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More Tourists Ripped Off
In the last few days, more tourists have been ripped of when buying cameras from the camera and electronics shops along Nathan Road in Tsim Sha Tsui, the main tourist area of Hong Kong. They go in to a shop, often they're invited in, and very aggressively sold electronics goods at two, three or more times the prices charged in reputable shops. Often, bait and switch tactics are used. If they try and complain, even with the aid of the police and the consumer council, they get nowhere, because of Hong Kong's loose consumer protection laws.
The thieves who run these shops are unapologetic about their dishonest way of life, and get very aggressive when questioned by reporters. They're lying, thieving scum.
If you're coming to Hong Kong, and think you might want to buy a camera, stay away from any of shops on Nathan Road between Austin Road and Salisbury Road. (This is the part where you come out of the Tsim Sha Tsui MTR station.) The Danger signs to look for are:
- No prices on anything in the window
- Signs advertising 70% off, or some such huge discount
- No Chinese customers in the shop
- The only customers in the shop all look like tourists
- The sales tactics are very aggressive
One shop which was mentioned by name in the South China Morning Post for ripping off an Irish couple on holidays, was "Elegance Camera and Video Supplier" on the ground floor of Alpha House, Nathan Road. He sold them a camera for HK$15,000, when it was being sold nearby for about $HK3,300 elsewhere in Hong Kong.
Many of these 'shopkeepers' will have Triad links. The best bet is to just ignore them.
There are plenty of places where you can get cameras and electronics for reasonable prices in Hong Kong - don't let a few (OK, a lot) bad apples spoil the barrel. Fortress are a Hong Kong chain of electronics stores. They're not the cheapest, but if you go in and look around, you'll get an idea of what you should be paying for something.
I'm going to go out there in the next few days and take pictures of the sort of shops you should avoid, and the few camera shops in Tsim Sha Tsui which are ok to buy camera stuff in. Taking pictures of criminals in action is always risky, but I'm good at the stealth photography lark. I'll have my PZ-1p with a 20mm lens set at hyperfocal distance and the exposure pre-set. I won't need to raise the camera to my eye, just point it in the general direction of the shop. And I'll also have a mobile phone with 999 on speed dial.
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