Frugal cleaner, 71, allegedly pressured into buying $1,295 scalp package by Clementi salon
A son claimed that his 71-year-old mother, who works as a cleaner, was pressured into buying a $1,294.92 scalp treatment package at a hair salon.
Stomper Leon said it happened at Salon One at Block 449 Clementi Avenue 3 on the morning of Jan 3.
The family learned of the incident only after seeing the $1,294.92 transaction on the elderly woman's bank statement.
"After we questioned her, she finally broke down and shared what had happened," recounted Leon.
According to Leon, his mother had gone to the salon for a haircut at around 11am. She said that after the haircut, the hairstylist informed her that her scalp was in poor condition and used a device to scan her scalp.
The hairstylist then recommended a scalp-cleaning treatment costing $99. Hesitant at first, the customer apparently agreed to the treatment after repeated persuasion.
After the treatment, the hairstylist allegedly tried to "hard sell" treatment packages to Leon's mother, who eventually agreed to sign up for one of the packages for 12 treatments.
Leon told Stomp: "Most worryingly, she mentioned that the staff asked her to sign a document, claiming it was merely for GST purposes. My mother was never given a copy of this document to keep."
The customer was given a receipt for the $1,294.92 Nets payment and a card to keep track of her treatments.
Leon said his mum is usually very frugal.
"It is heart-breaking to know that someone who works so hard for her money was targeted and misled in this way," said the son, who has since lodged reports with the police and the Consumers Association of Singapore (Case).
In response to Stomp queries, the police and Case confirmed that reports were lodged.
Case president Melvin Yong said: "We are currently assisting the consumer."
When contacted by Stomp, Salon One said it had offered the customer a refund and considered the matter resolved.
Leon shared screenshots of repeated messages from Salon One that said it had agreed to a full refund and requested the customer to go to the salon to collect the money.
However, the Stomper said they have not accepted the refund.
"We're waiting for Case to review and determine the next course of action," he explained.
"I hope by sharing this, other families can remind their elderly parents to be wary of such tactics."
Salon One was on Case's 2019 alert list of companies that consumers had complaints about.
In a 2023 Facebook post, Mr Yong said: "Following interventions by Case, Salon One entered into a Voluntary Compliance Agreement with Case in October 2019, committing to cease the unfair practices and compensate affected consumers.
"However, as complaints from consumers against the salon persisted, Case referred Salon One to Competition and Consumer Commission of Singapore (CCCS) for investigations under the Consumer Protection (Fair Trading) Act."
He added that the salon had finally given a written undertaking to CCCS to stop engaging in unfair practices such as misleading and false claims and pressure sales tactics.
Mr Yong told Stomp that Case encourages consumers to patronise CaseTrust-accredited beauty, spa and wellness businesses, which adhere to a strict "no selling" policy during treatments and provide a five-day cooling-off period for prepaid packages.
CaseTrust-accredited beauty, spa and wellness businesses are also required to have prepayment protection mechanisms in place to protect consumers' prepayments.
Consumers who encounter disputes may approach Case for assistance at 6277 5100 or via www.case.org.sg.
See something interesting? Contribute your story to us.
Explore more on these topics
