Firm shells out Dh250,000 for rocking consumer's boat

The complainant bought the brand new yacht from a boat manufacturing company but while he and his family were on an outing in high seas, the yacht broke down.

A consumer who bought a Dh250,000 yacht but faced technical difficulties with it while in high seas off Dubai coast has been refunded the amount, thanks to the timely intervention of he Department of Economic Development, Dubai (DED).
The complainant bought the brand new yacht from a boat manufacturing company but while he and his family were on an outing in high seas, the yacht broke down. He then sent a distress call to the coast guards who came to his rescue and towed the boat to the shore.
Although the complainant tried to get an explanation from the company about the faulty yacht but the latter did not respond, so he lodged a complaint against the firm with DED, said Ayman Al Falasi, Senior Director of the Consumer Complaints Section at DED.
The yacht was pulled out from the sea and taken to the workshop of the company in question to find out the reason behind the defect.
DED said it will show zero tolerance towards such cases, especially those related to the safety of the consumers.
Al Falasi said on being contacted by the DED, the boat company got the faulty yacht checked and it was found out that there was a technical fault in the manufacturing of the yacht.
The consumer complaints section told the owner of the company to fully refund the amount to the complainant as the defect found out was irreparable, and that a boat needs to have good security standards and should ensure the safety of the user.
"DED will show zero tolerance on such cases that pertain to consumers' health and safety", Al Falasi reiterated.
The section later contacted the complainant to ensure he had received the money in full from the company.
salah@khaleejtimes.com

• UAE