The incident of a phone trader in the Kota Raya shopping complex cheating a customer is purely a consumer rights issue, said Muslim Consumers' Association of Malaysia (PPIM).

The association, which has been championing Malay-Muslim causes, said it would not support any party out to turn the matter into a racial issue.

In a brief statement yesterday, the association stressed that the issue should be viewed from the perspective of consumer rights.

"We already have a lot of problems; it should be focused on finding a resolution and not creating more damage."

In the incident, a customer was allegedly confined by shopkeepers at the mall in Kuala Lumpur for changing his mind on the purchase of four mobile phones.

PPIM had recently helped highlight a case in which a nurse claimed she was sacked for refusing to wear short-sleeves, and the Muslim consumer group had alleged it was linked to racism .

Yesterday, Malay Army Veterans Association president Mohd Ali Baharom organised a protest in response to the ‘mobile phone detention’ incident.

Better known as Ali Tinju, he held a "Panas (hot) like Low Yat" demonstration in front of the Kota Raya shopping complex, which fizzled out when fewer than 20 Gerakan Merah (red shirt) members showed up.

Ali Tinju had called on the public to boycott Kota Raya complex over the incident.

He had also suggested the traders undergo courses conducted by the government to learn to show "respect" for customers.

The case went to the Domestic Trade, Consumerism, and Cooperatives Ministry consumer tribunal, which instructed the trader to return RM5,000 to the consumer, who was forced to pay the sum after he was "detained" by the trader for four hours.

Dipres Nasution Mohd Arifin had said he refused to pay the full amount because the final total was more than 10 times the quoted price.

According to Dipres Nasution, he was initially quoted RM200 per unit but was later told to pay RM10,000 in total.

After the tribunal decision, he went to the shop to make the claim accompanied by a PPIM representative.

The trader returned the RM5,000 while Dipres Nasution handed back the four mobile phones.