85% of Hongkongers want mandatory cooling-off period for beauty, gym industry contracts: survey
Survey of over 700 people follows scandal tied to Physical gym chain, with 75 per cent of respondents wanting maximum term limits for contracts
More than 85 per cent of Hong Kong residents want a statutory cooling-off period for prepaid consumer contracts for the beauty and fitness industry, a survey has found, with respondents highlighting their concerns after a recent scandal involving the Physical gym chain.
The phone survey of 702 respondents aged 18 and above was conducted by the New Youth Forum think tank and legislator Bill Tang Ka-piu’s office from September 17 to 30.
It found that more than half of respondents opposed industry self-regulation in providing a cooling-off period for prepaid contracts, with 85.6 per cent wanting protection measures imposed through legislation.
The survey was conducted in the wake of a recent controversy involving gym chain Physical Fitness.
The Consumer Council said it had received 5,249 complaints from Physical customers after the company announced it was closing all of its branches following 38 years in business.
The council said losses related to the complaints had reached more than HK$184 million (US$23.7 million) as of the end of September. The biggest case involved a contract amounting to HK$2 million.
