My Product Is Defective and the Seller Won't Refund Me

Federal Law No. 15 of 2020 on Consumer Protection gives you the right to correct information about what you buy, to a safe purchase, to choose freely among available products and services, and to "fair compensation" for damage caused by a defective good (Article 4). For an actual defect or malfunction, Articles 10 and 12 provide for repair, replacement, return of the good with a refund of its price, or re-performance of a service without charge. The law's wording, as published, does not clearly state whether the consumer or the supplier gets to choose among those options where more than one applies — so treat that as an open question to raise with a lawyer rather than a settled entitlement to insist on your preferred remedy.

Do not assume there is a general "cooling-off," no-questions-asked right to return something simply because you changed your mind — no such general statutory return window was found in the Consumer Protection Law, its Executive Regulation, or the separate e-commerce law. Where a shop offers a flexible return policy, that is the store's own commercial policy, not a legal right. The one specific, concrete day-count that is confirmed is narrower and different: under Article 25 of the Executive Regulation (Cabinet Resolution No. 66 of 2023), a consumer can recover the price of a good with no warranty if a defect is discovered within 30 days of purchase — a defect-discovery window, not a change-of-mind window. Keep that distinction straight when deciding what to claim.

If the item carries a warranty, Article 10 obligates the supplier to honor it — including spare parts, maintenance, replacement, or a refund. The Executive Regulation adds real timeframes: spare parts should generally be available within 7 days (14 days for less common parts, 30 days for goods supplied through a commercial agent, Article 14); if warranty repair work takes more than 7 days, you are entitled to a similar replacement good free of charge in the meantime (Article 17, echoing Article 16 of the parent law for commercial agents); and any repair carried out must itself be guaranteed for at least 15 days (Article 26).

If the same fault has recurred three times within the first year of purchase, Article 13 of the law (echoed at the Executive Regulation level by Article 28) entitles you to a replacement with a new good or a refund of its value — a specific, useful rule if you are dealing with a product that keeps breaking in the same way rather than a one-off defect.

Before escalating to a government authority, send the seller (or, where relevant, the commercial agent) a clear written complaint — email or a message you can keep a copy of — describing the defect or the misleading claim, attaching your proof of purchase, and stating specifically what you're asking for: repair, replacement, or refund. Referencing the relevant article (for example, Article 12 for a general defect, Article 13 for a recurring one, or Article 25 of the Executive Regulation for a 30-day unwarrantied-good defect claim) signals that you know your position is grounded in the actual statute, not a general expectation.

Keep everything: the receipt or invoice, any warranty card, the original advertisement or listing (a screenshot if it was online), delivery or service records, and every message exchanged with the seller from this point forward. If your dispute later goes to the Ministry, the DCCPFT, ADDED, or a lawyer, this record is what any of them will actually work from.

Federal Law No. 15 of 2020, Article 17, prohibits describing a good or service with incorrect data or through a "misleading advertisement," and the law expressly treats announcing fake or unreal prizes or discounts as misleading advertising. The Executive Regulation's Article 8 lists specific categories of prohibited deceptive claims (about composition, origin, quality marks, and expected results, among others), and its Article 31 specifically requires prior licensing for discount promotions and lets a consumer recover the price difference within 30 days if a promoted discount wasn't properly notified or honored.

A separate statute, the Anti-Commercial Fraud Law (Federal Decree-Law No. 42 of 2023), independently prohibits advertising or describing goods with "false, deceptive or misleading data" as a form of commercial fraud, and it does not cross-reference the Consumer Protection Law at all — the two regimes run in parallel. Which one (or both) fits your situation depends on the specific facts, particularly whether counterfeit or fraudulently-described goods are involved — this is exactly the kind of characterization question worth putting to a lawyer rather than guessing at yourself.

Online purchases are governed by their own statute, Federal Decree-Law No. 14 of 2023. Article 7 gives online buyers a return-or-exchange right where the goods conflict with UAE law, arrive defective or damaged, don't match their description, are delayed beyond the point of usefulness, or the transaction otherwise breaches the contract's terms — but this right is defined by those circumstances, not by a stated number of days, and it is excluded for goods you've already used (beyond inspection), certain short-shelf-life perishables, and single-use digital goods.

If you bought from an overseas seller who isn't licensed or registered in the UAE, be aware that Article 25(2) of the Consumer Protection Law itself states that the Ministry is not responsible for unlicensed foreign suppliers — a real, meaningful limitation on how much a UAE complaint channel can do for a purely cross-border purchase from an unregistered seller. A lawyer can advise on what other options (such as a card-issuer chargeback, or pursuing the seller directly) may realistically be available in that situation.

At the federal level, the Ministry of Economy and Tourism takes consumer complaints by phone (800-1222), through an online portal, via WhatsApp, and through a general contact form (moet.gov.ae). In Dubai, complaints go to the Dubai Corporation for Consumer Protection and Fair Trade; in Abu Dhabi, to ADDED via the TAMM platform. See the Jurisdictions section above for what is and isn't confirmed about each emirate's process.

If a decision goes against you, Article 35 of the amended Consumer Protection Law lets you file a written grievance within 15 working days of being notified, and the authority must issue a decision on that grievance within 30 days — with no decision within that time treated as a rejection, so the process cannot simply stall indefinitely on the authority's side.

Nothing in the primary legislation reviewed for this page names a specific court, tribunal, or small-claims mechanism to use once the Ministry's, DCCPFT's, or ADDED's complaint route is exhausted — so treat any source that confidently names one specific forum or claim-value threshold with caution unless it cites the actual law. In general terms, an unresolved dispute would move to the ordinary UAE civil courts (or, if your supplier is DIFC- or ADGM-registered, potentially that free zone's own courts — see Jurisdictions above).

This is a genuinely fact-specific decision — the right venue, the strength of your claim under Articles 10, 12, 13, or 17, and whether the Anti-Commercial Fraud Law adds anything all depend on your particular purchase and paperwork. A lawyer matched through LEXNOVA can review what you've gathered and advise on realistic next steps; LEXNOVA itself does not provide legal advice, represent you, or guarantee any result.