JEDDAH: Consumer complaints about the reluctance of sellers and distributors to replace or repair any appliance covered by guarantees are on the increase.
Consumers say guarantee cards have become a ploy to sell goods and instead of replacing a faulty appliance, sellers either blame the consumer for misuse or say it is not their responsibility.
Yousuf Al-Harbi said he bought a SR1,080 air conditioner with a five-year guarantee for its motor. The guarantee papers showed that the motor was covered, while other components were guaranteed for one year.
"The air-conditioner never worked. I called the shop and he sent a technician to examine it. He found that its cooling system was malfunctioning. However, the shop owner refused to take any responsibility and advised me to approach the manufacturing company," he said.
"He said his responsibility ended with the installation of the product."
He asked whether there was any law in the country to punish a shop owner who sold a totally damaged appliance to an unsuspecting buyer.
Al-Harbi contacted the manufacturer but said he experienced deeply disappointing service. Even though its technician also admitted to the malfunction in the cooling system, the company refused to replace the air-conditioner, saying that its administration department did not approve the exchange, Al-Madinah daily reported on Wednesday.
Shakir Al-Buqami also had an identical experience. Five days after buying a new villa in Riyadh's Olaya district, he found the air-conditioners and other electrical connections were not working. The supplier of the appliances did not replace or repair them and blamed misuse, even though the appliances had never been used.
Hisham Al-Fadili said the Ministry of Commerce and Industry was partly responsible for the guarantee fraud practiced by shop owners, distributors or manufacturing companies.
"We have to spend more money after buying faulty products from companies," he said, adding that people should demand their rights from the ministry. He said the ministry should inspect the markets and not permit any kind of cheating by manufacturing or distributing companies or shop owners.
Owner of an electrical appliances shop Yasser Al-Zaqzuq said that while a manufacturing company bore the main responsibility for any technical flaw of a product, the shop owner provided a guarantee against problems arising from the installation of an appliance within two weeks after it was installed.
"If the fault appears within two weeks after the sale, the shop owner should replace the appliance with a brand new model at his expense. But after the first two weeks, the shop owner has no responsibility but to serve as a link between the manufacturer and consumer," Al-Zaqzuq said.
Another electrical appliances supplier, Khaled Al-Ghamdi, denied that any responsibility for whether an appliance works or not lies with the shop owner or distributor. "It is the manufacturer or his approved agent responsible for such guarantees," he said.
On the other hand, director of the Commerce Ministry's branch in Madinah, Khaled Qumqumgi, said the responsibility lies squarely with both the seller and the importer or the company.
"The avoidance of responsibility by any of these two parties when a defect is found in a sold appliance is a clear violation of regulations governing commercial fraud," the official said, calling on consumers to complain to the ministry with all documents if they become victims of commercial fraud.
© Arab News 2011
