Hong Kong was impacted by a host of economic factors in 2024, including the global economic slowdown, digital economy boom, northbound travel trend, as well as the resumption of the multiple-entry Individual Visit Scheme (IVS) for Shenzhen residents. While new traders entered the market, industries were faced with unprecedented opportunities and challenges, and some businesses made the difficult decision to close down, resulting in a surge in related consumer complaints. The overall number of complaints received by the Consumer Council has been on the rise for 3 consecutive years, with a total of 40,839 cases in 2024, a 20% year-on-year (YoY) increase versus 2023.
To provide a more accurate view of the complaints lodged by local consumers residing in Hong Kong, starting from 2023, analysis excluded complaints from Mainland consumers against Mainland online shopping platforms registered as businesses in Hong Kong but operate primarily outside the territory. Based on this criterion, the Council received 37,590 complaints in 2024 overall, up 20% from the 31,294 cases in 2023, while the monetary amount involved also surged by 33% and reached HK$1 billion (HK$1,072,154,197). The increase was mainly due to 2 disputes during the year which raised widespread public concern and affected many consumers, including Messi’s controversial non-appearance at an exhibition match in February (1,476 cases, over $10 million involved), as well as the abrupt closure of the Physical Fitness chain in September (5,619 cases recorded as of the end of 2024, close to HK$200 million involved). As a result of these 2 incidents, the ratio of service-related complaints increased to 69% (versus 61% in 2023), while complaints related to goods saw a slight decrease, accounting for 31% (versus 39% in 2023) out of all complaints. Factoring out the complaints arising from these 2 incidents, the Council received a total of 30,495 complaint cases in 2024, a slight 3% dip from 2023, while the monetary amount involved was HK$860 million (HK$864,556,425), a YoY increase of 8%, mainly attributed to 2 complaints on high-value property purchases (involving over HK$97 million and over HK$61 million respectively).
Online shopping has become part of daily life for many consumers. Excluding cases related to Mainland shopping platforms, online shopping gave rise to a total of 13,701 complaint cases in the past year, an 8% YoY increase and accounting for 36% of all cases. This figure was lower than that of the previous year (41%), though the amount involved spiked by 34% to more than HK$58 million.
Overall, among the 37,590 complaint cases in the past year, 14% were related to the quality of services (5,431 cases), a 34% upsurge versus 2023; whereas complaints relating to the quality of goods also saw a 17% uptick with 3,225 cases recorded, accounting for 9% of all complaints and involving over HK$37 million. These 2 types of complaints (8,656 in total) represented 23% of the overall complaints, dealing blows to Hong Kong’s longstanding reputation as a “shopper’s paradise” and “hospitable city”. The industries and businesses must promptly improve the quality of services and goods to strengthen their competitiveness and appeal, so as to effectively stimulate local residents’ and visitors’ desire to shop and boost the economy.
The Top 5 Complaint Categories
Food & Entertainment Services Remained the Top Complaint Category for 3 Consecutive Years
Last year, “Food & Entertainment Services” remained as the top consumer complaint category for 3 years running with 5,810 cases recorded, soaring 48% compared with 2023 (3,913 cases) and involving over HK$15.2 million. Of these complaints, around 25% (1,476 cases) were related to the Messi incident in February which caused “Sports Games” to become the top subcategory with 1,559 cases, a 35-fold spike. In second place was the “Restaurant” subcategory, which rose by 17% YoY (1,369 cases). Complaints related to food delivery platforms, which had exceeded 1,000 cases in both 2022 and 2023, further increased to 1,146 cases in 2024, rising 8% YoY. As the Messi incident accounted for a higher percentage of complaints in this category, “Sales Practices” was the top complaint nature (1,806 cases, +188%)
Excluding certain incidents (including the Messi incident and closure of Physical), complaints relating to “Food & Entertainment Services” still accounted for the lion’s share of complaints overall, with 4,335 cases in 2024 (+11% YoY), involving over HK$4.66 million in total. Within this category, in terms of complaint nature, most cases were related to the quality of services (1,223 cases, +79%), followed by “Price / Charges Dispute” (921 cases, +31%). It is worth noting that complaints involving the quality of goods (289 cases) also rose 63%, while those related to shop closure (70 cases) even surged by 106%, though the increase was comparatively lower than the year before (240%).
