HK consumer watchdog publicly slams 4 pharmacies over sales malpractice

Hong Kong consumer watchdog has slammed four local Chinese pharmacies over their sales malpractices, amid a spike in complaints following the reopening of border between Hong Kong and mainland China.  

The four traders, namely City Medicine, Medicine Palace Living Plaza, Global Medicine Company and On Hong Medicine Company, are located in a prime shopping area of Causeway Bay, and the complaint cases against these four traders saw a significant spike with 49 cases recorded in the first eight months since cross-border travel with the mainland resumed earlier this year.

A total of 96 complaint cases related to the four Chinese pharmacies which mainly sold Chinese herbal medicine (CHM) and dried seafood have also been received in the 32 months from 2021 to August 2023, involving a total of HK$586,001, among which 80 cases were related to sales malpractices. 

"This not only greatly impacts the retail and tourism industries and affects tourists’ experience, but also severely jeopardises the reputation of Hong Kong," said the watchdog.

Out of all complaints, most of them involved trade malpractices using misleading pricing units, such as from catty (斤) to tael (両), and from tael to mace (錢), resulting in a final bill 10 times or even 16 times the price originally perceived by the customer.

The signage of these CHM ingredients and dried seafood usually displayed the price prominently, but then labelled the unit of weight (e.g. per tael or per mace) in miniscule fonts or muted colours under the price in a way that was difficult to be discerned by consumers.

"Furthermore, the fact that 'catty' is a commonly used unit of measurement in the mainland makes it easier for Mainland tourists to fall into these sales traps. Upon customers’ enquiry, the shop assistant would only tell them the price displayed, but would omit the unit of measurement," the watchdog said.

However, the watchdog has continued to receive new complaints against these pharmacies despite their pledge to improve their sales practices and agreement to give partial or full refunds to all complaint cases in the first eight months of 2023. "This reflected that the four traders had not honoured their promise to improve, but instead continued to adopt unfair practices in conducting their business," said the watchdog.

Among those named, the shop location of City Medicine was formerly occupied by a Chinese pharmacy named Chung Wang Tong Medicine (宗宏堂大藥坊有限公司), which was also publicly named and condemned by the council in 2015 for its sales malpractice. 

MARKETING-INTERACTIVE has reached out to the pharmacies for a statement.

The watchdog urged the industry to take immediate action to curb sales malpractices, while regulatory and enforcement authorities need to step up monitoring and to enforce the law resolutely by punishing dishonest traders.

Back in 2015, the watchdog publicly named and shamed seven pharmacies over their poor sales practices. It has also in the past signed memoranda of understanding (MOU) for collaboration with the consumer bodies of many mainland provinces and cities, including the cross-border consumer disputes referral mechanism, where tourists could file a complaint with their local consumer body upon returning to the mainland. The case would then be referred to the council for follow-up. 

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