The difficulties being experienced by customers of Rathwood Garden Furniture have been continuing in recent weeks despite the hope expressed by the owners during the summer that the business was getting on top of problems that have dogged it since the beginning of the year.
But while the stories we are going to document on this page are an accurate reflection of the experiences of many of its customers since the start of the year, the company is still hopeful things are getting better.
And it has suggested that with a little time and a little patience a brighter future lies ahead for our readers, for other customers and for its staff and the community where it is based. And while we have no insight on that score we’d have to hope it is the case.
The retailer has been operating from premises on the Wicklow-Carlow border for just over 30 years and has grown into one of the largest outdoor living retailers in the State.
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It expanded in recent years with concessions in other retail outlets, as well as a significant online presence.
It also hosts a series of popular themed family events, including those centring on Halloween and Christmas. Many thousands of Irish families will have happy memories of taking their children to see Santa in Rathwood over recent decades.
But things have not been going its way since the start of the year. In July we reported that customers had been left waiting for extended periods for everything from garden furniture to fuel.
As well as long delays, readers identified problems getting in touch with the company to inquire about the status of products already paid for.
Others said deliveries had been rescheduled repeatedly before, ultimately, being cancelled with little or no explanation from the company as to what was going on.
The company’s managing director James Keogh acknowledged there were problems.
He said that in the run-up to last Christmas, one of its key suppliers, a company that made up more than 70 per cent of its supply chain, “suddenly went into administration”.
He told Pricewatch that the “impact was severe [and] forced us to rebuild huge parts of our operation and the reality is that some of our customers were affected as a result”.
He said the company had secured a multimillion euro cash injection from a strategic investor and had been “able to get back on our feet, restoring core brands, securing new partnerships and putting better systems in place”.
He expressed confidence that the issues would be largely resolved by the end of August. We highlighted more issues in August and again we were told by Rathwood that things were getting better and matters were weeks away from being resolved.
Mr Keogh said the 90 staff, including those employed in the restaurant on the Carlow premises and in its events programme, had been redeployed to help with customer support, and hundreds of consumers who had faced delays had been offered vouchers for its restaurant and popular Santa Train experience.
He committed to continue working to resolve outstanding issues and expressed confidence that the bulk of these would be resolved before the end of August.
But in recent weeks Pricewatch has received correspondence from dozens of customers who continue to experience difficulties dealing with the company.
“I’m currently helping my neighbours reclaim just under €1,500 for an order that was never fulfilled,” writes Ryan. He says they placed their order through Rathwood’s “Wait and Save” scheme in May, with delivery scheduled for July. Under the scheme, people paying in full for products can avail of a discount if they agree to an extended delivery time frame
“When the date arrived, there was no sign of the firewood or any communication from Rathwood,” he says. He noticed that the online portal showed that Rathwood had quietly changed the delivery date to September. It has since been delayed twice more, first to October, then again to November.
He says Rathwood’s customer service phone lines “are consistently busy, with hold times of 40-60 minutes”.
He adds that when his neighbours requested a refund, they were initially offered tickets to Rathwood’s Santa Train Experience as compensation if they kept the order. “They declined, as they needed the refund to buy firewood elsewhere. The agent agreed to cancel the order and issue a refund. On October 15th, we called again and were told the order had not been cancelled.”
On October 17th the online portal showed the order as cancelled, but the order was then uncancelled later that same day.
As of last week Ryan’s neighbours “have not received their refund or any indication of when it will arrive. As they are pensioners they urgently need the funds to secure alternative firewood for the winter”.
Despite several follow-ups, I have not received my refund, and this is hard-earned money. To this day, I have been eating breakfast, lunch and dinner standing up, as I never received the chairs I paid for
— Marylin, customer
Then there is Conor, who says he “felt compelled to let you know that their practise of taking orders, not filling them at the set time frame (pushed back) and no refunds, continues”.
He placed his firewood order in July under its Wait and Save scheme. He paid just under €300 and was told he would be getting the wood on October 20th. Five days before it was due to arrive, he was told that the order had been pushed back three weeks.
“I phoned customer service and cancelled the order, requesting a refund,” he says. “This was followed up with an email and then a phone call.”
He made contact again at the end of last month, again looking for his refund, and when he contacted us he was still waiting.
John placed an order for wood on August 22nd that was due to be delivered on October 20th, but the delivery date was then pushed out to December 20th. “This is unacceptable. I’ve tried to contact by email and phone several times and no response.”
Suzanne ordered briquettes in February at a reduced price of €119. They now cost €219 on the Rathwood website and she says they “keep saying there is no stock or they are waiting on delivery but they never deliver. I keep e-mailing them”.
Marylin bought dining chairs from Rathwood on August 25th. On September 17th, their customer representative informed her they could not confirm when the stock would arrive.
“I immediately requested a cancellation and refund, which was confirmed to be returned on September 20th. Despite several follow-ups, I have not received my refund, and this is hard-earned money. To this day, I have been eating breakfast, lunch and dinner standing up, as I never received the chairs I paid for.”
In July Clare placed an order for winter fuel (WillowWarm) through the Wait and Save deal.
