Hong Kong Tour Guides force tourists to shop

Overheal

Both a vile and strange piece,

http://consumerist.com/2010/07/hong-kong-tourists-forced-to-shop-till-they-drop-yes-literally.html

For decades, Hong Kong has attracted shoppers with its tax-free designer knock-offs, antiques of recent vintage, and just about any kind of electronic gear imaginable. Most shoppers are there because they actually want to buy something. But some are forced onto long shopping marches, and one tourist died of a heart attack recently after arguing with a tour guide after refusing to shop.
Local authorities were forced to step in after the video below started making the rounds. The Hong Kong Standard translated a few commands:

“
[Tour guide ] Ah Zhen is heard scolding the tourists in fluent mandarin after they board their bus. "Don't tell me you don't need to shop," she says. "So later are you going to say you don't need to eat? "I will lock you out of your hotel rooms as you don't have enough to stay there.
"It's okay for you to stay poor at home, but when you travel outside don't be like this. In this world there is no such thing as a free lunch?"
She goes on to talk about how the visitors found money for their airfares and then chides them: "We don't do this for charity. Let me be responsible for charity. I donated 10,500 yuan [HK$12,027] for Sichuan earthquke victims."
She then points to shops offering top- quality goods, before adding: "Why did you bother to come to Hong Kong?"
”

In another incident, a group of tourists was abandoned by their guide after they declined to pay a $257 penalty for not shopping in Hong Kong. In all of the recent cases, the tourists have been from mainland China.
Hong Kong's tourism authority has published a Code of Conduct for tour guides, which warns them not to "attempt to compel visitors to make purchases, or mislead or attempt to mislead them into doing so."
There'll be hell to pay [The Standard]
Code of Conduct for Tourist Guides [Travel Industry Council of Hong Kong]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iFFRdtqqEVU

They have got to re-assess where they put their profit margin. That is sick.

My name is URL

Some nice camera work there

Dravokivich

My name is URL wrote: »

Some nice camera work there

Camera sale no taxes... you like.. you buy... you no like to buy... you must buy... buy... buy... bye...

Zombienosh

well at least they're honest instead of plonking an o'carrols gift store on every corner and blaring fiddle dee dee ****.

starbelgrade

That story was made in China.

Morlar

Something about this story doesn't ring true. I just don't buy it.

Sykk

Morlar wrote: »

Something about this story doesn't ring true. I just don't buy it.

You must buy it... 10, 8, 5.. No lower.. You fachist.. Shop.. Shop... SHOOOOOOOOOOP!

Bob the Seducer

Forcing people to spend money on tat, that's a bit rich.

ejmaztec

Shop til you dlop.

My name is URL

Can they not just tell them to fcuk off? People are harangued into bying stuff in every tourist trap ****hole there is but can always just refuse.. this story is blown out of proportion a bit really

ejmaztec

ejmaztec wrote: »

Shop tir you dlop.

is what you meant

Sergeant

Same sort of thing happens in mainland China. You pay for a tour to say the Great Wall. You are brought there.

On the way home, you are brought to a few factory stores, where hard sales tactics are used. If you don't buy then you are threatened. Can range from being told "bad karma", to being forced to pay varying amounts of money to reboard the tour bus, to incidents where they pretend they are ringing the police because they suspect you of being a spy.

Celly Smunt

in north korea,shop tours you!

ejmaztec

Deleted User wrote: »

is what you meant

Solly.:(

phill106

My name is URL wrote: »

Some nice camera work there

Yeah, audio is terrible too.
May as well have been Chinese for all i could hear....

Celly Smunt

phill106 wrote: »

Yeah, audio is terrible too.
May as well have been Chinese for all i could hear....

which chinese?

phill106

pmcmahon wrote: »

which chinese?

Wan han lo

cloneslad

when I did a tour of the great wall of china (badaling section) we were brought to a jade factory (we had lunch there) and we were brought to a silk factory, they did try sell us stuff but it wasn't a hard sale and we never actually bought a thing.

The silk market (giant indoor market) is a whole other story. We just went there by ourselves and those guys loved to haggle, but so did I so I was happy enough with what I bought.

if anyone annoyed me I just went to the store next to them and bought the same counterfeit crap there that I would have bought in the first store.

pickarooney

Stupidity - you can't force someone to shop!

