A father was forced to pay HK$33,600 (approximately $4,255) after his five-year-old son knocked over a golden Teletubbies figure in a Hong Kong designer toy store over the weekend.
According to a report by the Daily Mail, furious staff found the massive 5.9-foot golden sculpture smashed into pieces at a toy shop in Langham Place shopping mall in the Mongkok district of Hong Kong, China, on Sunday, May 22.
Dad Cheng visited the KKPlus store that evening with his wife and two sons. When Cheng stepped out to take a phone call, he reportedly heard a loud crashing sound behind him. Upon his return to the store, Cheng discovered that his young boy had shattered the over-1.8-meter-tall golden Teletubbies figure.
Cheng blasts staff members for falsely accusing his son
Cheng told Commercial Radio per Hong Kong Free Press that his son was motionless and staring down, looking at the toy. Cheng added that his son was so terrified after the incident that he had to skip school. Cheng's son then asked him why the sculpture looked so scary.
Staff members begged to differ, informing Cheng and his wife that their five-year-old son was seen kicking the massive Teletubbies figure. They charged the couple HK$33,600 for the broken sculpture.
Believing that it was his son's fault, Cheng decided to pay for the damaged doll, which retailed at HK$52,800. The shopkeeper told him that the toy store would charge him instead the cost price of HK$33,600.
Cheng suspected, however, that staff members had falsely accused his son after watching video footage of the incident on Sunday evening. The video showed Cheng's son slightly leaning on the Teletubbies figure rather than kicking it as staff members had told the father. Cheng's wife then reported their finding to the store.
The incident sparked widespread debate on Chinese social media, with netizens accusing KKPlus of scamming the father. They also questioned why the store had not cordoned off the Teletubbies doll to prevent people from coming close to it. Others supported the store, saying the parents should have kept a closer watch on their son.
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Toy company issues apology after uproar over the incident, refunds Cheng
KKPlus posted a statement regarding the incident on its Facebook page early on Tuesday, but the store removed it before 11 a.m. The now-deleted statement said that the retail price of the Teletubbies doll was HK$52,800, a sum that included costs in relation to transport, copyright, design, and other fees.
KKPlus, operated by Kidsland International Holdings Limited, also said that the doll had been in the same spot since November and had not inconvenienced their customers.
Kidsland International Holdings Limited decided to backtrack on that statement, offering an apology on Tuesday instead for the inconvenience it had brought to Cheng's family. A spokesperson for the company confirmed that it has refunded in full the HK$33,600 (US$4,255) that Cheng paid for the damaged figure, according to a report by Yahoo.
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