Seven siu mei shops named and shamed for weights and measures fraud

Hong Kong Customs on Wednesday named and shamed seven siu mei shops in the city for weights and measures fraud, with the shops found to have cheated in deals by offering a lesser amount of goods than what the customer actually paid for.

The news came one day ahead of Ching Ming Festival, also known as Tomb-Sweeping Day, where Chinese families visit the tombs of their ancestors to clean the gravesites and make ritual offerings, such as the traditional food dish siu mei, to their ancestors.

The Customs’ two-week test-buy operation found that the actual amount of goods offered by the seven shops differed from the agreed amount by between 7.5 to 20 percent.

A Customs spokesman said the seven shops - located in Wong Tai Sin, North Point, Cheung Sha Wan, Hung Hom, Shau Kei Wan, and Tsuen Wan - did not use defective weighing and measuring equipment, leading officers to believe that oral misrepresentation of the transaction was in play.

Members of the public were reminded to pay attention to the act and process of weighing by the seller, and use the public scales to check the weight of the goods.

Offenders of weights and measures fraud are liable to a fine of up to HK$10,000, and up to HK$25,000 for possessing defective weighing and measuring equipment, the spokesman added.