The consumer watchdog has called on service providers to change contract terms that are unfair to customers, saying it has identified a dozen areas of concern.
Many standard consumer contracts are highly unfavourable to customers, the Consumer Council said. This was reflected by a rise in related complaints: the 1,185 received last year was 27 per cent more than in 2010.
But consumers are in no position to bargain with suppliers for changes to specific clauses: they can either sign the contract or not.
By far the main cause for complaint, the council said, concerned the automatic renewal of contracts and difficulties in terminating services. That triggered 807 complaints last year - a 60 per cent rise over 2010.
Connie Lau Yin-hing, chief executive of the council, illustrated some of the difficulties consumers faced. 'There are contract terms that require customers to go to offices of service providers in person when they want to end the contract. Others specify that people should fill in a termination form to end their service, but the form is usually not available.'
Another clause commonly found on contracts states suppliers retain the right of final decision in any dispute arising from the contract. Complaints about this more than doubled last year.