Thanks to the HKSAR Government’s focused effort in boosting the mega event economy in the past year, a flurry of overseas singers and performance groups visited Hong Kong for fan meetings in various formats. The Council received 626 complaints related to public performances in 2024, a 28% drop versus 2023. Several events gave rise to a relatively larger number of complaints, including a Taiwanese band’s outdoor concert with 1 show cancelled due to a heavy rainstorm, resulting in 94 complaint cases related to refund arrangements; an outdoor musical festival’s chaotic arrangement under inclement weather triggered 30 cases of complaints; while for a K-pop girl group’s concert, the organiser’s unilateral change to a lucky draw results list after announcement left fans dissatisfied, giving rise to 48 complaint cases.
Recreation & Health Clubs Climbed to 2nd Place Due to Closure of Physical
Highest Monetary Amount Among the Top 5 Involving Almost HK$149 Million
The Council received 5,619 complaint cases related to the sudden closure of the gym chain Physical Fitness in September last year, 79% of which involved fitness contracts (4,421 cases). This catapulted “Recreation & Health Clubs” to second place with 4,901 cases in total, representing an 8-fold surge and involving close to HK$149 million, whereas the category was not even within the top 10 the year before. The complaints were mainly related to shop closure (4,496 cases) that saw a substantial rise of 101-fold, followed by “Variation / Termination of Contract” (180 cases, -3%), while complaints involving sales practices dropped by 20% (99 cases), an improvement compared to the year before (+77%).
If complaints related to the Physical incident were excluded, the “Recreation & Health Clubs” category recorded a total of 480 cases (-4% YoY), of which 75 cases involved shop closure, representing a 70% increase versus 2023.
Increased Demand for Mobile Data Services
Telecommunication Services Took 3rd Place
Complaints in the “Telecommunication Services” category dipped by 3% overall, slipping from second place in 2023 to third place in 2024 with 3,071 cases recorded. The greatest share of complaints was related to Internet services (839 cases), accounting for 27% of this category’s cases and increasing by 21% YoY. Nowadays, consumers constantly rely heavily on mobile data services, from everyday life, northbound consumption, to outbound travel. Driven up by increased demand, complaints involving mobile data services (742 cases) also spiked by 54%, around 30% of which were related to data roaming in the Mainland or overseas. Furthermore, complaints on SMS / MMS services (21 cases) soared by 91%, mainly regarding charge issues. Generally speaking, the nature of complaints within the telecommunication services category mainly involved “Price / Charges Dispute” (1,092 cases, -20% YoY), followed by “Variation / Termination of Contract” (851 cases, +13% YoY) and “Quality of Services” (686 cases, +25% YoY).
Beauty Services Complaints Rose to 4th Place with Over HK$90 Million Involved
The “Beauty Services” category rose one rank from 2023 to fourth place in 2024, recording 2,929 cases in total, a 97% upsurge versus the year before. The monetary amount involved also swelled by 155% to over HK$93 million, of which 41% (1,198 cases) stemmed from the beauty contracts of Physical Fitness. As such, the nature of complaints in this category was also mainly to do with shop closure (1,629 cases, a 12-fold increase).
