Insurance company spends more than 300 yuan to travel to Hong Kong and Macau

Old people from Tai'an participated in the so-called "Dance Art Festival" in Hong Kong and achieved good results, but forced shopping made them very upset.

Recently, more than 300 square dancing ladies in Tai'an staged a real-life version of "Hong Kong's Embarrassing". They were invited to Hong Kong to participate in a square dance competition. As a result, the dance competition only lasted half a day during the seven-day trip, and the rest was spent shopping. When arriving at a shopping spot, they were not allowed to go out without shopping. A carload of people spent more than 100,000 yuan in just one jewelry store. Many people did not bring enough money and had to borrow other people's cards to pay. Many people came back and got sick.

The Pangshang Sports Association issued an invitation letter for the event, and each person received a registration fee of 1,600 yuan

In August this year, the Tai'an Senior Sports Association held a large-scale group exercise performance. After the performance, there was a lunch on , the person in charge of the Tai'an Elderly Sports Association introduced Ms. Zhou Mingxuan, who was "recommended by the province" to all the webmasters in charge of the organization. Zhou Mingxuan said that the first Chinese Elderly Sports Dance (Hong Kong) International Art Festival is being held in Hong Kong, and everyone is invited Seniors go to Hong Kong to compete.

Ms. Zhou then formally sent invitation letters to all webmasters. The invitation letter stated that the organizer of the competition is the Hong Kong Senior Sports Association, the organizer is the Beijing Xiyang Senior Sports and Cultural Exchange Center, and the competition time is From July to October 2015, the maximum bonus is HKD 5,000. The organizing committee fully sponsors each participating team member's one-night hotel accommodation in Hong Kong, lunch and dinner on the competition day, as well as transportation and buses from Shenzhen to Hong Kong hotels, hotels to and from the competition venue.

In addition to the one-day competition arrangement, the schedule attached to the invitation letter arranges four days of sightseeing. The supplementary agreement indicates self-funded items and shopping venues, saying "voluntary purchase, no forced consumption." A webmaster at the scene said afterwards, "These materials looked quite formal, so I went back to promote them, and they were promoted as part of an art festival, not a tour group. There were a lot of people who signed up, and almost all of my team signed up. We also We have specially rehearsed the program."

Taian *** had more than 300 people participating. Among them, 12 people signed up for the Changjiazhuang Community Dance Team selected by the Daiyue District Zhudian Street Office. People paid a registration fee of 1,600 yuan and were not informed of any other consumption items. In order to participate in the competition, the team members rehearsed hard.

After half a day of competition, he was taken to a jewelry store and refused to buy or let out

On October 13, the old man embarked on a trip to the China Seniors Sports Dance (Hong Kong) International Arts Festival. "We arrived in Shenzhen on the 14th. After getting off the train, we got on a bus. A tour guide got on the bus and recommended shopping to us. The recommendation was a learning machine for 360 yuan and a box of snake oil ointment for 320 yuan." Participated in this trip Ms. Zhang said that most people in their car bought something, and each person bought at least one thing.

On the 15th, the group arrived in Hong Kong and participated in the art festival performance that afternoon. "As soon as we arrived in Hong Kong, we were taken to a large auditorium where the competition was held. It looked quite formal." Ms. Zhang said that not only Tai'an but also more than 40 teams from other provinces and cities such as Yunnan participated.

The competition was over in one afternoon. Several teams from Tai'an won awards. Their team won the second prize, with trophies, banners, and a total of 1,000 Hong Kong dollars in bonuses. The team members were very happy. .

Old people from Tai'an participated in the so-called "Dance Art Festival" in Hong Kong and achieved good results, but forced shopping made them very upset.

“On the second day after arriving in Hong Kong, we were divided into several groups and took different buses to explore the city.” Ms. Zhang said that she only visited various scenic spots in Hong Kong that day. They took us directly to a jewelry store and we were not allowed to go out unless we were spending money." Ms. Zhang said that the tour guide's attitude suddenly changed and he said to them fiercely, "It costs money to let you come, so take out the money to clean up."

Some people went out and were dragged back. Under the coercion and inducement of the tour guide, Ms. Zhang bought a 3,000 yuan transfer bead. There were 36 people in the car, and they spent 100,000 yuan in that store alone. Various, the most cost more than 20,000 yuan.

Another participant, Ms. Lu, said: "I only knew that I was going to participate in a competition. How did I know that I wanted to go shopping? I didn't bring much money with me at all. I spent all the 2,000 yuan I brought with me, and the tour guide thought it was not enough. , and borrowed the bank card of a traveler, and spent more than 6,000 yuan to buy two pendants and a chain. We were all elderly people who had never been out, and we were very frightened.”

