Consumer Council turns spotlight on insurers, phone makers
Complaints against phone manufacturers have risen sharply and insurance companies don't give clear, sufficient information, says watchdog
Complaints against mobile phone maintenance services are soaring, the increase in the price of school textbooks is slowing, and consumers are at risk of being left unprotected during high-risk holidays if they do not read the insurance small print.
These were among disclosures from the Consumer Council yesterday.
The council said it received 548 complaints about maintenance services offered by phone manufacturers in the first six months of the year - up 74 per cent on the same period last year.
"Fundamentally, they should do better," said council chief executive Gilly Wong Fung-han. "It's such a common product that you use in your daily life, they should do much better in their maintenance and repair service."
In one claim, a woman bought a handset for about HK$3,000, but after a week, the phone would shut down by itself.
She took the phone to the maker's maintenance centre four times, but after a month it was still not fixed. She eventually got a refund with the council's help.
Wong warned that companies could fall foul of the Sales of Goods Ordinance, which included an obligation to fulfil warranty conditions.