JEDDAH, 6 October 2005 — Saudi writer Dr. Mohammed Al-Ehaidib blasted the Ministry of Commerce for their ignorance of many violations in the retail sector occurring regularly. One he pointed to in particular was the refusal of some retailers to allow the return of goods once purchased.

Al-Ehaidib questioned both the source of the authority for and the validity of the signs which announce that purchased items could not be returned.

Some shops allow the exchange of one the item with another but with some restrictions — for example the exchange must be within three days and for an item of a lower price. This practice is not approved by the ministry.

Abdulal Al-Abdulal, director of the counterfeit department, said that no shop has the right to hang a sign restricting the return of goods anywhere. Every customer, he said, has the right to return any item he or she bought and get their money back without any questions.

“We run checkups on all the malls and centers to make sure that the rule is being implemented and that there are no violations,” he said.

However, Dr. Al-Ehaidib made fun of that comment and wondered which malls was Al-Abdulal talking about.

Arab News sampled Jeddah to check out if the malls and shops respect the rule of giving the consumer the right to return the items.

In Tahlia Street alone, where there are more than five malls, not one shop allowed returns without restrictions. The best was a shop, which allows the consumer to return their items and get their money back but within a restricted time limit.

A number of them do not allow returning the item for cash but allow exchanging them within 24 hours.

“They will be punished,” said Al-Abdulal, who made it clear that every consumer has the full right to return and exchange any item they buy and get their money back. “If a customer wanted to change or return an item and the shopkeeper refused then they may call the ministry and report the incident. Shops must understand that that is a violation to the Saudi rule,” said Al-Abdulal.

Abdul Razaq bin Sati who owns a small gym said that he suffered a lot from that violation.

“I always have problems with the violating of this rule, I fight, beg and urge the shop keepers until I get my money back, but I never knew that this was one of my rights,” said Bin Sati, who wondered whether Al-Abdulal has ever heard of Tahlia Street and whether he had ever run a check on the malls there.