Home	The Ripp Off Page

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After having an unpleasant experience in Hong Kong, I decided to add the Rip Off page to this site. If you have any other known scams to add please email them to me and I'll add them to the Rip Off page. Lets try and prevent innocent people from being ripped off.


My Experience

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After looking around for 2 days for a specific camera, I arrived at this very flashy dealer. The neon sign displayed TAX FREE and DUTY FREE. Later I learned that these signs were just there to confuse the average tourist. I spotted the camera in the window and went inside to ask the price. The price was a couple of hundred HK$ cheaper. Well I figures that it must be because they sell it duty free. Little did I know that this was just the bate to get me into the store. The store's name is Fair Camera and Video Supplies I agreed to buy the camera at that price and then they asked me for my credit card. They did not use the electronic verification so that they could cancel the transaction if they wanted. After signing I waited for the camera. When I asked where it was they said that the went to collect it from the wholesaler as this was only a demo model. While we waited for the camera, the assistant started to run down the camera, saying that the quality was not that great and introduced another and saying how better that camera was to the one I purchased

Do Not Buy Here!

He even took a photo on both cameras and we compared the images. The second camera's image seemed to be much better. When I asked the price of that camera, he said he'll give me discount and the difference would only be HK$ 1400

I agreed to buy that one instead. Promptly he tore up the credit card slip and made out a new one for the other camera. Swiped the card and everyone is happy. After leaving the store we went to another and compared prices. Not only did we find out that the camera we bought was +- HK$ 800 cheaper, but that it was a very old model and the original camera that I wanted to buy was much better. Later I found out that they put dirty filters or even put some gel on the better camera's lens to make it appear inferior.

When I went back to the store within a space of 10 minutes, they refused plain blank to exchange it or refund me. On the advice of a reputable store, I went to the Hong Kong police and stated my case. They accompanied me to the shop where I purchased the camera and interviewed the salesman. He just said that I should not involve the police to do my bargaining for me while shopping in Hong Kong. After about 15 minutes of arguing, the shop owner realized that they were not selling anything while the police were there and the people in the street were staring. He then offered to cancel the transaction.



Other Scams

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You can get badly burned from such ploys as taking the camera you've just chosen out back to put it in its box, when they return, something else altogether has found its way into your box! And many retailers will make any promises you want to get your sale, on such matters as international validity of guarantees.

Where to Shop

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It is advisable to shop from a reputable dealer. The most well known dealer in Hong Kong is FORTRES. Their prices are not bargain basement, but fair and their service is good.

I got my camera from ONESTISSIMO FOTO Co. This is a smaller store, but you get great service and good prices. They are not on the main road, but it is well worth looking for the store as their prices are very good. The address is: ONESTISSIMO FOTO Co. 1st Floor, No 2 Humphrey's Ave TSIM SHA TSUI, KLN., Hong Kong Tel: 2739-7378, 2739-7880, 2368-0666, 2739-6085 Fax: (852) 2369-3190 e-Mail: vandermerwe@hutchcity.com Just ask for Koos Van Der Merwe (P.C. Cheng)

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