Excluding complaints arising from the closure of Physical Fitness, the “Beauty Services” category recorded a total of 1,731 cases, which was still 17% more than 2023. The “Spa / Massage Services” subcategory accounted for the largest share of complaints (490 cases, +66% YoY), mainly involving the closure of a massage chain in early 2024 (233 cases), followed by “General Skin Care Services” (389 cases, +17%); next were services related to medical beauty, including “Laser / IPL Beauty Services” (264 cases, +24%) and “Plastic Surgery / Injection / Invasive Treatments” (99 cases, +19%), while complaints involving slimming services (61 cases) also rose by 13%. In terms of the complaint nature, shop closure was also the leading factor (431 cases, +262%), followed by the quality of services (382 cases, +38%), around 50% of which involved “difficulty in making a reservation” and “dissatisfactory results”. Meanwhile, cases related to sales practices (377 cases) saw a 19% drop.
Travel Matters Ranked 5th as Frequent Outbound Travel Spurs Demand for Airline Services
Given that tourism had fully resumed in the past year, related complaints also reduced by 8% accordingly versus 2023, though 2,915 cases were still recorded. Among the myriad of travel services, air tickets accounted for the largest share of consumer complaints with 1,444 cases (-17% YoY), followed by airline services which recorded 441 cases (+23%). Of these 2 subcategories (excluding complaints against travel agencies/online platforms), 57% involved traditional airlines (905 cases) while 43% concerned budget airlines (684 cases), a similar ratio as the year before. As a post-pandemic trend, consumers tend to gravitate towards authentic, immersive travel experiences rather than shopping-driven itineraries, and they may choose to join local day tours. In 2024, complaints relating to “Overseas Activity / Experience” saw an upsurge of 151% (180 cases), mostly to do with “Variation / Termination of Contract” (64 cases) and “Late / Non-delivery” (37 cases). On the other hand, quarantine hotels have resumed normal operation after the pandemic, thus complaints related to hotel bookings dropped by 24% to 345 cases.
In terms of the complaint nature, “Variation / Termination of Contract” (1,001 cases) and “Price / Charges Dispute” (631 cases) were the major sources of grievance, in addition to cases concerning the quality of services (588 cases), altogether accounting for 76% of the relevant cases.
Over 13,000 Cases of Online Shopping Complaints
Amount Involved on Continuous Uptrend Approaching HK$60 Million
The digital economy in Hong Kong is experiencing rapid growth, while online shopping has also become a part of daily life. Related complaints continued to rise by 8% in the past year to 13,701 cases, with the involved monetary amount increasing by 34% to over HK$58 million. Online shopping complaints accounted for 36% of the total complaints in the year, slightly lower than 41% of the year before. Same as the overall complaint trend, due to the Messi incident, the “Food & Entertainment Services” (3,835 cases, +71%) category accounted for the largest share of online shopping complaints, swapping places with “Travel Matters” (2,185 cases, -8%) which was in first place the year before. In third place was “Clothing & Apparel” (703 cases), increasing 12% YoY, followed by “Electrical Appliances” (684 cases, +10% YoY) in fourth place. The top 4 online shopping complaint categories showed a different trend from that of the overall complaints.
Overall Complaints / Ranking | Online Shopping Complaints / Ranking | |
Food & Entertainment Services | 5,810 / 1st | 3,835 / 1st |
Travel Matters | 2,915 / 5th | 2,185 / 2nd |
Clothing & Apparel | 1,213 / 7th | 703 / 3rd |
Electrical Appliances | 2,227 / 6th | 684 / 4th |
In terms of the nature of complaints, “Late / Non-delivery / Loss” once again accounted for the most cases (3,119 cases), though with a 17% drop versus the previous year. “Variation / Termination of Contract” also decreased by 12% to 2,535 cases. As for complaints involving sales practices, the Messi incident spurred a 126% spike to 2,060 cases; shop closure gave rise to 189 cases, an upsurge of 722%, mainly attributed to the closure of 2 online stores offering proxy shopping services for household goods (166 cases in total).
