The Copyright and Trademark Investigation Division of the Customs and Excise Department today carried out an operation against unscrupulous business practices in fitness centers and arrested 4 people including company directors and employees.
Customs received a report from five citizens earlier that a staff member of a fitness center in Wan Chai was suspected of using threatening business behaviors to sell fitness center memberships, including locking the door to lock the victim for several hours, and claiming that he would come to the door to collect the money. After paying for the bill, he forced the filming to show that it was a voluntary purchase.
Customs today (15th) arrested two directors and two employees of the fitness center, aged between 23 and 39, and described the sales staff in the case as extremely despicable.
The fitness center involved is located on the 2nd floor of No. 188 Hennessy Road, Wan Chai.
(Photo by Chen Haoran)
Huang Zhicong, the commander of the second group of the investigation of unscrupulous business practices, said that the five victims were 18 to 36 years old, including three students and two working people, and the contract amount involved was about 110,000.
The victim was stopped by a staff member while passing the street near No. 188 Hennessy Road. The staff used the victim's sympathy to falsely claim that he hoped the victim would follow upstairs with "helper stamp".
The victim was taken to a fitness center on the second floor of the upper site for a simple physical examination. The staff claimed that the victim had varying degrees of health problems and asked them to submit personal information. They also stated that they could leave after signing the tablet electronic form without payment. .
However, after the victim signed, the staff stated that the form was actually a membership agreement and demanded payment. The victim was forced to show the balance of his bank account, and he claimed that he would lock the door to prevent them from leaving and send someone to collect the payment. The victim was trapped Up to more than an hour to several hours.
The victim was helpless to buy the membership, and the staff immediately asked the victim to remove the mask. The documentary film showed that the membership was bought voluntarily in the hope of evading legal responsibility. Later, the victim did not provide the victim with a copy of the contract or receipt.
Huang Zhicong said that the fitness center involved in the case had been in operation for more than a year without a branch, and described the sales staff in the case as extremely despicable.
(Photo by Chen Haoran)
Huang Zhicong said that the fitness center involved in the case had been in operation for more than a year without a branch. He described the sales staff in the case as extremely despicable, and the victim was helpless and uneasy to purchase membership. The case was the second similar case within 2 months. .
The customs reminds merchants that they must abide by the "Commodity Description Regulations" and consumers should patronize reputable merchants.
Before purchasing the service, you should not easily hand over your ID card or credit card to the salesperson.
If you do not clearly understand the content and price of the service, or do not want to purchase the service, you should resolutely refuse to sign any sales documents.
According to the Trade Descriptions Ordinance, if a merchant uses harassment, coercion or improper influence to restrict or harm consumers’ freedom of behavior and choice, leading to a purchase decision, the maximum fine is 500,000 and imprisonment for 2 years upon conviction. If the public finds Suspected violations can be reported to the customs by calling the 24-hour hotline 25456182 or emailing crimereport@customs.gov.hk.
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