Consumer complaints rose to a new high of a total of 26,756 cases in 2004 with an increase of a minimal one percent over the preceding year - but 17% since 2002.
Telecom services (7,740 cases), electrical appliances (1,584), and telecom equipment (1,496) continued to top all consumer complaints brought to the Consumer Council for resolution.
Consumer dissatisfaction in telecom services was directed mainly against internet (3,461 cases), fixed telecom network and fax (2,034), and mobile phone (1,211).
For electrical appliances, visual and audio equipment such as VCD, DVD, CD, MD MP3 bore the brunt of the consumer complaints.
In the case of telecom equipment, mobile phones dominated overwhelmingly (1,356 out of 1,496 cases) due to consumer complaints on product quality and maintenance service.
Further, computers (1,219 cases), furniture and fixtures (1,213), broadcasting services (1,019), and food and drink products (1,001) were also among the 69 categories of goods and services with complaints exceeding the 1,000-case threshold.
Broadcasting services, in particular, recorded a hefty 202% increase over 2003 (337 cases) due mainly to complaints arising from undesirable sales practices and early termination of paid TV services, and the bundling of charges of paid TV with broadband Internet services.
These seven categories combined accounted for well over half (57%) of all complaints for the year 2004 - 15,272 out of 26,756 cases.
Other notable increases were: recreation and health clubs including fitness centres (308 cases) up 58%, due to dissatisfaction over operators unable to provide service as promised and disputes over terms and conditions of membership; and hotel/dining club memberships (198) 68%, largely because of their marketing tactics.
They were among an overall 28 categories of goods and services with consumer complaints on the rise last year.
Nonetheless, in the year under review, the statistics revealed that a greater number of categories of goods and services have actually declined - altogether 35 categories down vs 28 up.
Of particular significance was: travel agents (820 cases) down 37%, financial services (687) 35%, drugs and Chinese herbal medicines (540) 51%, properties (484) 40%, and further education services (343) 41%.
The decline in the category of travel agents was attributable to a substantial drop in complaints related to the practice of price increase before or after full payment of the tour price was made.
For financial services, the decrease was due largely to the absence of complaints related to termination of mutual fund (as was the case in 2003 which brought a sudden rash of complaints), and a general fall in complaints related to credit cards.
For drugs and Chinese herbal medicines including medical supplies, the decline was due to the fact that during the year, Hong Kong was spared the SARS virus which in 2003 prompted an upsurge in the demand for facemasks and subsequent consumer complaints.
In the case of properties, there was no developer (as in 2003) being involved in winding-up action in the sales of uncompleted flats. But complaints were raised against delay in completion of two residential developments involving 2,060 units, and also the bundling of telecom charges in building management fees - through efforts of the Council, one developer agreed to levy the internet service charges only on users of the service.
In the category under further education services, the drop could be attributed to better awareness of motorists of the means and ways in obtaining cross-border licences following the Council's exposure of a local company which made claims of guarantee in passing the relevant driving exams with training and in obtaining the necessary licences.
With tourism fast recovering (against a background of approximately 38% increase in visiting tourists to Hong Kong), the year 2004 saw an overall increase of nearly 22% in the number of tourist complaints which totalled 1,505 cases or 5.62% of all consumer complaints.
Of the total tourist complaints, nearly two-thirds or 980 cases were received from Mainland visitors, representing a rise of some 34% increase over 2003 (728 cases).
And of the 980 complaints from Mainland tourists, 788 cases were received from visitors on group tours, as most were dissatisfied with the purchase they were led to make by the tour guides. Despite the 14-day refund guarantee, travel industry sources indicated that the problem had its root in group tours that were priced cheaply or even purportedly free and operators have to seek to cover costs from rebates.
Only 192 cases were generated by visitors under the Independent Mainland Travellers Scheme.
The Consumer Council is forging closer ties with its counterparts in the mainland. In December, it signed an agreement with the consumer organizations in Beijing, Shanghai and Macau, for co-operation in the areas of training, advice and complaints, information exchange and promotion of consumer rights. The Council has since received a total of 11 complaints - one from Beijing and 10 from Shanghai.
As the economy of Hong Kong progressively shifts to one of service-based, consumer complaints also continued to reflect this changing marketplace - 15,139 cases or 57% of the complaints were related to services while 11,617 or 43% to products.
During the year, the Consumer Legal Action Fund of which the Consumer Council is trustee, has considered six groups of cases and, since the inception of the Fund in November 1994, a total of 64 groups of cases (people likely affected by these cases may run into thousands of consumers).
Among the successful cases was one in which, through litigation and settlement, the Fund was able to recover overcharged school fees for more than a hundred parents of kindergarten children.
In another case, a consumer was assisted by the Fund to take legal action against a developer for multiple defects in a newly-built flat that she purchased. Subsequently she was able to recover part of her claim and all the legal costs by settlement before trial.
Issued by
Consumer Council
10 January 2005