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Nine Hong Kong medicine store staff arrested in crackdown on dubious sales tactics
Public warned to beware after one customer told to pay HK$100,000 for a health supplement - 160 times the agreed price
PUBLISHED : Thursday, 24 September, 2015, 11:29pm
UPDATED : Thursday, 24 September, 2015, 11:29pm
Phila Siu
[email protected]
The General Chamber of Pharmacy says the problem is difficult to root out
Nine staff from six medicine stores were arrested for using unscrupulous sales tactics, with one customer asked to hand over HK$100,000 for an order - 160 times what he expected to pay.
They were arrested in a customs operation codenamed "Golden Crusader", which was launched in the middle of last month and ends next month.
The shops fooled people by quoting one price for ingredients, then charging more based on another weight measure. Staff deliberately created an air of confusion in the store by not replying to questions during transactions.
In the worst case, a customer who wanted to buy a maca - a plant used in a health supplement to enhance men's sexual performance - agreed a price of HK$680 a catty (600 grams).
But after staff ground the maca, the customer was told the price was HK$680 a mace - a smaller unit. That is 160 times more than the customer thought he was paying. He was asked to hand over HK$100,000.
It is a common tactic for shops to ground up herbs before presenting the bill - making it difficult for the customer to refuse to pay.
Customs officers posed as shoppers and acted upon customers' complaints. They arrested eight men and a woman aged between 25 and 54.
"In some cases, the staff would mislead the customers by not answering some of their questions," said Hui Wai-ming, acting senior superintendent of the intellectual property investigation bureau.
"Customers need to ask carefully if they have any doubts. If the staff try to avoid answering the questions, then they should just go to another shop."
In another case, a customer was misled into believing that he was paying HK$453 for a catty of dried fish maw. After the fish maws were shredded, he was told the price was in fact HK$453 for a tael, another Chinese measure and 16 times more expensive than he thought he was paying.
Staff in four shops misled customers into believing they were buying popular brands. But the items, including drugs for gastrointestinal problems, only looked like the genuine article.
Under the Trade Descriptions Ordinance, it is an offence if a trader provides customers with information in a manner that is unclear or ambiguous. The maximum penalty is a fine of HK$500,000 and imprisonment for five years.
Lau Oi-kwok, chairman of the General Chamber of Pharmacy, said it was not possible to root out the problem.
"This cannot be solved. Some shops are just greedy," he said. "But I think the number of shops which do so is actually falling."
The Consumer Council said it received 622 complaints in the first eight months of this year about Western and Chinese medicine, up from 533 in the same period last year.
