Beware Of Cheap Health Check-ups: Consumer Council

The Consumer Council has called on people to beware of promotions involving free or cheap health check-ups, saying some companies have lured customers into buying expensive and unnecessary treatment plans during such examinations.

The council said during a press conference on Wednesday that it had received a complaint from an elderly woman who was coaxed into buying an HK$88,000 treatment package after the company exaggerated her condition during a spine examination that cost her only HK$98.

The council said in another case, a man who went to a company to enquire about their health check-up packages ended up being pressured into buying a tooth extraction procedure and a chiropractic treatment for HK$40,000. It added that staff kept contacting the man afterwards, and persuaded him to spend a total of HK$150,000 on their services over a 10-month period.

The council said both complainants were fully refunded after it intervened, and called on the medical industry to exercise self-discipline and curb unfair sales practices.

The council's chief executive, Gilly Wong, also urged people not to make hasty decisions or impulse purchases.

"We strongly advise consumers to ask a reliable medical professional, for example, your family doctor... to give you advice before you listen to some sales pitch and then take the health check services, because for certain tests ... it may give you a false understanding [about your health]," she said.

"Either you are really happy [about] certain test results, or maybe if it is a false negative, that would create problems for you."