Dear Editor,
I am writing on behalf of the Consumer Right Concern Group to report on a service-related complaint which our group has received recently. According to statistics from the Consumer Council, service-related complaint rose from 22,427 cases in 2006 to 29,247 in 2008. Many of these cases involve unfair, misleading and deceptive sales tactics. As a result, we hope the case that we are reporting can remind all customers in Hong Kong of the importance of caution before making decisions.
In our case, the consumer, Miss Lai, was lured into being a “spokeswoman” of a slimming company in April, 2009. The company asked for a sum of $50,000 as the fee for slimming courses. The courses included diet analyzing, dancing classes and the “laser slimming process”. However, during the process, the company kept forcing Miss Lai to buy some expansive slimming products, e.g. dehydrating pills and some herbal tea, which they claimed to be safe and effective. Also, when Miss Lai almost met the weight loss target, the company stopped the “laser slimming process”. It claimed that the machine was broken and could not be repaired within a short period of time. Finally, her weight-loss target failed and her deposit of $20,000 was forfeited.
In the above case, the slimming company can be blamed for using unfair and deceptive sales tactics to cheat customers. To start with, it tied in the slimming products with the slimming courses, and this was enforced by the contract they signed. However, this term was stated in an extremely tiny print under the corner of the contract which made consumers unaware of it. Also, the company didn’t enforce the contract which stated that during the slimming courses, Miss Lai had the right to enjoy the “laser slimming process” in any situations. Hence, deceptive sales tactics were involved.
To protect consumers, we suggest the Government should set up a “cooling off period” for some luxury goods e.g. flats, car, etc. Sales people cannot force the consumers into making a decision of buying the product immediately due to any reasons. Consumers can ask for a period of time to cool off and think carefully whether they really want to buy it or not. If sellers are found to break this legislation, they should be fined for a maximum of $30,000. This policy can prevent consumers from acting on impulse, and can give them time to know the product more thoroughly.
On the one hand, the Government can implement a new policy; on the other hand, they can spend more effort on the old one. For example, they can open more ways to receive complaints from consumers through e-mail, mail, phones etc. Also, it is important to promote these channels to the public since many people don’t know where to turn to when they face service-related problems. Furthermore, the complaints usually take a long time to be processed.
To increase the efficiency of tackling these deceptive sales tactics, the Government should give more support to process the complaints more quickly.
Last but not least, the long term solution to this problem will be education. By educating consumers on the existence of these deceptive sales tactics, they will be more cautious when facing any transactions. The number of complaints about sales tactics will definitely decline afterwards.
If the Government can spend more effort in combating deceptive sales tactics, consumers will be well protected. However, consumers also have the responsibilities to protect themselves. If both sides can do their best, we are be sure that no more deceptive sales tactics will ever exist in Hong Kong.
Chris Wrong