Pushy salespeople in Dubai: how to protect yourself

What happened

I was in the middle of buying a property I had already chosen, through an agent who was guiding me. To make the payment I needed the escrow account details, so I contacted the developer's customer service.

Instead of a technical answer, my request was passed to a salesperson, and within minutes I was on a video call. He spoke to me in Arabic, built a warm, personal, "friend and brother" conversation, and showed me a completely different home from the one I had chosen. Under pressure, and with quite a few tricks, he got me to sign a new deal directly with him, without my agent.

At that point I had not transferred any money.

How I cancelled

Once I understood what had happened, I asked to cancel the new deal and go back to my original one. I went to the company's managers and explained that my representation in this deal goes only through my agent. The new deal was cancelled, and from there everything was back on track.

Six signs of sales pressure

1. A technical request is passed to a salesperson instead of customer service.
2. You are immediately offered a video call.
3. You are shown a different property from the one you already chose.
4. The conversation turns personal, in your language, in a "friend and brother" style.
5. You are offered to close directly with the salesperson, bypassing the person who represents you.
6. You are asked to sign during that same call.

What to do instead

• Ask for technical details in writing, by email or message, not on a call.
• Check the escrow account details yourself in the official Dubai REST app, rather than taking them from a call. The four-step checklist.
• Do not sign anything during the same call. A good offer will still be there tomorrow.
• Do not close with a developer's salesperson without the person who represents you. A developer's salesperson represents the developer, even when the conversation is warm and personal.
• If you have already signed, go to management right away and ask to cancel, in writing. It worked for me, but whether you can cancel depends on the contract and the stage, so it is better not to sign in the first place.