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Consumer protection in Hong Kong
Hong KongEducation

Hong Kong classes that shifted to web amid Covid-19 left trail of complaints: consumer watchdog

  • From Latin dance at home to truncated language lessons, complaints about extracurricular courses more than double in first five months of year
  • Some parents found themselves suddenly required to sit with their kindergarten children for the entirety of online sessions

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Students reluctant to attend face-to-face Latin dance classes amid the coronavirus – or practise moves in their tiny Hong Kong apartments – filed complaints to the city’s consumer watchdog when a company refused to extend the window for their 48 prepaid sessions. Photo: Shutterstock
Kathleen Magramo
Classes covering everything from English to phonics to dance were the subject of more than 250 complaints after providers demanded students accept online versions amid the coronavirus pandemic rather than provide refunds, Hong Kong’s consumer watchdog has found.
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One complaint said a HK$7,200 (US$929) Latin dance course had required students to practise their moves in front of a computer screen in their tiny flats, while a 90-minute face-to-face language course was chopped to just 15 minutes online.

In the first five months of the year, the Consumer Council received a total of 273 complaints about private tuition and extracurricular classes, a 117 per cent increase in the number of similar complaints for the same period last year.
Moving classes online presented unique challenges, prompting parental complaints to the city’s consumer watchdog. Photo: Shutterstock
Moving classes online presented unique challenges, prompting parental complaints to the city’s consumer watchdog. Photo: Shutterstock

“Under the pandemic, many interest classes were changed to online formats, which led to many disputes and miscommunication between course providers and consumers,” said Lui Wing-cheong, vice-chairman of the watchdog’s research and testing committee.

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“[We] understand that quite a number of industries are having a difficult time providing services with social-distancing measures in place,” Lui said.

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