Eshin Direct

Purchasing pirated software or movies is almost an adventure in itself. In Hong Kong, there seems to be designated areas where all these pirated software operators congregate. For all intents and purposes, it’s an accepted practice although the shops they sell from are usually temporarily unoccupied by the looks of things. The police do occassionally do their job and raid the place. One suspects that the half-hearted attempts to shut down software piracy has more to do with someone failing to pay the right people rather than any sense of IPR protection.

Gone are the days when you just walked in and bought the merchandise. It’s now a more streamlined affair with badly photocopied covers lined up along the wall. You either take the covers to the guy or write down the numbers. You pay your money first and then wait half an hour or so while his buddies go and burn the CD’s for you. Or something like that.

This practice of handing over the money first doesn’t often sit well with foreigners. You can usually tell who the out-of-towners are by the fuss the put up when they find out they have to part with their mullah and actually wait half an hour. Especially given the dubious moral ethics of the business at hand. But strangely, it’s a testament to the pervasive acceptance of the practice that allows Hong Kong pirates to behave in this way. If I fork over cash to some guy in Camden Town in London promising me illegal goods, I’d be naive to think he’d actually come back. One suspects a triad with an MBA and specialisation in customer service had something to do with that.

Yesterday was particularly amusing. Two English guys were kicking up a storm because they got screwed in the DVD place on the top floor at 298. Apparently, one DVD didn’t work and the other DVD was in Chinese when apparently the guy had asked to see whether it was in English. They were actually asking for a refund which the guy in charge wasn’t giving him and told him to pick another DVD. The English guy held firm and demanded a refund. They were still slogging it out when I walked by half an hour later.

I have heard of people actually returning faulty CD’s so I know that this wasn’t an unusual occurence. I just find it strange that people actually kick-up a fuss about faulty software or bad customer service (in this case getting a Chinese language version instead of an English one) in these places. What do you expect? Part of the reason why software and DVD titles are more expensive is because you have quality control costs put on at the publisher’s side. Customer service and refund policy costs are put on at the retailer. For 30 HKD, you can hardly expect any form of customer service and quality control. It’s a bonus but you shouldn’t really expect it.

I don’t think the guy got a refund in the end. I feel for the guy but at the end of the day, it’s potentially dangerous if he got it. I mean, imagine customer services and refund policy in other areas of the black market? Johns soliciting the services of hookers could ask for a refund if they were not 100% satisfied. God forbid that any punter should actually scientifically check the quality of the drugs they’ve bought. Errr…I didn’t get the high I was expecting, could I have my money back? Black market ettiquette dictates that if you aren’t satisfied with the goods or services, you don’t buy with them again in the future. Asking for a refund just isn’t done unless you’re connected; but even then, it’s usually not worth it for 30 bucks.