[Editor's note, Oct. 9, 4pm. A previous version of this article inaccurately stated that the four beauty salons received more than 100 complaints in total. They actually received a total of 90 complaints. We have since amended our article to reflect this change.]

Three beauty salons committed to cease their unfair practices, after receiving a slew of customer complaints, according to the Consumers Association of Singapore (CASE).

These salons received complaints for making false or misleading claims, and for exerting undue pressure or influence on consumers to enter into a transaction.

Total of 90 complaints filed against the salons

CASE has signed Voluntary Compliance Agreements (VCAs) with three beauty salons: Organic Salon Pte Ltd, Spacio TCM Wellness Pte Ltd and The Four Seasons Beauty Saloon Pte Ltd.

In line with these agreements, the salons have agreed to offer a five-day cooling-off period for consumers to cancel their contracts, and to compensate affected customers.

In addition, another beauty company, Natural Beauty Resources, has been referred to the Competition and Consumer Commission of Singapore (CCCS) for investigation, for failure to sign a VCA with CASE.

The four salons received a total of 90 complaints.

CASE will monitor the beauty industry very closely

According to CASE, consumers generally complained that they were subjected to various aggressive pressure sales tactics to buy treatment packages.

In some instances, consumers complained that they were led to believe that they were paying promotional prices for treatments, but were subsequently pressured to purchase higher end treatments at higher prices.

In other cases, the salon would charge customers for additional treatments or packages without their expressed consent.

These acts are considered to be unfair practice, under the Consumer Protection (Fair Trading) Act.

CASE stated that the beauty industry has "consistently ranked" among the top three industries in terms of the number of complaints received.

In 2019, CASE had flagged out five beauty companies for aggressive sales tactics against consumers.

CASE said that it will continue to monitor the beauty industry "very closely", and will not hesitate to take the necessary actions against companies that engage in unfair practices.

Similarly, for companies who have signed VCAs, CASE will monitor them closely and engage them to resolve consumer complaints related to unfair practices.

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Top image via Jackie Siao/Google Maps and Spacio TCM.