Consumer Council received a total of 7,198 cases last year. There were 1,666 complaints, 5,475 inquiries, and 57 suggestions. The total number of cases of the top 5 categories of complaints amounted to 727, which was about 43.6 percent of the total. The top 5 categories were telecommunication services (209 cases), telecommunication equipment and supplies (201 cases), food and beverages (143 cases), electrical appliances (90 cases), and tourism (84 cases). The number of complaint cases of telecommunication services has dropped by about 12.5 percent compared to last year, the reason for reduction in cases was improved measures taken by telecommunication service providers after taken in advices by the Council. Obvious increases of complaint cases were observed in categories such as food and beverages and tourism, both recorded an increase of about 15 percent and 35 percent respectively. For food and beverages, complaints were mainly about milk powder, 25 of which involved the sale tactics of milk powder retailers and the prices of milk powder. For tourism, 84 complaints were received, issues about unsatisfactory outbound travel, service quality of hotels, and refused booking at local hotel rooms were involved. The Council indicated that the high frequency of both outbound and inbound traveling played an important role in the increase of number of cases received. The Council will pay attention to the cases received and follow up timely to safeguard consumer rights. A total number of 843 cases were received from tourists last year and 338 of which were complaints. In comparison to the numbers of 2012, number of complaint cases had dropped by over 6 percent (361 cases in 2012). The top categories were telecommunication equipment and supplies, watches, clothing and apparel, photographic equipments, etc. The Council indicated that the number of complaint cases from tourists had dropped consecutively for two years while inquiries from tourists (505 cases in 2013) keep on increasing, showing that the increased promotional work done by the Council helped tourists to be aware of the differences in buying behaviours in different regions, and to know that making inquiries in advance prevent consumer disputes. A detailed analysis of the number of cases received in 2013 will be published later by the Council in its monthly magazine Consumer Report.
