Advertisement
Advertisement

Complaints by consumers rise

MORE people than ever turned to the Consumer Council for help last year, with complaints topping 10,000 for the first time.

A total of 10,045 complaints were received by the council in 1994, up 5.2 per cent on the previous year.

The council said the increase was mainly due to people becoming more aware of their rights as consumers.

Fewer complaints were received about Hong Kong's notorious con artists who sold electrical appliances. This was believed to have been because of a series of police raids on the most serious offenders.

The council said it had received 1,889 complaints about electrical shops in 1994, down 27 per cent on the 2,580 recorded in 1993.

But more complaints were received against travel agents, up nine per cent to 924; property firms, up 24 per cent to 555; video clubs, up 63 per cent to 265; and modelling schools, up 137 per cent to 202.

The council said it had enjoyed a year of 'historic significance and solid achievements', which included the establishment of the $10 million Consumer Legal Action Fund to help consumers win legal redress.

New legislation had been passed which meant the safety of virtually all consumer products would be regulated, the council said.

The ombudsman received 565 complaints in the second half of last year, more than three times the figure of the year ending last June.

The office of the Commissioner for Administrative Complaints, known as the ombudsman, said the Housing Department had attracted 122 complaints.

Post