Thematic Analysis
Over 30% Rise in Complaints Concerning Quality of Services
Prompt Improvement Needed to Maintain Hong Kong’s Reputation as a Hospitable City
Hong Kong has long boasted the titles of “gourmet capital” and “hospitable city”, yet out of the 37,590 complaint cases in 2024, 14% were related to service quality with a total of 5,431 cases, a staggering YoY increase of 34% and involving close to HK$120 million. Out of these cases, those related to “Food & Entertainment Services” took the largest share, surging 79% to 1,223 cases and accounting for 23% of the complaints within this category. Many cases were related to restaurants (488 cases), fast food outlets (250 cases) and food delivery platforms (185 cases). In recent years, the local food and beverage industry has been suffering from severe manpower shortage, with an estimated ongoing shortfall of 30,000 to 40,000 workers, making it difficult to maintain the service standard, in turn greatly impacting the dining experience of both local consumers and visitors.
In 2024, the Council received 3,321 complaints from tourists with “Food & Entertainment Services” being the major contributor with 817 cases, a 13% YoY increase; of these, 305 cases were related to the Messi incident. “In-depth tourism” has become a major travel trend in recent years for Mainland and overseas visitors alike, entailing patronage of specialty eateries and participation in mega events. Considering that the resumption of the multiple-entry IVS for Shenzhen residents in late 2024 is set to attract more visitors to Hong Kong, all sectors and businesses must grasp this opportunity and improve their service quality, such as utilising technology to tackle manpower shortage issues, stepping up training for frontline workers, so as to incentivise tourists and locals to stay and shop in Hong Kong.
Guarantee Quality of Goods to Fortify Consumer Confidence and Boost the Economy
Hong Kong is also renowned as a “shopper’s paradise”, attracting visitors from around the world to enjoy shopping with peace of mind, thanks to its longstanding reputation for authenticity of goods and quality assurance. However, complaints relating to the quality of goods saw a 17% increase in the past year with 3,225 cases recorded, accounting for 9% of overall complaints and involving over HK$37 million. The largest share was related to electrical appliances (660 cases), accounting for 20%, with other product categories being “Clothing & Apparel” (374 cases), “Telecommunication Equipment” (145 cases), “Furniture & Fixtures” (290 cases), “Jewellery & Watches” (98 cases), and “Photographic Equipment” (30 cases). Consumers normally expect durable goods to have a lifetime of at least several years, but if the quality of goods falls short of expectations, it would lead to disappointment. This is especially true for higher priced consumer goods, as consumers would expect to have more comprehensive repair and maintenance services to extend the product’s lifespan and value. Last year, there were 1,359 complaints related to repair and maintenance services, with 45% (606 cases) of these involving electrical appliances, around 10% (143 cases) involving telecommunication equipment, and 55 cases relating to jewellery and watches.
If the sales process involves unscrupulous trade practices, it would severely damage consumer confidence as well as Hong Kong’s reputation. Among the complaints lodged by tourists in 2024, those arising from jewellery and watches increased by 56% to 137 cases, of which 36 cases involved Mainland intermediaries claiming that consumers were eligible for loan application after shopping at 2 jewellery stores in Hong Kong, but as the receipts were taken by the intermediaries, the complainants were unable to return the goods to the jewellery stores and subsequently sought help from the Council. As for tourist complaints about medicine and Chinese herbal medicine, 583 cases were recorded last year (+20%), of which 36 cases were related to the quality of goods (+157%), while 293 cases (+22%) involved longstanding unfair sales practices such as “catty-to-tael” and “tael-to-mace” scams, as well as “powder-grinding” and “ingredient-slicing” strong-arm sales tactics. Such tourist traps not only harm consumer rights, but are also detrimental to the reputation of Hong Kong’s retail and tourism sectors. The industry must take immediate action to curb such malpractices, and the Council will continue to work closely with law enforcement agencies to protect the legal rights of both local consumers and tourists.