“The payment was processed immediately, and delivery was initially expected in the first week of September,” she says. “However, the delivery has since been delayed repeatedly, and is now expected to arrive in December. We have requested a refund, but Rathwood has yet to process it.”
It is a similar story for Bláithín, who bought firewood at the end of April under the Wait and Save scheme.
“Our house has no central heating so we rely solely on firewood,” she says. “At no stage in this process have Rathwood informed us of any delay; we have been tracking the order through their customer portal.”
In the middle of September, she contacted the customer care team through the portal “as the delivery which was due in August had now moved to September. The customer care team confirmed the order was expected on October 15th, with no further changes expected”.
That day came and went. So she requested a refund as the delivery date in the portal was telling her the delivery had been pushed back to December, although it subsequently was changed to November 26th.
“We were offered an apology and a voucher of €30 to use on their website, or free entry for a family of four to their Santa Grotto experience. We live in Co Kerry so the latter option is laughable and also assumes we have children. I don’t see how either option is compensation for the lack of firewood.”
Cathryn ordered logs in March and then another lot in April, paid in full and waited. “The delivery date has been changed a number of times and we have now been told it will be November,” she writes. “We ordered logs for the winter and at this rate, winter will have come and gone.
“We cancelled the order this week and I have today phoned and waited for 40 minutes to speak to someone. I requested a refund and was told that they didn’t know how long a refund would take and when I asked to be put through to the manager, was told that they weren’t in today.”
Paulette ordered patio furniture in January and accepted part of the delivery in May after various late-delivery updates.
“I won’t go into the big saga, but after months of misinformation they have now informed me the remainder of the set won’t arrive. I am trying to get a refund and return what was delivered.”
Thomas placed an order with Rathwood Fuel and paid them for oak logs on January 16th for delivery in March.
“This order was placed under their Wait and Save promotion – this is where you pay for it and if you wait a little longer you get a discount. It’s now October and this order has been pushed back eight times, and their latest update is now November.”
Mark ordered a kid’s bed on September 8th and has contacted them and been given multiple scenarios as to when it will come. “I finally drove from Meath to Carlow and was assured the bed was on its way. Now we are being told the bed isn’t coming, but we haven’t been refunded.”
Then there is Grainne, who is “still awaiting delivery or a date for delivery or any communication at all regarding my order. I have sent countless emails to every email address I can find for Rathwood. I have contacted them through Instagram several times, left messages on the restaurant and fashion department phones, and have received no email/call back. I really don’t know where to go from here and was wondering what you may suggest”.
And finally there is Ann, who paid almost €1,000 back in March for a pergola that she was hoping to get at least some use out of during the summer that has just passed.
It wasn’t to be, and the delivery was pushed out month by month until early September, when she lost patience and cancelled the order.
“Despite being reassured that the money would be refunded ‘within 10 working days’, they have not ... I would appreciate if you would do a follow-up as your earlier piece gives the impression that the matters are resolved and Rathwood are honouring the refunds.”
So that is why we are here, and we must stress that we don’t relish highlighting the difficulties so many people have with a company that employs close to 100 people in the Carlow and Wicklow areas and has brought considerable joy to many children who have been to see Santa there over many decades.
But it is important to stress that these are by no means the only complaints that we have received in recent days about the company.
So, what is going on?
There have been serious issues with its supply chain – as we have already documented – but there are at least signs of change that might (and we must stress the might) benefit consumers who have been repeatedly let down.
According to the website, Rathwood and a company by the name of Anhui Morden Living Co “entered a strategic partnership designed to transform the way customers across Europe experience home, garden, and lifestyle products” on September 15th.
The website says this “collaboration combines RW’s innovation and customer experience with Morden Living’s world-class manufacturing expertise, introducing over 9,000 new product lines across the UK and EU”.
It adds that the new relationship was “backed by 300+ factories across China, Malaysia, and Vietnam” and added that there would be “fulfilment from new warehouses in Germany and the UK” with everything “powered by Rathwood logistics, sourcing, and customer care”.
But what does this mean for our readers land for others who have been waiting far too long for orders? We sent the stories detailed above – as well as some other reader concerns – to Rathwood.
We received the following statement.
“Since the challenges reported earlier this year, Rathwood continued to make improvements with the process of supply chain and has made good progress in stabilising operations and improving delivery performance.
“In the summer of 2025, Rathwood built a brand new supply chain to bring all season goods from the far east to its customers. However, the company experienced some unforeseeable ‘teething’ issues at the inception due to incompatibility of systems and some mismatched processes.
“Some of these issues meant that the intended auto communication via emails for order update were ‘stuck’. These led to a buildup of call volumes and waiting time. Deliveries were also affected by the mismatched processes. The company has worked diligently on fixing these issues since and have now resolved all known issues in the last a few weeks.
“With the supply chain flowing smoothly from now on, we know the customers will receive the level of services they expect from Rathwood and that they deserve. However, it is likely to take a few weeks for the effect of the implemented improvements made to the flow of the supply chain to follow through.
“We are also aware that some customer had experienced delay with the delivery of fuel, especially some ‘wait and save’ customers. We have suffered some logistic issues, but the containers have docked this week and the firewood and fuel are being delivered to customers as we speak.”
