Snack Chain Pricing Row Flares Over Beef Jerky Weighing
SingTao · 2 SOURCESabout 2 hours ago2 MIN
Summary
A weighing dispute at a Zhao Yi-ming snack store in Cangzhou, Hebei, has drawn attention after a customer said four small pre-packed pieces of beef jerky were initially priced at 64.58 yuan because they were recorded as weighing 0.299kg. After the customer challenged the result and asked for the item to be weighed again, the price dropped to 17.29 yuan on a weight of 0.08kg. The customer then checked the rest of the bill and alleged that other items had also been overcounted by weight, raising suspicions of deceptive weighing. In a separate but related consumer complaint, a Hong Kong shopper said a beef jerky seller at Shenzhen's Huangting Plaza used weighing tactics to push up the amount sold, feeding wider concern about tourist-targeted pricing practices.
Key Points
- The Hebei incident happened on August 10 at a Zhao Yi-ming branch on Wenhua South Street in Cangzhou, where a shopper bought several snacks.
- Four small pre-packed pieces of beef jerky were first shown as 0.299kg costing 64.58 yuan, then reweighed at 0.08kg costing 17.29 yuan.
- The customer said other goods on the same receipt were also miscalculated with inflated weights, and questioned whether the store was using a “ghost scale”.
- The store owner said surveillance showed no staff operating error and the scale was fine, but added the manager had apologized and offered triple compensation on the full order.
- Zhao Yi-ming customer service said on August 12 that store scales were certified before use, though it could not rule out staff handling errors during operation.
Why It Matters
For Hong Kong readers who regularly travel north to shop, the two reports point to a practical risk around loose-weight or weighed snack purchases, especially when prices depend on in-store handling rather than fixed labels. They also show how disputes can quickly shift from a single pricing error to broader mistrust over weighing methods, staff conduct and complaint handling.