Mahmoud Ibrahim Al-Douaan Al-Madina Many people prefer to buy their food from big supermarkets because they provide a large selection of items at competitive prices. People have little difficulty in finding what they want, especially with regard to fruits and vegetables, which are always kept fresh. However, many supermarkets bring items which are about to expire from their warehouses and offer them for sale at a large discount, sometimes as much as 50 percent off. Supermarkets publicize their sales by putting printed tags on products. Shoppers grab these items because they are on sale. However, when shoppers reach the cashier to pay, they discover that the so-called sales are nothing more than a deception and that the prices of the items have not been changed. When a shopper complains to the customer-service department, he will be told that the supermarket did not place the tags next to the items and that it must have been done by people with a malicious intent. The customer-service staff has ready-made excuses because it is their job to deceive people. This is a clear indication of the absence of control and supervision by the Ministry of Commerce. If there were severe punishments in place, supermarkets would never resort to such practices. It is also a fact that many shoppers do not read their receipts carefully or calculate the price of each item they have bought. They only pay and leave. Supermarkets know this and take advantage of it. It is also a fact of life that supermarkets make billions of riyals in profit without paying taxes to the government. They are only keen to make further gains by deceiving customers and taking their money. Are we making a mistake when we fail to inform the ministry about the violations of supermarkets? However, if we do inform the ministry, what will it do to these supermarkets? Is the ministry able to impose any kind of punishment on shops that play with prices? The ministry should strictly control prices. It should defame shops that do not respect prices and ask them to pay huge fines. The ministry should also have a mechanism to monitor prices in shops and supermarkets.
