Revealed: These are the major complaints of consumers in Dubai

Emiratis and Indians lodged the highest number of complaints with the Dubai authorities in the third quarter of 2020, and most of the complaints were related to refunds, non-compliance with the terms of the agreement, damage or defect in the product and commercial fraud, Dubai Economy said in a press statement on Sunday.

The third quarter of 2020 saw the Commercial Compliance and Consumer Protection (CCCP) sector in Dubai Economy receive 14,274 consumer complaints, 39 per cent higher than the 10,266 complaints received during the same period in 2019.

The total number of consumer issues handled by CCCP during Q3 reached 15,403, of which 14,274 were complaints, 707 were observations, and 422 were enquiries. Of the total complaints, 50 per cent were submitted through the ‘Dubai Consumer’ app, 35 per cent through the Consumerrights.ae website, and 15 per cent through the call centre.

The largest share of complaints (32 per cent) was about services, followed by electronics (16 per cent), eCommerce (12.6 per cent), readymade garments and accessories (8.2 per cent), furniture (7.3 per cent), automobiles (5.5 per cent), freight (5.2 per cent), car rental (3.28 per cent), decoration and building maintenance (3.22 per cent), textiles and personal items (3.16 per cent), car workshops (2.4 per cent), and hair salons (1.1 per cent).

A majority of the complaints (28 per cent) was about refunds, followed by non-compliance with the terms of the agreement (15.85 per cent), damage or defect in the product (15.14 per cent), commercial fraud (10 per cent), non-compliance with after-sales service (6.23 per cent), additional fees for the service or product (5.21 per cent), replacement (4 per cent), and unauthorised commercial activity (3.36 per cent). The remaining were distributed among the following: legally untenable shop policy, non-compliance with warranty terms, refusal to repair a device, price hikes, non-adherence to the terms of promotional offers, non-compliance with the price list, value-added tax, and fraudulent purchase of gold and diamonds.

Emirati, Indians lodge most complaints

Nationality-wise, Emiratis accounted for 29 per cent of the consumer complaints received, followed by Indians (13 per cent), Egyptians (12 per cent) Saudis and Jordanians (5 per cent each). The remaining s were distributed among different nationalities.

“Dubai Economy is keen on enhancing consumer confidence in the emirate through resolving consumer complaints amicably, thus promoting mutual trust between merchants and consumers. Our awareness programmes are aimed to clarify the rights and duties of consumers as well as merchants, and enhance the principles of transparency in transactions,” said Mohammed Ali Rashed Lootah, CEO of CCCP.

Lootah added: “More and more consumers interacting with Dubai Economy and filing their complaints show improving consumer rights awareness. Consumers raising their queries and complaints to the authorities concerned, and having them resolved satisfactorily is important to ensuring a healthy and compliant business environment.”

Dubai Economy also called on everyone to report any non-compliance to the precautionary guidelines through the Dubai Consumer app available on the Apple, Google, and Huawei stores, by calling 600545555, or by visiting the Consumerrights.ae website.

waheedabbas@khaleejtimes.com

• Dubai