Physical gym closure, Messi and waste charging dominated Hong Kong consumer news
Consumer Council reveals results of survey about biggest news stories of year, which attracted record-high 14,429 voters, triple last year’s 4,620
The closure of Hong Kong gym chain Physical has been voted the top consumer news story in 2024, followed by football star Lionel Messi’s absence in a key match and the suspension of the waste charging scheme, according to the city’s consumer watchdog.
The Consumer Council revealed on Wednesday the results of its survey about the biggest news stories of the year, which attracted a record-high 14,429 voters, triple last year’s 4,620.
The campaign, conducted in partnership with major local media organisations from January 2 to 22 this year, aimed to raise public awareness and attention about consumer rights.
“The closure of a local large-scale gym and beauty chain reminds consumers to think twice before committing to a prepayment,” said council chairman Clement Chan Kam-wing. “The subpar arrangements of certain mega-events also caused consumer dissatisfaction, which serves as a reminder for organisers to learn a lesson.”
More than half of the voters picked the closure of Physical Fitness as the top consumer news story in the Year of the Dragon, a business shock that drew more than 5,600 consumer complaint cases amounting to close to HK$200 million.
The chain shut down in September last year after 38 years in business, citing a need to restructure its business and blaming high rents for its financial troubles.
The incident triggered discussions about establishing a mandatory cooling-off period and a limit on the duration of prepaid contracts, as well as strengthening regulations for businesses that operated on a prepayment model.