The notorious sign “Items sold will not be returned nor replaced” has disappeared from stores and commercial centers but the practice remains in effect, according to a local report.

The report, however, revealed that the stores were still treating their customers in accordance with the spirit of the sign, if not with its letter.

“This principle saves us from incurring huge losses,” store supervisors said. They stressed that they do comply with the regulations of the ministry. But they explained that “some customers, however, manipulate the system, and this makes it imperative upon us to take prompt precautionary measures that guarantee our rights to protect the store from frivolous people.”

A supervisor of a store that sells brand items said, “The decision of the ministry opens the door for whimsical customer behavior, especially with regards to clothes, because they will practice a hobby of exchange and return while saying that the clothes they returned do not fit.”

“The store can not verify whether or not the customer used the clothes. Some women use ready-made clothes to attend a function and then return the piece later. That is why we have to use a policy of no cash refund. We do, however, allow the customers to exchange the piece, or we issue a credit note of up to one year instead of money returned,” he explained.

Another store supervisor said that his store applied the principle of giving cash refunds even before it became part of the regulations, to attract customers. “We wanted to create a better rapport between the customer and the seller. However, this approach proved negative in some respects, and this way of dealing caused us to lose revenues, something we obviously do not need,” he said.