S’porean tourist charged S$5,000 for herbs at Hong Kong pharmacy, store refunds her after complaint
A Singaporean tourist was utterly surprised after she was charged a whopping HKD30,400 (S$5,002) for herbs at a pharmacy in Hong Kong.
According to the New Holiday Weekly, Ms Ho (transliterated from Mandarin) was visiting Hong Kong with her three children when she decided to buy facial cleansers from a drugstore.
While she was there, the drugstore clerk persuaded her to buy milk thistle, saying they had an ongoing “Buy 80, Get 5” promotion.
Tourist receives full refund after filing complaint
However, the clerk failed to explain the unit of measurement, and the scale showed a weight of 0.85 for the promotion.
Believing the price was HKD380 (S$58) per tael or Chinese ounce, Ms Ho estimated the bill would come to about HKD300 (S$52) and agreed to the purchase.
Without clearly stating the unit or the final amount, the clerk ground the herbs into powder and presented Ms Ho with a bill for HKD30,400 (S$5,002).
Source: Aspermulhe
Shocked, Ms Ho immediately questioned the charge.
Only then did the clerk clarify that the price was HKD380 per qian. With the “buy 80, get 5 free” promotion, her total came to 85 qian, or HKD30,400 (as the 5 qian was free).
As she was with her children, Ms Ho did not want to continue arguing with the clerk and paid, but demanded a receipt.
She then contacted the Customs and Excise Department and the Consumer Council to file a complaint regarding the pharmacy’s misleading labelling.
The pharmacy initially offered a 70% refund, but later agreed to reimburse Ms Ho in full after several rounds of mediation, HKET reported.
Other tourists have fallen victim to pharmacies’ deceptive tactics
Other tourists have similarly fallen victim to Hong Kong pharmacies’ deceptive tactics.
In one incident, a tourist from China inquired about the traditional medicine Angong Niuhuang Wan, but was given a counterfeit product that closely resembled the brand.
The pharmacy never directly addressed the issue, but agreed to fully refund the customer, following the Consumer Council’s intervention.
Source: Hai-O
Meanwhile, another tourist from China discovered that she was billed HKD170 (S$28) for a 12-bottle box of herbal medicine when she had only bought a six-bottle box.
The pharmacy claimed it was a cash register error and maintained that the price was for six bottles, refusing to refund her.
However, the tourist pointed out that the product was sold at only HKD40 (S$7) to HKD50 (S$8) in other stores.
After mediation, the pharmacy agreed to refund the tourist half of what they had paid.
Consumer Council calls on drugstore industry to address issue
The Consumer Council revealed that it has received approximately 550 complaints regarding pharmacies’ deceptive tactics since the beginning of the year, with 71% of these complaints coming from tourists.
It criticised the pharmacies’ “unscrupulous sales tactics”, saying these not only negatively impact Hong Kong’s image in the retail and tourism sectors in general, but also affect tourists’ trust in local shops.
Additionally, it urged the drugstore industry to address the issue and improve its business practices to avoid trashing Hong Kong’s reputation as a “shopping paradise”.
Also read: Man leaves date to foot S$14K bill at Michelin-starred Hong Kong restaurant, later arrested
Man leaves date to foot S$14K bill at Michelin-starred Hong Kong restaurant, later arrested
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Featured image adapted from shankar s. on Flickr, Biopapa, both for illustration purposes only.
