Retail News CRM

Tag: warning

  • Grace over on Hong Kong bag fees April 28, 2015

    Grace over on Hong Kong bag fees April 28, 2015

    Hong Kong’s Environmental Protection Department (EPD) has warned retailers that from May 1 – Friday – they’ll face fines if they don’t charge customers for plastic bags.

    A month after the new law took effect, EPD officials have been issuing verbal warnings to retailers caught failing to charge customers a plastic bag levy. On April 1, a controversial law took effect forcing retailers to charge for bags – but rather than pass on the fees, they are allowed to keep them. That’s because the law is designed to reduce plastic bag usage in the territory, not raise revenue.

    Retailers who don’t charge a fee face instant fines of $2000 or even prosecution for second offences.

    An EPD spokesman said the full implementation of PSB charging has been largely proceeding smoothly at the retail level since April 1. Most retail outlets comply with the legal requirements and charge at least 50 cents for each plastic bag provided to customers, unless such use is exempted from the PSB charge.

    “A small number of individual retail outlets have been found contravening the law by distributing PSBs free of charge, leading to verbal warnings and on-site explanations of the legal requirements given to the shop operators concerned by EPD enforcement officers,” a statement from the EPD said.

    *Since late March, the Environmental Protection Department has set up promotion booths in popular shopping centres and retail outlets to educate the general public on details of the PSB charging scheme.

    Between April 1 and 25, about 7000 retail outlets were inspected by EPD officers with 62 verbal warnings given to non-complying stores including market stalls, grocery stores, bakery shops, fashion shops and shops selling computers, aquariums or other items. The contraventions included providing free PSBs for non-foodstuff or airtight food or free PSBs for both exempted items and non-exempted items, or providing non-woven bags or other kinds of plastic bags without charging customers, as well as offering rebates to customers to offset the PSB charge.

    The spokesman said the arrangement of giving verbal warnings against contraventions enabled retailers and members of the public to better adapt to the new requirements so that PSB charging could be implemented smoothly.

    “Starting from May 1, this Friday, immediate enforcement action including a fixed penalty notice or prosecution action will be taken against non-compliance with no prior verbal warning given by the EPD’s officers.”

    Exemptions apply to PSBs used for food hygiene reasons, such as for containing a food item which is unpackaged or contained in non-airtight packaging or in frozen/chilled state.

    PSBs used for the pre-packaging of goods are also exempt, while bags provided with services fall outside the scope of regulation.

    The spokesman said the EPD will continue to publicise the new measures and promote the green habit of “BYOB” (bring your own bag) among shop owners and the general public through various channels and public education campaigns.

    Lees ook:

    Lees ook:

  • Wuhan Coronavirus Prompts Banks to Issue Travel Warnings

    Wuhan Coronavirus Prompts Banks to Issue Travel Warnings

    Concerns about the coronavirus outbreak originating from Wuhan are rapidly escalating this week with banks joining in to issue warnings against travel and ready their business continuity plans.

    The outbreak has so far infected more than 500 individuals globally and has reportedly claimed 17 lives thus far. Following President Xi Jinping’s announcement this week saying that it was a critical matter to combat the new virus, at least three cities including Wuhan have been on lockdown to control the spread of the epidemic.

    Meanwhile, banks are also issuing their own notices to address the matter. Standard Chartered, which has a branch in Wuhan, said it was monitoring the situation closely and is advising its staff to defer all business travel to the infected city until February 3 when it will consider whether a further suspension is warranted. HSBC, which experienced its own unrelated flu scare this week, issued its own travel advisory for Wuhan and said it had improved cleaning at its premises.

    UBS, Citi and J.P. Morgan reportedly told staff they are closely monitoring the situation but had not restricted travel.

    Lees ook:

  • Gome profit warning issued to Shareholders

    Gome profit warning issued to Shareholders

    Another Gome profit warning has been issued as the company’s massive restructuring program continues.

    However the group says the reforms are beginning to show results and while a loss is anticipated for the latest quarter, it will be less than that of the previous period.

    According to a stock exchange filing, Gome says its loss attributable to owners is expected to range somewhere between RMB20 million (US$3 million) and RMB90 million ($13.4 million), as compared with a profit of RMB113 million for the corresponding period last year. The loss will be “significantly reduced” compared with the loss for the December quarter, the company said. Last full year, Gome lost RMB4.887 billion ($728 million).

    The group says it continued to actively pursue its transformation into an integrated home solution, service solution and supply chain provider based on its strategy of ‘Home • Living’. It expects the group’s total GMV for both online and offline to grow about 5 per cent year on year for the March quarter.

    Of that, GMV from Me Shop is expected to grow by more than 200 per cent, service GMV by more than 30 per cent, GMV from smart products by more than 50 per cent; and GMV from new businesses such as home solution and integration of kitchen cabinets with electrical appliances, by more than 100 per cent.

    Lees ook:

    Lees ook:

  • Google gives more options for Call Blocking

    Google gives more options for Call Blocking

    Google has had the automatic spam call warnings available for a while now, to the point where many we know have simply begun ignoring calls when the Red Screen of Spam pops up on their phone. But, there have also been some missing options in terms of call blocking on Android. Google allowed for blocking specific numbers, but now there are even more options to let users block calls.

    Previously, the only option for blocking calls was to add numbers to a call block list from the Phone app’s Recent calls page, but now there are four new options for blocking calls. If you want, you can block all calls from numbers that aren’t in your contacts list, block calls from private or unknown numbers, or even block calls made from pay phones. That last one is a bit surprising because as mobile phones have taken over and become commonplace, pay phones have slowly been removed from public spaces. There are likely still places around the world with pay phones, but it’s been quite a long time since we’ve seen any in the U.S.

    Oddly enough though, the new options won’t be found in the Phone app. Instead, Google put the new options in the Contacts app all the way at the bottom of the Settings page, under the Manage contacts header. That will give you toggles for the new call block features as well as a list of numbers you’ve already blocked.

    Lees ook: