A 70-year-old woman has alleged that she was persuaded into signing multiple packages that amounted to a total of S$40,000 at a beauty and wellness centre in Chinatown, Shin Min Daily News reported.

Staff was promoting massage services for S$18

Speaking to the Chinese media outlet, the hawker assistant, surnamed Wang, said that she had been shopping at People's Park Centre on April 6 earlier this year.

While there, she supposedly encountered a staff member of the centre who was handing out flyers promoting a one-hour massage for S$18.

Wang claimed that she checked thrice with the staff member who said that the price was indeed S$18.

However, when she went to the centre, she was allegedly served by three staff who gave her a facial, a body massage and a feet massage.

The cost came up to S$180 instead.

When Wang questioned the staff-in-charge, she was reportedly told that this was because multiple employees were serving her and an expensive herbal oil had been used for the massage.

Ended up signing a S$2,000 package

The hawker assistant added that she had not requested for any of these services and was not told about them beforehand.

In addition, the staff persuaded her to sign a S$2,000 package for 20 massage sessions .

They also told Wang that they would charge her S$100 instead of S$180 for the session she just had.

Wang said that she decided to sign on to the S$2,000 package as she thought that the price was still reasonable.

Persuaded to sign on more packages each time she came to visit

However, Wang alleged that she was subsequently persuaded to sign up even more packages each time she returned for a massage.

She was quoted by Shin Min Daily News as saying:

"Every time I came for a massage, the masseuse would always find a chance to say my body is not good, that my meridians and breast ducts are blocked, and if I did not clear them quickly, I will develop cancer in a few years."

Wang added that in May, she was shaken enough to sign a "chest care package" amounting to S$8,000.

In June, she signed on a herbal treatment package that came up to S$12,000 when she was told during a massage that she had blood circulation problems which could result in a stroke.

Wang then signed another S$18,000 package in July after being told that her spine was crooked and that she would become paralysed in future.

Wang further claimed that in three months, she had effectively spent all of her hard-earned money.

She added that as a hawker assistant, her monthly income is only S$1,500 per month.

Centre denies forcing Wang to sign up for more packages

Wang eventually made a complaint to the Consumers Association of Singapore (CASE).

Following her report, the wellness centre refunded her S$20,000.

Shin Min Daily News further reported that when they went to the centre, the person in charge, surnamed Gu (according to Hanyu Pinyin), said that they had charged Wang S$40,000 as her sessions were long and she required several staff members to attend to her.

Gu also said that he had informed his staff not to engage in hard selling even though he added that staff members at beauty salons and massage parlours all over Singapore would promote packages actively, as people want to earn more money in light of high rental and operating costs.

He was quoted by the Chinese media outlet as saying:

"I believe she must have been satisfied with our services, hence she decided to sign on packages one after another. I can't possibly have forced the customer. Sometimes, the customer regrets spending money and reports us. That isn't very fair to us either."

In response to Mothership's queries, CASE President Melvin Yong replied:

"CASE confirms that we received Madam Wang’s complaint. Through CASE’s intervention, Madam Wang received a refund of S$20,000 for the unutilised beauty package sessions from the beauty salon.

The beauty industry (beauty salons, manicure salons, spa/wellness/massage businesses) consistently ranks among the top three industries in terms of the number of complaints received by CASE annually.

The typical complaints against the beauty industry include pressure sales and misleading claims. Complaints regarding pressure sales tactics include beauty salons not allowing consumers to leave the premises unless they purchased higher-price beauty packages and performing higher-end treatments on consumers without their expressed consent and charging them afterwards. Complaints regarding misleading claims include beauty salons misleading consumers on the number of sessions in the packages and how certain treatments can cure or alleviate pre-existing health ailments."

To address perennial complaints from consumers that they were pressured to buy a package deal, CASE has called on the Government to extend the coverage of the mandatory cooling-off period under the Consumer Protection (Fair Trading) (Cancellation of Contracts) Regulations to spa and beauty purchases. The mandatory cooling off period will allow consumers some time to consider their purchase and provide them an avenue to cancel their purchases, if they so wish to."

Top photo by Shin Min Daily News