Customers in southern Taiwan were yesterday surprised to find that AIP Digital Home Appliance (AIP數位家電) stores had been shut down and they were unable to get refunds after the firm’s owners allegedly disappeared with company assets totaling more than NT$100 million (US$3.2 million).
After numerous complaints, Kaohsiung police said that they would investigate, adding that they suspected the proprietors, a married couple surnamed Huang (黃), deliberately went out of business to declare for bankruptcy and defraud customers.
The company in 2014 opened its flagship store in Kaohsiung before expanding to four stores, including in Pingtung County and Tainan, its Web site showed, attracting customers by selling discounted top brands of air-conditioners and home electronics, plus installation services.
Photo: Fang Chih-hsien, Taipei Times
The names and logos of prominent brands such as BenQ, Sampo, Chimei, Hitachi, Panasonic, Samsung, LG, Philips, Daikin and Whirlpool were displayed on banners and billboards of AIP stores, giving people the impression that the firm had links with domestic and international companies.
Lo Yu-cheng (羅裕城), a criminal investigator at a police precinct in Kaohsiung’s Sanmin District (三民), said that more than 20 people have filed complaints regarding the case.
“Those who have filed complaints said that they are members, as AIP offered a paid membership that entitled members to a 10 percent discount from regular listed market prices when buying home appliances,” he said.
AIP’s program had an estimated 500 members, Lo said, adding that the Huangs closed the four stores amid speculation they had cash flow problems and were unable to pay suppliers.
“We have heard from suppliers about bounced checks from AIP, as well as customers who placed orders and paid, but received no deliveries,” he said.
One man surnamed Hsueh (薛) said that he had just bought and paid for an air-conditioner from AIP for NT$23,000 — NT$2,000 less than at other stores for the same product — but no workers showed up at his home on Thursday to install it as promised.
“I called the company and there was no answer. Then I went to the store, but found that it was closed,” Hsueh said.
He and other members of AIP’s program have formed a self-help association, which plans to hire a lawyer to file a lawsuit against the Huangs, he said.
Starlux Airlines, Taiwan’s newest international carrier, has announced it would apply to join the Oneworld global airline alliance before the end of next year. In an investor conference on Monday, Starlux Airlines chief executive officer Glenn Chai (翟健華) said joining the alliance would help it access Taiwan. Chai said that if accepted, Starlux would work with other airlines in the alliance on flight schedules, passenger transits and frequent flyer programs. The Oneworld alliance has 13 members, including American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific and Qantas, and serves more than 900 destinations in 170 territories. Joining Oneworld would also help boost
A new tropical storm formed late yesterday near Guam and is to approach closest to Taiwan on Thursday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Tropical Storm Pulasan became the 14th named storm of the year at 9:25pm yesterday, the agency said. As of 8am today, it was near Guam traveling northwest at 21kph, it said. The storm’s structure is relatively loose and conditions for strengthening are limited, WeatherRisk analyst Wu Sheng-yu (吳聖宇) said on Facebook. Its path is likely to be similar to Typhoon Bebinca, which passed north of Taiwan over Japan’s Ryukyu Islands and made landfall in Shanghai this morning, he said. However, it
Taiwan's Gold Apollo Co (金阿波羅通信) said today that the pagers used in detonations in Lebanon the day before were not made by it, but by a company called BAC which has a license to use its brand. At least nine people were killed and nearly 3,000 wounded when pagers used by Hezbollah members detonated simultaneously across Lebanon yesterday. Images of destroyed pagers analyzed by Reuters showed a format and stickers on the back that were consistent with pagers made by Gold Apollo. A senior Lebanese security source told Reuters that Hezbollah had ordered 5,000 pagers from Taiwan-based Gold Apollo. "The product was not
COLD FACTS: ‘Snow skin’ mooncakes, made with a glutinous rice skin and kept at a low temperature, have relatively few calories compared with other mooncakes Traditional mooncakes are a typical treat for many Taiwanese in the lead-up to the Mid-Autumn Festival, but a Taipei-based dietitian has urged people not to eat more than one per day and not to have them every day due to their high fat and calorie content. As mooncakes contain a lot of oil and sugar, they can have negative health effects on older people and those with diabetes, said Lai Yu-han (賴俞含), a dietitian at Taipei Hospital of the Ministry of Health and Welfare. “The maximum you can have is one mooncake a day, and do not eat them every day,” Lai