Despite repeated publicity, unwary consumers have continued to fall prey of malpractices of Chinese medicine and dried seafood shops.
Continuing its vigilance on such malpractices, the Consumer Council today again named two shops in Mongkok which have been the subject of a total of 17 complaints involving $113,559.
This is the second time in less than five months the Council has named Chinese medicine and dried seafood shops for malpractices against consumers. In May, the Council named three shops situated on Nathan Road in Yaumati. The five shops in question are in close proximity of each other.
At a press conference today (September 28), the Chairman of the Council's Trade Practices Committee, Mr. William CHAO, hit out at the malpractices by certain traders in the Chinese medicine and dried seafood sector.
"Although they are only a very small number in the trade, these shops are giving Hong Kong a bad name as a shopping centre for tourists," he said.
Mr. Chao reminded consumers to stay alert to such malpractices, look for reliable shops and take every sensible precaution possible to avoid falling into scams.
The two shops were identified as:
(1) Well Ultra International Ltd.
G/F., Shop G23, Hollywood Commercial Centre
610 Nathan Road, Mongkok, Kowloon
(12 complaints totalling $82,739 were received against this shop
since May this year).
(2) Yuen Mong Tong
G/F., Shop G8A, Sun Hing Building
603-609 Nathan Road, Mongkok, Kowloon
(5 complaints involving $30,820 were received against this shop
since April 1999).
According to the complainants, the tactics adopted by the two shop were quite similar as with the cases before. In the majority of cases, the goods were sliced or ground before customers were made clearly aware of the unit price of the goods.
When they subsequently realised that the actual prices of the goods were far beyond their expectation and wanted to withdraw from the transactions, they were refused and demanded to pay up.
Unwary consumers were usually enticed by price labels which showed large and attractive dollar figures - but the weight units such as "per catty" or "per tael" were either not shown at all or written in small characters in a non-conspicuous part of the price label. And the salesmen would verbally repeat the dollar figures without any clarification that the price was in unit of catty, tael, pound or whatever.
Dispute arose when it became clear to the customers that the dollar figure labelled was the price per unit of a lighter weight, for instance, per tael instead of per catty. But the merchandise had already been cut or ground. The hapless customers were pressurised into the deal.
Some complainants alleged that when they protested against the transaction, they were surrounded by staff of the shops in a menacing manner.
Upon the mediation of the Consumer Council, the shops involved agreed to provide some forms of redress in a few of the cases. Despite warning, both shops have not improved in their trade practices as similar complaints from consumers were continued to be received by the Council.
The Consumer Council reiterates its advice to consumers patronizing Chinese medicine and dried seafoods shops:
- first and foremost, ask in what weight unit the goods are priced (whether in tael, catty, pound or any other units);
- ask the shop to weigh the purchase, verify the quantity, and state the actual costs payable;
- before you hand over your money, ask for a bill which should list out all the relevant details of your purchase;
- only after you have paid the bill do you then decide whether or not to allow the shop to slice up the purchase;
- under no circumstances should you allow the goods to be sliced up before you have ascertained and agreed upon the total purchase price; and
- if you want the purchase to be sliced up, ask that it be done within your sight to ensure your purchase will not be switched to goods of inferior quality, and whether the shop would do it for free.
And if consumers still find themselves to have been misled, here's what they should do: "Consumers must stand up for their rights and refuse to go through the transaction. They could pick up a phone and call the Consumer Council. Or where it is safe to do so, and I stress only when it is safe, they should not hesitate to leave the shop in protest against such malpractices," said Mr. Chao.
Consumer complaints against Chinese medicine and dried seafood shops have risen steadily over the years: there were 146 in 1996, 320 in 1997, 340 in 1998 and 265 in the first 8 months of 1999.