People have such high expectations for their wedding day that disappointment seems all but guaranteed.
But one couple’s anger was probably more than a little bit warranted when a wedding service company promised their ceremony would be held at a “distinctive” building…. which turned out to be an illegal structure set for demolition.
Urban decay: the 2015 wedding season’s hottest theme.
The couple in question paid the wedding company more than HKD50,000.
In another recent case, a couple was promised that their wedding banquet food would be prepared on-site at the venue, but it turned out that the food was provided by an off-site catering service. They paid more than HKD240,000 for the banquet alone.
The two couples complained to the Custom and Excise Department. After investigating the cases, the authorities arrested three women and one man, aged between 31 and 42, this month, under the suspicion of applying false trade descriptions in a service supplied to a customer.
The four arrestees have been released on bail and the case is still under investigation.
A government statement said that wedding service traders and staff “should provide information to consumers in a clear and accurate manner and should not apply false trade descriptions to mislead consumers.”
Brides and grooms-to-be, on the other hand, “should be well aware of all details of the contracts, including verbal statements made by salespersons” – lest they’re promised the Rolling Stones but a shitty Wan Chai cover band shows up instead.
The maximum penalty for applying false trade descriptions to a service supplied to a consumer is a fine of HKD500,000 and five years’ imprisonment.
Photo: Jenson Lee via Flickr
