Consumer ISG - Holiday Guide 2021 - Flipbook - Page 12
The Hogan Lovells Holiday Guide 2021
Focus on Hong Kong:
10 minute deliveries –
the deadly pitfalls of
guaranteeing delivery times
Eugene Low and Charmaine Kwong, Hong Kong
It’s the time of the year when online shoppers
go crazy! With the “Double 11” festival
(a.k.a. Singles’ Day) in China, Black Friday and
Thanksgiving sales on the horizon, online orders
and their deliveries are expected to soar, especially
with COVID-19 still keeping shoppers at home.
There are many ways a delivery claim can be caught
as a criminal offence under the Trade Descriptions
Ordinance in Hong Kong:
Businesses now often guarantee (instead of estimate)
delivery times to attract customers – from “ships
within 5-7 business days” to “delivers in 10 minutes”
– these fast delivery claims are usually made by online
businesses to win customers over their competitors.
2. M
isleading omission: failing to mention
caveats that affect delivery time.
All is well until a delivery falls behind schedule…
4. W
rongly accepting payment: receiving orders
with no prospect of living up to deliveries.
Consumers are increasingly aware of businesses’ trade
claims, especially if they are used as slogans or form
the main reason for shopping at that particular store.
In Hong Kong, 59% (2020) and 71% (2019) of consumer
complaints from consumers related to services.
Complaints relating to storage, postal and courier services
are on the rise from 331 cases in 2019 to 696 cases in
2020, and have reached 556 cases already in the first
10 months of 2021. While guaranteeing fast delivery
times may entice customers, it could be “criminally”
dangerous for businesses if they do not live up to their
claims and could attract investigations from regulators.
1. F
alse trade descriptions: falsely claiming
(or guaranteeing) a delivery time.
3. B
ait advertising: using the delivery time as bait
and later telling customers that this delivery
time does not apply to the goods purchased.
As traders and business owners:
• Always make sure your trade descriptions are
accurate and not misleading. If there are caveats,
make sure to explain them in a clear manner
before consumers make the purchase.
• Where delivery times are uncertain in their nature,
avoid making any absolute claim or guarantee.
• Be transparent about delivery capabilities, limitations
and inherent uncertainties, especially in peak
seasons and where delivery and supply conditions
can change quickly due to force majeure events.
In summary, businesses should put in place
the appropriate protections to safeguard their
reputations and in turn, maximise customer
satisfaction and loyalty this holiday season.
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