DUBAI 1 August 2018: Ever wondered what are the top consumer complaints in Dubai? Well, here you are.
The Commercial Compliance and Consumer Protection (CCCP) sector in the Department of Economic Development, DED, saw a 23 per cent increase in consumer complaints during the first half of 2018, compared to the same period last year as more consumers came forward and raised their concerns with the authorities as well as the merchants.
The CCCP, while continuing its efforts to enhance the role of the DED in consumer protection and reinforcing Dubai’s reputation as a safe shopping destination for residents as well as tourists, received 14,970 complaints during the first half of 2018, compared to 12,133 complaints during the same period last year, said Wam.
Top Complaints
The main issues raised were:
- Non-compliance with the purchase agreement was the top complaint received, accounting for 28.9 per cent of the total
- Cash refunds (19.4 per cent)
- VAT (8.9 per cent)
- Miscellaneous (8.8 per cent)
- Product defect (8.5 per cent)
- Commercial fraud (5.4 per cent)
- Non-compliance with warranty terms (4.3 per cent)
- Product replace (3.5 per cent)
- Additional charges on products/services (2.4 per cent)
- Product/device breakdown (2.2 per cent)
- Damaged products (2.1 per cent)
- Non-compliance with price list (1.3 per cent)
- Non-compliance with promotional offers (1.2 per cent)
- Non-compliance with after sales service (1.1 per cent)
- Rejection of device repair (0.5 per cent)
- Bad sewing (0.3 per cent)
- Non-compliance with business activity and incompatibility with the law (0.1 per cent ), and
- Buying counterfeit gold and diamond (0.04 per cent)
The consumer protection section dealt with 18,014 issues during H1 2018 out of which consumer complaints accounted for 23 percent. The rest included 1,823 notes and 1,221 inquiries received from consumers.
Top Complainants
Complaints received from inside the UAE accounted for 34 percent and the top nationality-wise breakdown of complainants were as follows:
- India (13 percent),
- Egypt (10 percent),
- Saudi Arabia (7 percent) and
- Jordan (5 percent).
The services sector had a 28.3 percent share in the total complaints received while 17.8 percent was from the electronics sector, 11.9 percent relating to e-commerce, 10.3 percent miscellaneous, 8.9 percent regarding automobiles, and 6.4 percent about car rentals. Textiles and personal items (4.0 percent), furniture (3.4 percent), clothing and accessories (3.2 percent), shipping (2.8 percent), car repair workshops (1.6 percent), decor and building maintenance (0.9 percent) and hair salons (0.6 percent).
Mohammed Ali Rashid Lootah, CEO of the CCCP sector, said, “The retail sector is a key driver of local economic growth in Dubai and the UAE. Our effort is to bring greater transparency into business transactions, and create a culture of awareness and neutrality in the buying and selling processes in the retail sector, in accordance with the highest quality standards and practices.”
Lootah stressed the role of the DED and the CCCP in immediately following up on complaints received, communicating with the parties concerned, as well as in finding solutions acceptable to all parties concerned within a period not exceeding four working days from the date of receiving the complaint.