Internet bulletin boards and the Consumers' Foundation have been inundated with complaints by infuriated Michael Jordan fans expressing their disappointment at the the former NBA star's fleeting appearance on Saturday.
The fans claimed that Nike Taiwan had lured Jordan aficionados to fork out huge amounts of money for his name-brand line of sportswear, but arranged for the "God of basketball" to appear on stage for less than two minutes.
Many of the fans spent thousands of NT dollars buying clothes and footwear for the chance to win tickets in a lucky draw, with a handful even spending between NT$15,000 and NT$20,000 purchasing auctioned tickets online.
"Jordan is not the god any more," said a bulletin-board user nicknamed "hiahaok" on one of National Taiwan University's forums.
Another incensed fan, "airpenny," condemned Nike Taiwan, calling it a "legal swindler group."
Some suggested boycotting Nike products.
With an increasing number of complaints being made to the Consumers' Foundation since Saturday, foundation general-secretary Cheng Jen-hung (程仁宏) said it would collect reports from consumers and assist them in seeking compensation from Nike Taiwan.
"According to Article 22 of the Consumer Protection Law (消保法) and Article 21 of the Fair Trade Act (公平交易法), we can demand that Nike Taiwan respond with goodwill," Cheng said.
Article 41 of the Fair Trade Act provides for a maximum penalty of NT$25 million if the company is found to have violated the law.
The foundation is scheduled to hold a press conference today to answer the criticisms.
Faced with a flood of accusations, Jeanne Huang (
"We are deeply sorry for this unsatisfactory result," Huang said, repeating her apology three times during a telephone interview yesterday.
Stressing that Nike Taiwan aimed to present the spirit and achievements of Jordan in a creative way, Huang refused to say who was responsible for Jordan's brief appearances -- Jordan himself or her company.
"Although most fans had to purchase Jordan's products to win the tickets, our company has not raked in excessive profits because orders were placed six months ago," she said, denying that the company had swindled its customers.
In compensation, Huang said 700 fans would be given a poster featuring Jordan and priority to attend the next event in Taiwan featuring NBA players.
Taipei Prosecutor's Office Prosecutor-General Morley Shih (
"If Jordan fans file a lawsuit, we'll start investigating," Chief Prosecutor Lin Pang-liang (
The paramount chief of a volcanic island in Vanuatu yesterday said that he was “very impressed” by a UN court’s declaration that countries must tackle climate change. Vanuatu spearheaded the legal case at the International Court of Justice in The Hague, Netherlands, which on Wednesday ruled that countries have a duty to protect against the threat of a warming planet. “I’m very impressed,” George Bumseng, the top chief of the Pacific archipelago’s island of Ambrym, told reporters in the capital, Port Vila. “We have been waiting for this decision for a long time because we have been victims of this climate change for
MASSIVE LOSS: If the next recall votes also fail, it would signal that the administration of President William Lai would continue to face strong resistance within the legislature The results of recall votes yesterday dealt a blow to the Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) efforts to overturn the opposition-controlled legislature, as all 24 Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers survived the recall bids. Backed by President William Lai’s (賴清德) DPP, civic groups led the recall drive, seeking to remove 31 out of 39 KMT lawmakers from the 113-seat legislature, in which the KMT and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) together hold a majority with 62 seats, while the DPP holds 51 seats. The scale of the recall elections was unprecedented, with another seven KMT lawmakers facing similar votes on Aug. 23. For a
Taiwan must invest in artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics to keep abreast of the next technological leap toward automation, Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) said at the luanch ceremony of Taiwan AI and Robots Alliance yesterday. The world is on the cusp of a new industrial revolution centered on AI and robotics, which would likely lead to a thorough transformation of human society, she told an event marking the establishment of a national AI and robotics alliance in Taipei. The arrival of the next industrial revolution could be a matter of years, she said. The pace of automation in the global economy can
All 24 lawmakers of the main opposition Chinese Nationalists Party (KMT) on Saturday survived historical nationwide recall elections, ensuring that the KMT along with Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) lawmakers will maintain opposition control of the legislature. Recall votes against all 24 KMT lawmakers as well as Hsinchu Mayor Ann Kao (高虹安) and KMT legislative caucus whip Fu Kun-chi (傅崐萁) failed to pass, according to Central Election Commission (CEC) figures. In only six of the 24 recall votes did the ballots cast in favor of the recall even meet the threshold of 25 percent of eligible voters needed for the recall to pass,