Saturday is my day. I treat myself to a delicious breakfast, have my nails done and run errands.
On the top of my to-do list one recent Saturday was buying a new BlackBerry headset as, clumsy girl that I am, I somehow ran over my old one after it had fallen from my handbag. As much as I love to talk while I drive, that was not acceptable.
Little did I know I was about to encounter a common frustration among local shoppers.
Because of the lack of parking spaces on weekends at most Abu Dhabi malls and the thought of paying their high prices, I headed towards the scattered mobile phone shops on Defence Road.
Once I had made my decision and was ready to pay, I handed the salesman my Visa.
He was not pleased with my choice of a payment method. He told me that if I paid cash instead, I would not be charged "credit card usage fees" - 2 per cent of the total price, he said.
It was blazing hot and my head was pounding so I followed his advice. But the incident stuck with me as yet another way retailers take advantage of UAE customers.
Not long after that, an Emirati friend told me about paying more than Dh30 (US$8.16) for a product that should have cost Dh15 after the salesman said he would not accept a credit card for such a small amount.
Being the curious cat that I am, I logged on to Emirati business online discussion forums and discovered numerous complaints on this issue.
"It's worse with jewellers," wrote one angry consumer. "I get charged as much as 5 per cent of my purchase amount as credit card usage fees."
"This is nonsense. Do they expect us to carry around Dh30,000 or Dh50,000 in cash?" wrote another. "Merchants know that people don't carry that kind of cash."
The Consumer Protection Department should be more effective, said a third. "No customers in the world pay for using their credit cards when purchasing products, so why should we?"
Luckily, our frustration was soon alleviated.
In response to numerous complaints from consumers across the UAE, the Consumer Protection Department this week issued a new law that will go into effect next month banning merchants from charging credit card usage fees. Merchants who break the law will be fined Dh10,000 in addition to having to return amounts they charged customers.
Unfortunately, the law doesn't cover government services. However, I applaud this huge step taken by the department, and I hope that it promotes awareness of this law so retailers will no longer take advantage of their customers.
Some, however, say that if credit card companies are charging merchants a fee for using the service, then the merchants should have the option to pass that additional cost on to customers.
I strongly disagree.
As a business owner, I think it is unfair to charge customers extra fees for using the payment method of their choice. My aim is to attract global customers to my online fashion boutique. While credit card companies may deduct a small percentage from my profit, I gain more customers by being able to provide convenient payment options. The price I pay is more than covered by the additional business I obtain.
My concern now is that merchants will add the credit card usage fee to a product's price to make up for the fees the banks and credit card providers charge them. Others debate that this is a right reaction from merchants, given that prices of products rise with the increase of business costs whether it is rent or anything else.
However, I call upon the Ministry of Economy and Consumer Protection Department to keep an eye on prices retailers charge to see if there are any dramatic price increases that exceed the credit card usage fees charged by banks - a similar action was taken by the department when it announced curbs on food prices during Ramadan.
Such action seems reasonable, especially during Ramadan. The Government wants to prevent grocery retailers from taking advantage of the higher demand during that month.
As both a business owner and customer, I am of two minds regarding government price controls. I am glad to be protected from retailers' schemes to rip me off, but when it comes to selling my line, I want to operate freely, set the charges as I see feasible, and not feel Big Brother is watching me.
For both parties to be happy, the Government should allow merchants to make their own decisions, and only interfere with prices when consumers' rights are breached.
On the flip side, sellers should be able to increase prices again when they cannot make any profit, and customers should recognise that.
Manar al Hinai is a fashion designer and last month was voted an Arab Woman of the Year
