​Hong Kong Customs today (May 18) mounted an enforcement operation and arrested a female director of an online diaper retailer suspected of engaging in wrongly accepting payments on selling presale coupons of diapers on the Internet, in contravention of the Trade Descriptions Ordinance (TDO). Customs arrested a man-in-charge of the online diaper retailer yesterday (May 17).
Customs earlier received numerous complaints alleging that a diaper retailer sold presale coupons of diapers through a social media platform but failed to supply the ordered goods within the specified date or a reasonable period after accepting payments from a number of customers. Also, no refund was offered. The online diaper retailer even changed the delivery date several times for different reasons, but ultimately did not supply the relevant products to the customers.
After investigations, Customs officers yesterday arrested the man-in-charge, aged 46, of the online diaper retailer. A 46-year-old female director suspected to be involved in the case was further arrested today.
An investigation is ongoing and the two arrested persons have been released on bail pending further investigation.
Customs has been paying close attention to and following up closely with the incident, and called on members of the public affected to provide information. As at yesterday, Customs had received a total of 216 complaints regarding the online diaper retailer, involving diaper packages amounting to about $230,000.
Customs has all along been concerned about illegal online sales activities. It has strived to combat unfair trade practices on websites to protect consumers' interests.
Under the TDO, any trader commits an offence if at the time of acceptance of payment, the trader intends not to supply the product or intends to supply a materially different product, or there are no reasonable grounds for believing that the trader will be able to supply the product within a specified or reasonable period. The maximum penalty upon conviction is a fine of $500,000 and imprisonment of five years.
Customs reminds traders to comply with the requirements of the TDO. Traders should not accept advance payments from consumers if they are uncertain whether the pertinent goods or services can be delivered to consumers within a specific or reasonable time. Before making prepaid consumption of products, consumers should pay attention to the risk of prepaid consumption and its supply quantity and supply period. Also, they should make orders through reputable traders. After purchasing the products, consumers should keep the transaction receipts and related records, which can become the basic information in case a complaint is lodged in the future.
Members of the public may report any suspected violations of the TDO to Customs' 24-hour hotline 2545 6182 or its dedicated crime-reporting email account (crimereport@customs.gov.hk).
Ends/Thursday, May 18, 2023