The items the tour guide forced to buy were no less than 100 yuan each.

Spent a few thousand to tens of thousands, and was scolded if he didn’t shop

In the next few days, the old man was taken to Macau, Zhuhai and other places to spend money, and the minimum consumption was A thousand yuan, or more than tens of thousands of yuan. "We are completely controlled by the tour guide. We can't go to these places. There was an old man who spent all his money in Macau and didn't want to go to a shopping store. The tour guide called him a liar and came to eat and drink for free." Ms. Zhang said, The tour guide said that all the expenses for the old man to come to Hong Kong to compete were sponsored by jewelry stores and shopping stores, so he had to spend money.

“We changed buses four or five times along the way, and every time the bus would have a different tour guide, selling different things, even the driver would sell them.” Ms. Lu said, some of them would be stuffed directly into the hands of passengers. , it’s impossible not to buy it. The prices of these promotional items are generally much higher than those on the market.

The old man bought gold jewelry for 3,000 yuan.

The reporter saw the items that Ms. Zhang bought, a box of keychains, which seemed to be of low quality, but cost her 100 yuan; a small bauhinia flower ornament, which cost 10 yuan on the market, Ms. Zhang It cost 100 yuan to buy it from the tour guide. Aunts said that not only was shopping mandatory, but the food and accommodation throughout the trip were very poor, especially the food, which was simply unpalatable.

This trip will depart on October 13th and return on October 20th. "When we came back, all of us in the car were cheated out of our money. If they hadn't sent us there, we probably wouldn't have been able to get home." Ms. Lu said. Everyone collectively scolded the trip as a cheat. Many aunts came back. Sick from being angry.

Who organizes the many square dance competitions?

The organizer of the Chinese Seniors Sports Dance (Hong Kong) International Arts Festival is Beijing Xiyang Seniors Sports and Culture Exchange Activity Center, which is a private company in the life service category.

The reporter contacted Zhou Mingxuan, a staff member of the center, by phone. She said that they did host the event, but did not force the elderly to shop, adding that there are many such events in Hong Kong. According to the invitation letter, the Hong Kong Senior Sports Association authorized the Beijing Xiyang Senior Sports and Cultural Exchange Activity Center to recommend and organize middle-aged and elderly groups from various provincial senior associations and related institutions in the mainland to participate in the international arts festival.

There is very little information about the Hong Kong Seniors Sports Association on the Internet. According to its official website, the association is a legal corporation registered in Hong Kong and is recognized as the host of the first Chinese Seniors Sports Dance (Hong Kong) International Arts Festival.

As early as June this year, some netizens posted reports that the "Chinese Elderly Sports Dance (Hong Kong) International Arts Festival" is actually a scam: In the so-called "International Arts Festival", not a single performance team is from abroad. They all come from cities and counties in some provinces in the mainland, and their level is very low.

The art festival has been questioned as having a clever name, using the topic to make profits. Groups of elderly people from the mainland have been deceived into participating. This time, the Tai'an elderly people participated in the 27th stage of the art festival.

The invitation letters received by the elderly were printed in traditional Chinese and signed as the Hong Kong Senior Sports Association. The competition awards were many and attractive.

Senior Sports Association: Denies involvement in organizing square dancing for the elderly at the Hong Kong competition

The "dance competition" that was promised turned into a "shopping group", and the tricks in it are indeed very difficult. See through at a glance. "We all went in a group, we are all old sisters. I was asked to go, but I couldn't lose face if I didn't go." Ms. Wang, another elderly person who was deceived, said that she felt that she would not suffer a loss by following so many people, "What's more, , all were issued through formal units, how could you imagine that it was a scam in the end?"

Many elderly victims said that the Senior Citizens' Sports Association had organized outings for the elderly in the past, and they were quite formal. Everyone had a great time, and there was nothing like this during our trip to Hong Kong.

"We have indeed organized outings for the elderly before, but this trip to Hong Kong has nothing to do with us." The staff of the Tai'an Senior Citizens Sports Association said that there is no evidence that the Tai'an Senior Citizens Sports Association Participate in organizing this matter.

Event organizer: Many of the shopping stores arranged have been on the blacklist

“We registered and paid directly with Zhou Mingxuan from Beijing, and the fees were also paid. "Give it to her." The participating elderly people told reporters that the Beijing Xiyang Elderly Sports and Cultural Exchange Activity Center was the direct organizer. During the registration period, Zhou Mingxuan had been staying in a hotel in Tai'an, and the elderly people signed up and paid directly to her. The old man said that no unit had signed a contract or agreement with them, and there was only a registration payment receipt issued by Zhou Mingxuan.

