Consumer Council warns of rising pharmaceutical and health product sales traps

The Consumer Council has reported a 51% surge in complaints regarding medicines, Chinese herbal medicines, and health products during the first seven months of the year, totaling 1,190 cases. A significant portion of these complaints, approximately 40%, involve tourists.

Two major sales traps have been identified. The first involves “imitation products” with packaging and names highly similar to well-known brands, which can mislead consumers. The second involves confusing pricing units for Chinese herbal medicines, specifically the practice of switching between “catty” (jin) and “tael” (liang) to inflate prices. In one extreme case, a customer expected to pay 140 HKD but was charged 22,400 HKD after the herbal medicine was ground into powder.

Other reported issues include discrepancies in the quantity of pills within supplement bottles, delays in refunds for online pharmaceutical orders, and disputes regarding product expiration dates. The Council also noted a 19% increase in complaints related to electrical appliances, particularly air conditioners, often involving disputes between retailers and agents regarding responsibility for quality issues and refunds.