A number of department stores in major cities across the Kingdom make offers and discounts on clothes and accessories which could reach up to 80 percent, enticing unsuspecting customers to venture into the store only to find that they have been duped.
Citizens said that the offers are displayed at shopfronts with many people falling victim to the fake reductions.
Majed Al-Zahrani said fake reduction campaigns which surface every once in a while are a type of commercial fraud. “The prices of these products are well known and after ‘reductions’, they are labeled with genuine bar codes tagged with the new price which is actually the original price of the item,” he said. Al-Zaharani called on the Consumer Protection Society and the Ministry of Commerce to intensify their efforts to curb this phenomenon, and force commercial centers to place signs showing the contact numbers of relevant authorities in case customers wish to complain.
Saleh Al-Rowaiji said some traders underestimate the intelligence of citizens and indulge in fraudulent practices by making fake special offers. He pointed out that consumers who don’t monitor the market often fall victim to these offers. “Consumers should be aware of the original prices of the goods before they buy them. For instance, if a product is being sold for SR5 which is a serious offer while in other stores the same product is being sold for SR10, then the latter is the original price of the product,” he explained.
Al-Rowaiji said that to cover up for these stores is to be an accomplice to the fraud and encourages the stores to continue with their fake campaigns.
Mohammad Al-Ajlan, chairman of the Commercial Committee in the Riyadh chamber of commerce and industry said that companies that care about their reputations don’t offer fake reductions, because they have obtained official licenses prior to launching their campaigns after meeting the required conditions for these reductions.
Al-Ajlan pointed out that some commercial stores exaggerate the price of their goods and then decrease it which is a stark violation of the laws of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry.
“Reductions should be offered on only 50 percent of the goods and discounts should be offered for a limited period. Merchants should also present the old bills with the original prices before making the reductions,” he said.
He said that merchants who offer an 80 percent discount on their merchandise aim to sell out their stock.
He pointed out that existing laws give citizens the right to complain to the Ministry of Commerce and Industry about commercial tampering and demand compensation.
The ministry has put in place a number of rules to streamline the system of reductions and eliminate commercial fraud through stipulating regulations for advertising products, conducting inspection campaigns and ensuring that stores which don’t have a license to make reductions are penalized.
Don’t be duped by ‘80% discount’ shop signs
