'Victims Of Dishonest Shops Shielded By The Law'

With the holidays right around the corner, a watchdog is urging shoppers to pay close attention to shopping offers or flash rewards – but stresses that victims of unfair terms are protected by the law.

Gilly Wong, the chief executive of the Consumer Council, on Thursday urged shoppers to read any contracts they sign, especially for prepayments services like beauty or fitness plans.

“You should ask for the contract and you should ask for as much information as possible to assess whether any unfair terms exist,” Wong said.

However, Kyrus Siu, chairman of the watchdog's publicity and community relations committee, noted that victims of unfair terms are protected by the Unconscionable Contracts Ordinance.

“The courts have from time to time held certain contracts or terms to be unconscionable and refused to enforce the contract or the unconscionable part of the contract, revised or altered the unconscionable part or limited its application to safeguard consumer rights,” he said.

Siu also cited a court judgement which required a fitness centre to refund a gym membership payment of around HK$150,000.

The case involved an individual with a mild intellectual disability who signed a contract under pressure from staff.

“The court was of the view that the fitness centre had employed dishonest sales tactics,” Siu said.

Wong said victims can seek help from the council, but they would have to provide proof of the purchase in question.

“If you are missing the invoice, if you are missing the record for us to help you on that, that would be very difficult and especially for certain cases that involve a lot of details,” she said.

“When you encounter this kind of situation, stay calm and record it on paper in detail. Keep the full record. That's probably the best advice we can offer right now,” she continued.

Siu, meanwhile, called on victims of unfair trade practices to seek help as soon as possible.

“When you take too long, wait for maybe one month, two months or even half a year or a year, it [the company] may regard that you accept the terms already, and maybe it will affect the chance you have [to begin] civil procedures,” he said.