KUALA LUMPUR, March 9 — Irritated they had to entertain the queries of passersby for directions, a convenience store in Hong Kong charged HK$10 (RM5.76) for every enquiry it received.

The charges, however, only lasted two days when a sign hung on the store to publicise the services, was found to have been removed during a check by Hong Kong portal hk01.com on March 5.

The store’s manager, who identified herself as Yuki, said the sign was put up on March 3 as there were many people asking them for directions daily, with most of them asking about the location of the cross-border bus terminal.

The numbers, Yuki noted, increased after Hong Kong fully reopened its borders in February.

This forced the store to put up the sign in the hopes that it would reduce the number of enquiries it received.

The problem started as the building where the convenience shop was located was formerly an office selling cross-border bus tickets that shut down during the Covid-19 pandemic.

When the borders between the Chinese mainland, Hong Kong, and Macau reopened, the bus company moved its office to a street next to their original venue.

Those who could not locate the ticketing office or boarding point ended up having to ask for directions at the store.

Yuki said the bus company was supposed to station an employee at the store to point passengers to the company’s new location but failed to do so.

Only after the store’s sign had gone viral on social media that the company stationed a personnel to guide their passengers and significantly reduce the number of enquiries.

On brickbats from social media users over the sign, Yuki maintained that the store did not charge anyone.

"The public did not experience what we had to go through, so they would not know what the situation is really like or understand our pain,” she said.