All sales and raffles are monitored during DSF

Dubai : With thousands of promotions being offered at the Dubai Shopping Festival (DSF) this year, speculation about whether these offers are genuine or not always arises.

Some suspect that there are grey areas in ‘discounts' and ‘sales' although the Dubai government strictly monitors the offers. The question comes to many shoppers around the Dubai Shopping Festival.

While the Commercial Compliance and Consumer Protection Division of the Dubai Department of Economic Development (DED) confirms that the offers are predominantly real, it asks consumers to be aware of their rights and shop responsibly.

"Consumers have rights and responsibilities," said Mohammad Hilal, Chief Executive Officer of the Commercial Compliance and Consumer Protection Division.

They have the right to know the exchange and refund policies, to see clear price tags on items, and to be told about the guarantees and warranties on products, he explained.

Hilal said that the lack of awareness has led the majority of consumers not to pay attention to expiration dates on food products, for example.

"As a consumer, you should ask for a bill when you purchase a product, for example. It's your right," he said. "And you have a responsibility as a consumer to demand this right."

Action

When a store wants to hold a sale, it must obtain an official permit from the government first. It would have to provide the Division with information about the price of each item, the discount rate it is subject to and the final price at which it's sold, Hilal explained.

During the DSF, the Division is doubling its efforts on the ground in order to make sure that retailers are abiding by the law.

On an ordinary day, the Division sends out seven inspectors to monitor the work of retail stores. However, during the festival, there are up to 30 inspectors monitoring the retail stores.

The inspectors do a random check on items at a given store making sure that the prices correspond to the information they have from the sale registration documents.

"Once the inspector spots a violation, he should identify himself and speak with the store manager about it," Hilal said. The store is then given a warning to abide by the law.

While fines can be as high as Dh10,000 per violation, Hilal said the amount of the fine depends on the severity of the violation.

The Division has also forced retail stores to display their discount rates clearly, instead of a vague ‘sale up to' sign.

"The retailers have been smart to write the lower percentage in fine print," he said. "But at least it's there."

Currently, retail stores can hold up to six sales a year, in addition to the annual big shopping festivals.

However, there has to be a limit of two weeks time between one sale and another.

The Division is considering lowering the number of times a store can hold sales per year, Hilal said.

"If people see that stores are holding sales all year round, they will think that these sales are not real," he said. "So the credibility of the sale is lost."

Other activities that the Division monitors are the mega raffles that take place throughout the Festival. An official inspector attends every raffle draw.

"If we doubt that there's been any tampering with the draw, we demand to open the raffle box and inspect all the coupons entered," Hilal said.

Raising Awareness

In cooperation with the Ministry of Economy, the Commercial Compliance Consumer Protection Division is arranging an awareness campaign to be held on March 1. The campaign falls on the Gulf Day for Consumer Protection. It is aimed at educating consumers on their rights in order to make sure that they are protected, Mohammad Hilal, Chief Executive Officer of the Commercial Compliance and Consumer Protection Division said. The campaign will also include workshops for retailers and traders to educate them on the consumer protection law.