Wedding hell! Hong Kong couples having their big days ruined by shoddy service, consumer watchdog says

A rising number of newlyweds have complained about substandard wedding services after providers failed to deliver what they had promised on the couples' big days, the consumer watchdog said yesterday.

In one case, the complainant rented a pink London taxi, but on the wedding day another car arrived, after the vendor claimed the taxi had broken down, the Consumer Council said.

Another unfortunate couple found they had to serve guests delivered banquet food because open-flame cooking was not allowed at their wedding venue. The couple filed a complaint and insisted the vendor's staff did not clearly explain the "outside catering" requirement when pitching the wedding service package.

In another complaint about a venue, a couple who had hired a glass hall was later told it was an illegal structure.

Such complaints relating to special car rentals and wedding venues have been rising of late.

The Consumer Council said it received 41 complaints about venues and related services during the first seven months of this year, an increase of about 28 per cent compared with the same period last year.