A dad was slapped with an eye-watering bill after his son knocked over a life-sized Teletubbies sculpture worth more than $6,000 (£4,800) in a Hong Kong toy shop.
The dad, named Cheng, was standing outside taking a phone call when he heard a ‘loud smashing sound’ and ran back into the shop to find his ‘terrified’ son staring down at the obliterated golden Laa-Laa replica.
Shop staff told Cheng he’d have to cough up $4,280 for the 5.9ft-tall porcelain doll because his young son ‘kicked it over’.
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However, CCTV revealed the little lad had actually just leaned on the replica accidentally.
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Believing it was his son's mistake, Cheng agreed to pay the doll’s cost price, discounted down from its $6,726 retail price.
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After reviewing the footage though, Cheng criticised shop staff for misguiding him and called on shop owners KK Plus to issue him a refund.
Speaking about the incident that took place on Sunday 22 May in the city’s Mongkok district, Cheng said: “My son was motionless, he was just staring down at the toy. My son was terrified after the incident that he had to skip school. He asked me why the doll looked scary.”
Cheng said the doll should have been labelled as fragile, however owners of the shop, situated inside the Langham Place mall, said: “The decoration has been displayed at its current location since November last year and it did not cause any inconvenience to the customers.”
They added in a statement: “The incident was dealt with immediately and completely resolved, and the payment was proposed by the owner. This large-scale decoration is actually a prototype of the first printing.
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“The official pre-sale price is 52,800 HKD. The cost of the prototype involves various expenses, including copyright and design, research and development and mold making, reinforcement, packaging, transportation and more. The decoration is only for viewing and has no toughness to withstand pressure.
“We did not charge the family more than the cost price of the goods.”
The incident left social media users angry, with many pointing out that it wasn’t the young boy's fault.
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One person even suggested that a GoFundMe should be set up to help Cheng recover the costs, writing: “Can we please do a GoFundMe for the boy’s father to help settle the cost?”
Another added: “The shop should compensate the parents for the traumatised kid!”
After widespread backlash the store issued an apology and offered to refund the father.
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Aisha Nozari