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Salons, parlours in Dubai need to get price lists approved

Sticker from DED ensures the lists are not tampered with.

A salon for men which charged customers over and above the price list endorsed and enforced by the Department of Economic Development Dubai or DED, has been booked for flouting rules.

Ayman Al Falasi, Senior Director of the Consumers Complaints Section at the DED, said a customer had lodged a complaint with the section stating that a salon had charged him in excess for the services he received from there.

“As a precautionary measure, the consumer complaints section referred the complaint to the field surveillance section, which in turn visited the salon. It appeared that the salon did not have a price list of the services. After comparing the prices the salon quoted with that of the approved list, it was found that the prices were inflated. Accordingly, the inspector booked the salon, and action was taken,” he said.

“The price list for ladies beauty parlours and salons for men is endorsed by the consumer protection section of DED. The trader prepares a proposed price list for the services and gets it sanctioned by the department on a specific criteria.” The department approves the list by stamping it and pasting a security sticker which ensures that the list is not tampered up on and the endorsed prices are not changed.

“The commercial compliance and consumer protection sector books salons for several cases like non availability of endorsed price list, a price list that is not approved by the department and if the salon does not abide by the changes mentioned in the endorsed price list.”

Al Falasi advised consumers to report if they come across any such situation and appealed to traders to strictly display the endorsed price lists in their salons and parlours.

Documents are a prerequisite for rendering DED services

The objectives of the Department of Economic Development - Dubai (DED) can be achieved in different ways. The DED’s employees have their own ways of discharging their duties, but there is a basic procedure they must adopt to render the service.

Some services rendered by the DED require a series of steps, while some others just need a simple document. For example, the procedure of filing a complaint for infringing a trademark is completely different from filing one pertaining to consumer rights.

The important documents required for getting the service should be specified, documented and circulated to employees. The consumers also need to be made aware of this.

For instance, employees of the Consumer Protection Section cannot decide on any complaint without purchase bills or sales contracts. This is a prerequisite according to the Consumer Protection Law. Customers need to be aware that DED employees cannot overstep this procedure in case of consumer complaints as most of the services are rendered online or via smart applications. The system does not allow moving to the next step unless the required field is duly filled or the required documents are attached.

Customers must know that the requirements for procuring the service have been laid down to streamline the process of benefitting from the service, for security purposes, and to ensure that consumer rights are upheld. We advise the customers to cooperate with the department’s employees and submit all the required documents to benefit from our services in the best manner possible.

(As told by Khalid Al Yoha, senior director of Field Performance Control)

 Complaints & Responses

Contractor fined for failing to respond to summons: A complainant said he entered into an agreement with a contracting company to build him a house within a year and three months. However, the contractor was “reluctant to commence work”. The consumer said the contractor did not complete any of the works in the first few months after the contract was signed.

The Consumer Complaints Section summoned the contractor to the Department of Economic Development, but he failed to appear. The contractor has been fined for not cooperating with the DED.

Marble shop owner cut down to size: A consumer claimed that he entered into an agreement with a trading shop to cut marbles to a specific size. The shop, however, failed to cut them as per the size they agreed on.

The Consumer Complaints Section communicated with the shop manager, who was directed to provide the complainant with marbles that are cut as per the size they agreed on. The complainant has been apprised of the updates in his case, and the complaint was closed.

Defective phone ordered to be replaced: A man said he bought an iPhone with a SIM card, but the phone was not working properly. He demanded that the defective phone be replaced.

The Consumer Complaints Section contacted both the parties and it was agreed that the defective phone would be replaced with a new one.

(Compiled by Salah Al Deberky)

Raise your queries - Khaleej Times runs the ‘Consumer Forum’ series in collaboration with the Department of Economic Development in Dubai. Readers can email their complaints and suggestions to news@khaleejtimes.com with the subject line ‘Consumer Forum’ or raise them directly with the DED on phone number, 600 545 555