AMMAN — Retailers announced discounts on Friday,
kicking off the Black Friday discounts season, which is seen as a chance to
breathe new life into a stagnant market and revive the economy at large.
اضافة اعلان
The
Consumer Protection Association (CPA), however,
said that it has recorded dozens of violations during the season, so far.
CPA President Mohammad Obeidat said that in the
electrical appliance sector, the discounted prices were not real. Additionally,
he added, broken appliances were sold, and some of the working appliances were
even sold without warranties.
“Many appliances get smuggled into the country,
which forces retailers to sell them without warranties,” he told
Jordan News.
In the clothing sector, the violations that the CPA
recorded were related to “selling low-quality goods,” Obeidat pointed out.
He said that the violations have become a phenomenon
and “they exist all year long, not only during the discounted seasons”. He
asserted that the government should practice more stringent monitoring, and
that people should know their rights.
On the other hand, Nael Kabariti, president of
Jordan Chamber of Commerce (JCC), denied that any violations took place during
the season, so far.
He told
Jordan News that the CPA’s comments “are
based on negative claims”.
“Even without discounts, the prices are already too
low because of the weak purchasing power,” he said. “Now, all retailers are
trying to get rid of the stacked goods” they have in their warehouses.
He added that the JCC has not received any
complaints regarding violations.
Kabariti also described the traffic this year as
“weak, at odds with our expectations” in comparison with last year, blaming it
on the poor liquidity in the country.
“Most traffic was recorded in the sectors of
electrical appliances and clothes”, he explained.
Hatem Zoubi, a representative of the electrical and
electronics sector at JCC, concurred with Kabariti. He said that this year’s
profits are estimated at 80 percent of last year’s earnings. He did not explain
the math.
Zoubi also denied the existence of any violations,
stressing that “the discounts were real, and the consumers are the only ones
responsible for purchasing goods without warranties.”
The Ministry of Industry, Trade, and Supply reported
70 violations on Black Friday alone.
Ministry spokesperson Yanal Barmawi told
Jordan News
that the ministry carried out 11,000 inspection tours this year, and recorded
more than 5,000 violations.
Barmawi added
that the sectors of “electrical appliances and clothes witnessed most of the
violations, given that they had the lion share of activity during the discount
season.”
Read more Features
Jordan News
.jpg)
.jpg)
