Khaled Al-Sulaiman
The Ministry of Commerce and Industry did not let me down in the case of the “elevator”. During the era of Dr. Tawfiq Al-Rabiah, the Ministry of Commerce has become a symbol of consumer protection and a refuge for those seeking redress from dealers and agents who have a relationship with consumers, which had so far been based on bleeding the consumer till the last halala.
These people do not realize that the secret of a successful commercial venture is for the relationship to be sustainable and that consumers have rights the law protects when integrity is lost.
In less than 24 hours since submitting a complaint against the agent of an international elevator company who refused to provide maintenance services without signing an annual contract or paying SR2,400 for a technician’s visit, the commercial supervisory and consumer protection department set the record straight. They forced the agent, after making sure the complaint is genuine, to provide the after-sale services according to the regulations of quality control.
My trust in the Ministry of Commerce is based on years of actual experience that I personally and many of my relatives and friends have had. The ministry had not even once let us down. Soon it became my belief that the relationship with a merchant is no longer a one-way valve that benefits his business at the expense of the helpless consumer.
When I published my previous article on the topic, my complaint had already progressed toward equity. The aim was only to raise awareness that consolidating the culture of consumer protection can only be achieved through the exercise of rights. I also wanted to hammer home that there is a party that has created a new reality, which elevated our relations and dealings in the market and required all parties to fulfill their trust and protect the rights of others.
