Shopping for electronics in Hong Kong

I have heard about the unscrupulous behavior of some electronic good sellers in HK, but to be honest it seemed a bit exaggerated. This seemed like such a cosmopolitan city, catering for the tourist trade, did they really need to cheap people to make a quick dollar? The answer is YES.

After my camera unexpectedly and without any warning died two days ago, I thought it would be a good opportunity to upgrade, given our current location and HK's fame for cheap electronics. It didn't take me long to decide which camera I wanted. Having been very happy with a Canon IXUS I thought I might as well a newer model of the same. So off we went comparing prices.

The first 3 places we went to (on Hong Kong Island) were reasonably priced, but I had hopes of finding something cheaper. So we checked out Nathan Rd in Kowloon. The first place I asked in quoted me a price almost 400 HKD cheaper, so I thought, sweet! Sat down, they asked for the credit card. It was a bit odd that they used one of the old style imprint machines, but we didn't question it too much. So we are sitting down, waiting while the Salesperson #1 is getting the camera "from the back". Meanwhile, Salesperson #2 sits down and tries to get me to "upgrade" to a different camera, which is supposed to offer a radically improved image despite having less megapixels. I am looking at this camera - it's bigger, bulkier, uses non-rechargeable batteries, so I say "I don't want it, I just want the camera I bought thanks". After some resistance, Salesperson #2 nods to someone behind me, and it's at this point that we notice that Salesperson #1 hasn't gone anywhere at all, but was just sitting behind us the entire time! Just then he gets off his chair, and goes to the back of the store. A minute later he comes back "sorry, the camera you want is out of stock, you must choose another model". WTF??? Why did you sell it to me then??? At this point Tim rips up the credit card slip, and we storm out of the store.

Analysing what just happened we realise:
- It was quite odd that we paid for the camera before we even saw the box. Not the usual sale process; aren't you meant to get the goods and then pay for them?
- They must have never intended selling us that camera for the price they quoted. That's why they used the imprint rather than the eftpos machine, so it would be easy to rip up the slip when we upgraded our purchase, rather than having to reverse the transaction out.

Wiser but angrier, we try store 2. Guess what - for a very low price we can buy this camera, but there is a catch: it's not in the store, he must go to get it from somewhere else, and meanwhile we need to pay for it now.
Us: No thanks, we will pay for it when we see it in front of us.
Salesperson: Oh no sir, can't do that, I have to pay the man you see, so you need to pay me now.
Us: Forget it, goodbye.

Same story at store 3, except that this guy has the nerve the add that we must pay up-front because "he doesn't trust us, as we might change our mind!"

So we go back to cheapest of the stores on HK Island, and buy it there. When I mention that I was quoted much lower prices elsewhere, the guy mournfully shook his head and said "not possible price, you must be careful when someone says they can do this price". So I described to him what happened and he said it was a very common scam. You pay for the goods, which then turn out to be not in stock, but that's OK because here is a better camera you can buy for just a little bit more. Because you've done no research on this model, you have no idea if they are quoting you a good price or not. And it's NOT a good price. The camera they were trying to "upgrade" me to is actually a much shittier and cheaper model than the one I selected. Assholes.

I am very suprised that this still goes on in a city like Hong Kong.