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The director of furniture chain store J.M. Soft has been arrested on suspicion of accepting a total of HK$1.4 million for orders that went undelivered.
The Customs and Excise Department said yesterday it had arrested the 36-year-old man on suspicion of wrongly accepting payment under the recently amended Trade Descriptions Ordinance.
He has been released on bail and the investigation is ongoing.
Chik Shun-kwan, deputy head of the department's Consumer Protection Bureau, said there were about 200 alleged victims and the department had received 30 complaints. Another 64 referrals came from the Consumer Council and 170 from the police.
Customers complained that furniture had not been delivered.
The department said its investigation had found that J.M. Soft continued accepting orders and payment from customers while using various pretexts to delay delivery.
Chik said the total amount paid for undelivered goods was HK$1.4 million. The biggest single order was HK$29,000.
She said the first undelivered orders were made in May. The items ordered were mainly beds, mattresses and sofas.
In September, the store ceased business and closed all seven of its outlets without taking remedial measures or paying refunds to customers.
In six of the complaints received, the amount paid by customers ranged from HK$4,300 to HK$10,500, adding up to a total value of HK$42,000.
An amendment to the Trade Descriptions Ordinance, which made wrongly accepting payment an offence, came into effect on July 19.
The maximum penalty upon conviction is a HK$500,000 fine and five years' imprisonment.
The Consumer Council said it has received more than 100 complaints against an unnamed furniture company for non-delivery since mid-July.
Chik said she thought it unlikely there would be any more arrests as the company only had one director.
She advised customers never to prepay in full for goods, to check delivery dates and keep receipts as they could be used as evidence in court.
The Consumer Council received 953 complaints against furniture traders in the first nine months of the year, an increase of 35 per cent on the same period last year.


Furniture trader held over HK1.4 million in unfilled orders

Some 200 people say they fell victim to J.M. Soft chain store, which closed down in September.

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Hong Kong

Some 200 people say they fell victim to the chain store which closed down in September


The Customs and Excise Department said it had arrested the director of furniture chain store J.M. Soft on suspicion of wrongly accepting payment under the recently amended Trade Descriptions Ordinance.


Furniture trader held over HK1.4 million in unfilled orders

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Some 200 people say they fell victim to the chain store which closed down in September

Some 200 people say they fell victim to the chain store which closed down in September