Fine Gael Dun Laoghaire Deputy, Mary Mitchell O’Connor, has today (Friday) called on schoolbooks.ie, the online company that supplies school books, to get its act together and to communicate with parents about why their orders have not been filled, despite the money having already been paid.

“It has been brought to my attention that many parents who have placed orders with schoolbooks.ie and have paid substantial sums of money for their children’s school books, have been left hanging for several weeks without their orders being filled. Any attempts to contact the company have been in vain and there has been no communication on behalf of the company with the parents to explain why their orders have not been filled.

“Many of these parents are extremely anxious, not only about getting their children’s school books organised as the beginning of the school year draws near, but also about what exactly is going on with the company and whether or not their hard earned cash has been lost.

“Schoolbooks.ie appears to have a good reputation among parents who have used the service in the past. Many parents cite the speed and ease of delivery as the reason for using them again. However, this year the company’s approach seems to be very different with no attempts being made whatsoever to contact customers and to dispel their fears about the cause of the delay.

“I attempted to contact the company myself today and to add insult to injury, their phoneline is ringing out and there is no answering message to indicate what is going on. By all accounts the company is exceptionally busy, with the result that a massive back-log has been created. However, simply ignoring parents, forcing them to travel out to the business premises and collect their purchases from an online provider is completely unacceptable and absolutely farcical.

“I am calling on schoolbooks.ie to, at the very least, communicate with parents and to give them an indication of when they can expect their order. A simple phone answering message would do much to allay the concerns of parents, who have already waited for weeks, being none the wiser as to whether or not their money has been lost to a company that has gone bust.