Seven Hong Kong pharmacies named and shamed by consumer watchdog for overcharging mainland Chinese tourists
Hong Kong’s consumer watchdog has named and shamed seven pharmacies it accuses of “disgraceful” trade practices after several mainland Chinese tourists were overcharged for goods in transactions worth more than HK$1.5 million.
Hong Kong’s consumer watchdog has named and shamed seven pharmacies it accuses of “disgraceful” trade practices after several mainland Chinese tourists were overcharged for goods in transactions worth more than HK$1.5 million.
The most outrageous case involved a mainland Chinese tourist being charged more than HK$150,000 for crushed pearl powder in May. Upon mediation by the council, the tourist was later refunded about two thirds of the bill.
The council’s revelations followed a complaint last month about a mainland Chinese tourist being charged almost HK$40,000 for two bottles of “Hei Gui You” medicated oil – about 100 times the rate at other retailers.
The seven pharmacies – five in Causeway Bay, two in Mong Kok – accounted for about 127 of some 530 complaints about drugstores lodged to the council this year, mostly over unscrupulous sales practices. Just 35 cases were resolved.
“In the face of complaints, some traders refused to be responsible and adopted an uncooperative attitude,” said council chairman Professor Wong Yuk-shan. “Worse still, they continued to adopt such undesirable trade practices detrimental to consumer interests.”
‘The goods have already been cut up and ground’ is often used as an excuse to refuse cancellation of the transaction
Most of the complaints were made by tourists, almost all of whom were from mainland China, according to Wong.
In most cases, prices or goods were not clearly marked, and upon purchase, the total bill was found to be more than 10 or even 100 times higher, often with the shopkeeper obscuring the price or even distracting the consumer. Some transactions were made without consumers even knowing they had been overcharged.
Pharmacies were also known to state units by the catty but once the dried seafood or herbs had been sliced or ground, would suddenly re-state the price in ounces or mace.
“‘The goods have already been cut up and ground’ is often used as an excuse to refuse cancellation of the transaction,” Wong said.
Shopkeepers also tried to appear sincere during sales talk but would become ill-mannered or even threatening when customers requested a refund, pressuring them to go ahead with the payment.
The council urged consumers to be vigilant and called on the industry to exercise better self-regulation.
Complaints over pharmacies in the first seven months of the year rose to 531, a 13 per cent increase from the same period in the previous year. These complaints rose 22 per cent last year from 2013.
The named and shamed drugstores are: Prestige Pharmacy on Percival Street, Dragon City Drug Manor and Great Medicine Manor on Yee Wo Street, Dragon City Medicines on Yun Ping Road, Chung Wang Tong Medicine on Lockhart Road, and the Hang Tai and Long Sing dispensaries on Nelson Street.
Prestige – the pharmacy implicated in the medical oil scandal last month – has since closed down and could not be reached for comment. The other six either declined to comment, could not find someone responsible to comment, or were unable to be reached.
