Views On Cooling-off Period Sought

The Government today released a consultation paper to seek public views on a proposal to stipulate a statutory cooling-off period for beauty and fitness services consumer contracts.

Public views from the three-month public consultation will help the Government formulate legislative proposals to protect consumer rights.

At a press conference, Secretary for Commerce & Economic Development Edward Yau said the idea of having a cooling-off period for beauty and fitness services has been widely debated and arose from past complaints.

“I have been quoting figures in the last five years, over 1,000 complaints, 77% of which focus on these two industries.

“So I think what we are proposing is to address a long-standing complain and also a widely supported idea that perhaps a better way to minimise or avoid the aggressive sales tactics is by having a statutory cooling-off period, allowing customers to think twice before they commit on a long-term service contract.”

The proposed cooling-off period applies to beauty and fitness services consumer contracts with exemptions for places that only provide nail treatment, massage or hair loss improvement services.

Places that provide fitness services but are not equipped with exercise machines can also be exempted.

The cooling-off period is only applicable to contracts that involve a pre-payment of $3,000 or more.

And there are two proposed options for the cooling-off length and refund periods.

One option is a three-working-day cooling-off period with a seven-working-day refund period, while the other option is a seven-calendar-day cooling-off period with a 14-calendar-day refund period.

The Government aims to introduce the bill into the Legislative Council in the 2019-20 legislative session.

Click here for the consultation paper.