Unscrupulous Sales Practices Eased for Fitness and Beauty Industries
The fitness and beauty industries have long been tarnished by a few bad apples. Through extensive media coverage and continuous educational efforts, consumers’ self-protection awareness has gradually strengthened, deterring malicious practices such as coercing consumers into high-value prepayment transactions. Excluding complaints related to the closure of Physical Fitness, the Council had received a total of 480 complaint cases against fitness centres last year. Complaints involving unfair trade practices (99 cases) decreased by 20%, with the majority still related to intimidating sales tactics, false or misleading product descriptions, and misleading omissions, totalling 35 complaints. Though complaints concerning service quality (70 cases) saw only a slight uptick of 1%, consumers must remain vigilant to avoid falling into consumption traps.
As for the beauty industry, out of the 1,731 complaint cases last year, 377 were related to sales practices, a 19% drop versus 2023 yet cases concerning service quality rose 38% to 382 cases; while “Variation / Termination of Contract” also increased by 7% to 260 cases. With the prevalence of medical beauty in recent years, treatments such as Ellansé and “ice needle” dermal fillers and various high intensity laser therapies have been heavily promoted, yet there is no assurance for the quality and qualifications of beauty therapists. In 2024, complaint cases involving “Laser / IPL Beauty Services” (264 cases) and “Plastic Surgery / Injection / Invasive Treatments” (99 cases) increased by 24% and 19% YoY respectively. The Council has long been highly concerned about the risks associated with medical beauty treatments and continues to advocate for relevant regulations. If problems arise during the treatment process, consumers may face risks of long-term and irreparable physical and mental trauma. Additionally, consumers should carefully consider the necessity of undergoing medical beauty treatments. If they decide to proceed with such treatments, they must carefully assess the quality of the service providers. For invasive procedures, it is crucial to ensure that they are performed by registered doctors or practitioners with relevant professional qualifications.
Review
Council’s Golden Jubilee Celebratory Events
“Smart Consumption．Fuelling the Economy”
In the past 50 years, the Council has consistently been the staunchest protector of consumer rights. To celebrate its golden jubilee with the public, the Council organised a series of events, including the “Hong Kong Consumer Rights Week” in March. One of its highlight events, the 2-day “Consumer Rights Carnival”, attracted over 4,000 members of the public to participate in exciting booth games to learn about the 8 Consumer Rights and win specially designed 50th anniversary souvenirs.
The pinnacle of celebrations was the 50th Anniversary Golden Jubilee Cocktail Reception held at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre on 25 April 2024. During his speech as the Officiating Guest of Honour, Mr John Lee Ka-chiu, the Chief Executive of the HKSAR, acknowledged the work and effort of the Consumer Council over the years and emphasised that creating a safe and secure consumption environment is conducive to economic development. The ceremony was graced by almost 1,000 guests, including many principal officials of the HKSAR Government, Executive Council and Legislative Council members, a number of former Council Chairmen, current and former Council Members and Chief Executives, as well as important partners in consumer protection from outside Hong Kong. The uniquely designed “Golden Jubilee Fortune Pig” made its debut in celebration of the Council’s golden jubilee milestone.
CHOICE Magazine Goes Free
Comprehensive Consumer Information at Your Fingertips
To empower the public with readily accessible consumer information related to all aspects of daily life, during the Council’s 50th Anniversary Golden Jubilee Cocktail Reception, the Chairman Mr Clement Chan Kam-wing announced the exciting news of e-CHOICE (the online version of CHOICE Magazine) becoming free of charge from 2 January 2025 which was met with overwhelming support. Since its founding in 1976, CHOICE Magazine has always been one of the Council’s core functions. To better cater to the public’s evolving search habits and reading modes, the Council started exploring ways to make CHOICE free for the public way back in 2019. The Council’s golden jubilee celebrations in 2024 presented the ideal opportunity to actualise this momentous “CHOICE for free” milestone.
Starting from 2025, CHOICE Magazine will be available for public browsing online from noon on each issue’s publication day (i.e. the day of the press conference). In addition, a limited number of complimentary print copies will be distributed to elderly centres, community organisations, public libraries, and 14 selected Link shopping centres, etc.to meet the needs of different communities. The Council will continue to provide consumers with consumption-related information in user-friendly and down-to-earth formats, with boundless creativity, dedication and determination.
