As a blind individual, I wish to highlight a problem which has been plaguing consumers for a very long time now.

The matter that I am referring to is about merchants taking advantage of consumers when the goods of the former are defective or or when the goods do not suit the requirements of the latter.

When consumers try to seek redress by returning the goods and asking for a refund, merchants would normally decline to entertain the customer's request by quoting a clause in their receipt stating that goods sold are not returnable.

Correct me if I am wrong, but I clearly remember that the consumers association have from time to time been putting out announcements reminding consumers that merchants are obligated to give their customers a ‘cooling off’ period on all goods bought and that if customers are not satisfied with the goods purchased, that a full refund should be made to the customer.

This is because the clause in the receipts issued by the merchants stating that goods sold are not returnable is not legally binding. I shall now attempt to highlight a problem which I have recently encountered.

On Oct 5, I purchased a guitar case from a music store in Kuala Lumpur. Having bought the guitar case priced at RM100 and having taken it home, I realised that the abovementioned product did not suit my requirements at all and I proceeded the following day ie. Oct 6, to seek redress from the company for a full refund on the guitar case.

When I approached the staff of the company, they refused by request and started to become abusive and arrogant. They even tried to insult my intelligence by saying that there is a clause in their receipt that states that goods sold are not returnable.

When I did not budge and tried to reason politely with the staff of the company for a refund, they became abusive, arrogant and threw insults at me.

Finally, I tried to compromise with the staff by proposing to exchange the guitar case for another model which was actually cheaper and requested that the balance of the refund be given back to me.

Needless to say, the staff of the company flatly refused to entertain my request but tried to justify their action in rejecting my request. They even had the audacity to have me make another trip to the shop in a few days time without considering the fact that I am a blind individual and the inconvenience that will be caused to me.

The asked me to come back as they claimed that the salesman who dealt with me was not available, which in my opinion, is a very lame excuse as any member of the staff could have resolved the matter at hand amicably but chose not to do so.

As I knew that I was getting nowhere with the staff with regards to my request for a refund, I left the premises with the realisation that I had been shortchanged by this shop whose dealings with it's customers is most deplorable to say the least.

I sincerely hope that the consumers association will help me bring this matter to a just conclusion, so that consumers will not be taken advantage off by unscrupulous merchants in the future. Their kind cooperation in resolving this matter would be greatly appreciated.