The "First Chinese Seniors Sports Dance (Hong Kong) International Arts Festival" provided by Zhou Mingxuan to the elderly in advance was very comprehensive, including formal invitation letters and dance competition judging criteria, including invitation letters, authorization The power of attorney, etc. are all printed in traditional Chinese characters and signed by the Hong Kong Senior Sports Association.

The prize setting of the competition is also very attractive, with bonuses for special, first, second and third prizes. In addition to bonuses for performances, the organization award is even higher. Those who organize more than 40 people can receive a bonus of RMB 2,000. The special prize for the best organization requires organizing 20 teams with a total number of more than 350 people and is awarded RMB 20,000.

The attached supplementary agreement lists self-funded items and shopping venues. There are four shopping venues in the Hong Kong section, namely BR Jewelry, Marciano Department Store, Bao Watch Gallery, DFS Duty Free Shop, and shopping venues in the Macau section. For souvenirs and department stores, the Zhuhai section is for jewelry and department stores. The reporter searched the Internet and found that several shopping stores such as BR Jewelry and Marciano Department Store had tourists reporting bad records of forced shopping by tour guides.

Tourism Bureau: Will strengthen supervision of disguised "low-price tours" and "shopping tours"

Currently, the Tai'an City Tourism Supervision Detachment has intervened to investigate the matter. "We have also received complaints from tourists and are currently investigating." This incident of elderly people in Tai'an being forced to shop in Hong Kong involves many people and has a bad impact. They take it very seriously.

It is speculated that the so-called "going to Hong Kong to participate in the square dance competition" is actually a variant of the "zero-negative group fee" tour. This activity is organized by the organizer and sells these elderly people to Hong Kong travel agencies. Use the money to run the competition and then recoup the cost through shopping.

The invitation letters received by the elderly were very misleading. The registration method stated that the organizing committee fully sponsored the members of the team to participate in the opening and closing ceremonies of the art festival and the day of the competition at a Hong Kong hotel (three-star hotel). ) Accommodation for one night, as well as lunch, dinner and round-trip transportation on the day of the competition. The cost that needs to be borne by the individual is only 950 yuan, which includes registration fees, arts festival participation, performance, venue and other activity fees, observation and exchange activity fees, Hong Kong, Macao, and Zhuhai sightseeing fees, including accommodation for three nights in a three-star standard room in Hong Kong and Macao. Full meals, attraction tickets, tour buses, cruise fees, ferry fees from Hong Kong to Macau, local reception service fees, including tips for Hong Kong and Macau drivers and tour guides, show that the cost is low, and it cannot escape the suspicion of being a "low-price tour".

On the 2nd, the reporter interviewed a travel agency in Tai'an. The staff of the travel agency said that the cost of food and accommodation for a five-day trip to Hong Kong and Macao would not be less than 2,000 yuan. With the transportation fees from Shandong, the cost would be impossible. Less than 3,000 yuan. "Hong Kong and Macao tour groups with a price of less than 3,000 yuan generally have secondary purchases." The person in charge of the travel agency said, "In recent years, due to forced shopping incidents that have occurred from time to time, the number of tourists from Hong Kong and Macao in Tai'an has dropped a lot, down by nearly 70%. . ”

“Nowadays, various organizations in society are organizing tours, such as some insurance companies and real estate companies, which organize tours under the banner of discounts, and there are also some tours drawn by lottery, most of which are On shopping tours, citizens have suffered a huge loss but have no way to complain, so supervision needs to be strengthened in the next step,” a staff member from the Tai’an City Tourism Supervision Detachment reminded.

Netizens remind: The competition is a scam, but the old man who was deceived continues to do so

In fact, what happened to the Tai'an aunt is not an isolated case. In September this year, Jiangxi aunt received an invitation to the "Hong Kong Golden Bauhinia International Square Dance Competition", and an old man accompanying her spent tens of thousands of yuan to buy a piece of fake jade made of plastic; in early October, Granny Zhu from Shanghai also went to Hong Kong to participate in square dancing. In the competition, I spent more than 10,000 yuan in a jewelry store to buy a gold bracelet worth only 1,000 yuan.

The reporter’s investigation found that since this year, many Hong Kong businesses have cooperated with mainland travel agencies to target middle-aged and elderly people, using the name of talent competitions to lure them to Hong Kong, Macau and other places for forced shopping. Some square dance enthusiasts were fooled.

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