Celly Smunt

pickarooney wrote: »

Stupidity - you can't force someone to shop!

i dunno,if you can force someone to vote until they get it right you can force someone to shop

pickarooney

pmcmahon wrote: »

i dunno,if you can force someone to vote until they get it right you can force someone to shop

Were you forced to vote?

Sergeant

cloneslad wrote: »

The silk market (giant indoor market) is a whole other story. We just went there by ourselves and those guys loved to haggle, but so did I so I was happy enough with what I bought.

The Silk Market is full of shíte, but is a fantastic spot. Haggling down from €40 for a fake pair of runners to just over €2.

Celly Smunt

pickarooney wrote: »

Were you forced to vote?

the key is someone not me

Fallen Buckshot

My name is URL wrote: »

Can they not just tell them to fcuk off? People are harangued into bying stuff in every tourist trap ****hole there is but can always just refuse.. this story is blown out of proportion a bit really

Yeah ? and piss the tour guide off .. then he goes complains to his uncle and all Kung-Fu hell breaks loose.. talk about blown out of proportion ..blood in the streets and all over a 15 quid rolex knockoff :pac:

Celly Smunt

Fallen Buckshot wrote: »

Yeah ? and piss the tour guide off .. then he goes complains to his uncle and all Kung-Fu hell breaks loose.. talk about blown out of proportion ..blood in the streets and all over a 15 quid rolex knockoff :pac:

big trouble in little china

pickarooney

pmcmahon wrote: »

the key is someone not me

Who was forced to vote?

Celly Smunt

pickarooney wrote: »

Who was forced to vote?

Countries that enforce compulsory voting:
Argentina (compulsory for citizens between 18 and 70 years old, non-compulsory for those older than 70. However in primaries, citizens under 70 may refuse to vote, if they formally express their decision to the electoral authorities, at least 48 hours before the election. This is valid only for the subsequent primary, and needs to be repeated every time the voter wishes not to participate.)
Australia (compulsory enrolment and voting for state* and national (federal) elections for all eligible adults (18 and above). In some states local (council) elections are compulsory too.).
Brazil[5] (non-compulsory for citizens between 16 and 18 years old and those older than 70)
Chile (enrolment voluntary)
Democratic Republic of the Congo
Ecuador (compulsory for citizens between 18 and 65 years old; non-compulsory for persons aged 16–18, illiterate people, and those older than 65)
Fiji
Liechtenstein
Nauru
Peru (compulsory for citizens between 18 and 70 years old, non-compulsory for those older than 70)
Singapore
Switzerland (compulsory in the Canton of Schaffhausen only)
Turkey
Uruguay

pickarooney

Oh you're going to do this now where you pretend you weren't talking about the Lisbon treaty? You just get fined if you don't vote in those countries, anyway.

Celly Smunt

pickarooney wrote: »

Oh you're going to do this now where you pretend you weren't talking about the Lisbon treaty? You just get fined if you don't vote in those countries, anyway.

no you clearly asked me who was forced to vote,i gave you your answer.
in the lisbon treaty voters willing to vote were pretty much told to vote for the option the government wanted,it's like saying you can pick any colour but it has to be yellow.

WindSock

Sure they do the same in Bangkok. I got a nice Tuk Tuk tour of the clothes making shops in between sights.

biko

Less voting - more shopping!

pickarooney

WindSock wrote: »

Sure they do the same in Bangkok. I got a nice Tuk Tuk tour of the clothes making shops in between sights.

Deadly bargain that - 50p for a taxi for the day! I'll always regret not buying the Lady Diana special box set in the exclusive Thai Promotion for the King's birthday though

Overheal

pickarooney wrote: »

Stupidity - you can't force someone to shop!

Not in a free country, no.

Captain_Generic

This is just wong...

Morlar

Captain_Generic wrote: »

This is just wong...

So velly wong.

I know there is lots of ryanair bashing on here but that footage reminded me of being stuck on one of their flights.

Faith+1

Kinda reminds me of Chimpokemon!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7_Icd3DK9NM

ejmaztec

Irish tour-guides could learn from this. Blacked out buses could be sent all over Europe with snatch-teams on board, and rich foreigners could be dragged screaming back to Ireland, then sent packing when they've been bled dry.

Thomas828

I'd take that article with a pinch of salt, if I were you.