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A woman is seeking S$5,000 in compensation from a massage establishment in Singapore after a therapist accidentally rubbed off part of her mole on her back during a tuina session, which caused the wound to bleed for hours.

In response, the massage establishment, Spa Infinity, counter proposed a solution days later by offering to foot the woman's medical bill instead and recommended that she sees the company's doctor.

The business also declined compensating the woman with money.

The woman did not take up the offer.

What happened

According to the customer Anne (not her real name), she went for a one-hour tuina massage at the Spa Infinity outlet at Suntec City on May 18 at 3:15pm.

Tuina massage is part of traditional Chinese medicine and involves deep tissue massages that supposedly stimulates and balances the "qi" in the body, which goes beyond musculoskeletal therapy.

Anne told Mothership that she had been going for tuina massages at Spa Infinity for five years prior to this incident without any issues.

She also said she went to the same establishment like she always did, except that she did not secure a session with her regular therapist for her most recent visit, as this was a last-minute booking.

How the mole came off

According to Anne, she got injured after the therapist apparently applied too much force.

Anne said via email: "While rubbing my back with a towel, the therapist rubbed so vigorously that she ripped out half the mole on my back."

"The therapist informed me that there was some injury to my mole, and told me to go spray some disinfectant at home."

In a photo she sent Mothership, in place of her mole was a wound.

Another photo showed what appeared to be blood residual that seeped into a fabric, as a result of the bleeding from the wound.

"After the massage, I told the manager what happened and she sprayed disinfectant and put a plaster on my wound. I was in shock and left without saying any more," Anne added.

In her email to Mothership, Anne also claimed: "Spa Infinity is refusing to accept responsibility for the incident, and has denied my requests for compensation."

Spa requested woman to visit its company doctor

The woman emailed Spa Infinity about her injury on the day itself, after discovering how bad it was.

She sought a S$5,000 compensation from the spa.

She then went to see a doctor the next day on May 19 morning.

Anne said: "I believe the amount for compensation is reasonable considering the pain, suffering and risk of infection inflicted by Spa Infinity’s therapist."

Spa Infinity responded on May 19 with a holding line, Anne said, and only responded more fully on May 23 after she sent a chaser email as a follow-up.

Spa Infinity wrote in its May 23 email -- five days after Anne got injured -- with its counter offer: "We regret to inform you that we are unable to fulfil your compensation. We apologise for any inconveniences caused and would like to arrange an appointment for you to see our company doctor for treatment."

In a follow-up reply, Spa Infinity explained why it was unable to accede to Anne's request for financial compensation.

The spa wrote: "As our company has a contract with the insurers, we are unable to reply to you on compensation matters. To help us move this forward, please forward the relevant documents and we will be submitting them to the insurance company for follow-up."

This did not go down well with the customer who was not buying it.

In reply, Anne wrote to the spa on May 28: "I do not believe insurers control your decision to whether or not to compensate. It is simply a matter of whether you can claim that money back from them, which is none of my concern."

"The way you have responded indicated you have not taken my injury incurred at your premises by your spa therapist seriously."

"It seems like you are not willing to provide compensation and I will proceed on this basis."

Lodged a complaint with CASE

Following this email, Anne did not get a response from the Spa Infinity for the next 10 days.

After which, she lodged a complaint with the Consumer Association of Singapore (CASE) and contacted the media.

"At no point in time did they apologise for their therapist ripping out my mole," Anne said.

Spa responded again

In a June 20 email, Spa Infinity wrote to Anne to inform her again that it was unable to accede to her request of wanting a S$5,000 compensation.

However, it was willing to refund the woman the unspent amount in credits she held at the spa.

The spa offered to refund Anne via a cheque.

"We are sorry about your mole and to hear that you are requesting a refund of your remaining credits," the spa wrote.

Mothership has reached out to Spa Infinity for comment.

All photos via Anne