Advocating 4 Recommendations to Strengthen Governance of the Home Renovation Industry
Helping Consumers to Create Comfortable Homes
Home renovation involves complex and intricate procedures, yet the low entry barriers in the industry and array of market players with varying levels of quality lead to drastically disparate service quality among traders. Hong Kong currently does not have specific laws and regulations to govern the operations of home renovation companies and their services, thus risking a higher possibility of occurrence of unscrupulous trade practices. In light of this, the Council conducted a comprehensive study entitled “Home Renovation Industry — Better Governance for Creating Comfortable Homes” to examine the prevailing issues across the 4 common stages in a typical consumer’s home renovation journey, such as varying quality of traders, with some even suggesting or endorsing non-compliant home renovation works, and low information transparency, etc. The Council put forward 4 recommendations, namely establishing a standard form quotation, a Government-endorsed accreditation scheme, a cost-effective and efficient alternative dispute resolution mechanism, as well as intensifying consumer education, for enhancing consumer protection and awareness in home renovation and improving the quality of the entire industry.
Consumption Without Boundaries
MOU for Collaboration to Strengthen Region-wide Consumer Protection
The rapid development of online shopping and proliferation in cross-boundary consumption mean that consumer activities nowadays have transcended regional boundaries. In April, the Consumer Councils of Guangdong and Hong Kong signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), further establishing a collaboration mechanism for consumer protection. Under the agreement, residents of either Guangdong or Hong Kong involved in consumer disputes with traders in the other party’s territory can lodge their complaints with the local consumer body on the spot or with the consumer body of their hometown after returning to their place of residence, and for the latter scenario, the case will be referred to and handled by the Consumer Council of the trader’s business location.
In October, an MOU for collaboration on cross-border consumer disputes was signed between the Hong Kong Consumer Council and the Thailand Consumers Council to establish an information exchange and complaint referral mechanism, with the aim of removing past obstacles that left many consumer complaints unresolved, including language, geographical and jurisdiction barriers. This marked the fourth MOU of its kind the Council has signed with consumer bodies in Asia, strengthening cooperation to foster a safer and more reassuring consumption environment for consumers in the region.
Brand New “Smart Consumption Academy”
Nurturing a New Generation of Smart Consumers
The Smart Consumption Academy (SCA), a new educational programme for secondary school students, aims to instil essential knowledge about 3 key themes, namely “rational consumption”, “sustainable consumption and green lifestyle,” as well as “consumption and caring for the community” in students through a diversified and fun approach. The first phase included 3 competitions namely “My Unique Project Study”, “My Witty Online Quiz” and “My Fun IG Post Creation”. It attracted encouraging response with participation by over 25,000 students from 141 secondary schools, among which 18 schools were engaged in the Council’s educational activities for the first time. The first SCA concluded with an Award Presentation Ceremony in July. Moving forward, the “My Best Ambassador Scheme” will be introduced in the second phase of the SCA in the 2025/26 school year. Former winners will be appointed as ambassadors to provide guidance and inspiration to junior students in completing the various activities of the SCA, as a means of passing on the torch.
Outlook
For half a century, the Council has continuously kept pace with critical issues amid an ever-evolving consumption environment to identify new challenges, risks and opportunities, adopting forward-thinking strategies and multi-pronged measures to safeguard and protect consumer rights. In light of the ageing population trend, promoting the silver economy, developing age-friendly products and enhancing senior citizens’ quality of life have become crucial strategic focuses. Apart from the welfare of the silver community, it is also paramount to create a healthier planet for the future generations. The Council will leverage different channels to raise the public’s awareness and understanding of environmental protection and resource conservation, facilitating consumers in making smart choices, and working hand in hand to foster the sustainable development of society.