers carried out inspections in September and November 2024 to check compliance with consumer protection laws.

During visits to Quills stores in Killarney and Kenmare, the CCPC officers examined hooded sweatshirts with Quills-branded swing labels that said "Made in Ireland".

But the officers identified instances where the original care labels showing the country of origin appeared to be tampered with, as well as examples that still had the original label showing the country of origin as Pakistan and not Ireland.

The CCPC said that under the Consumer Protection Act 2007, it is an offence for a trader to provide false or misleading information that could cause a consumer to make a transactional decision they would not otherwise make.

This includes information relating to the geographical or commercial origin of a product.

At today's hearing, Judge David Waters fined the retailer €500 and ordered it to pay €1,000 towards the CCPC's costs, noting that this was a "deliberate attempt to deceive buyers".

The retailer was convicted on both counts.

Brian McHugh, CCPC chair, said the actions of Quills in this case are simply indefensible, with consequences reaching far beyond the consumers affected.

"This behaviour damages competition between businesses selling Irish crafts and could also impact the reputations of both Ireland and Kerry as high-quality tourist destinations," Mr McHugh said.

"We support businesses with the information they need to understand and meet their obligations under the law. However, our message is clear: where we see traders misleading consumers or breaching consumer law, the CCPC will take action, up to and including prosecution," he added.