Man said he went through 'many hurdles' at Bishan Snip Avenue to use vouchers, had to call police before getting haircut

A man allegedly had to go through numerous hurdles, such as resorting to calling the police, just to utilise his haircut vouchers at Snip Avenue's Bishan outlet.

The man shared that he was initially told by the male hairstylist to come back another day as the stylist was busy, despite the salon having only two customers at the time.

Later, when the man tried to utilise the vouchers bought from the outlet, the hairstylist doubted the validity of the vouchers.

Reviews online suggest that this was a common experience shared by other patrons.

Hairstylist claims to be busy

Speaking to Mothership, the man, Sim, shared that the incident took place on the morning of May 19, 2026.

He visited the Snip Avenue outlet at Block 513 Bishan Street 13.

His elderly mother had purchased a set of haircut vouchers from the outlet some time back for an estimated S$60 to S$70, and Sim wanted to utilise the vouchers.

A photo of the voucher, seen by Mothership, showed that it has a stamped expiration date of November 2027.

When Sim arrived, he said the hairstylist was smoking outside the salon and there were only two individuals receiving hair treatment inside.

"[He] instructed me to come another day but I insisted on staying to get my hair done that day," Sim said.

"He rudely told me off that he was busy, but I pointed out that he was smoking," he continued.

Voucher validity

When Sim tried to utilise the voucher, the hairstylist allegedly questioned if the voucher was "legitimately purchased" from the Bishan outlet.

Sim then called the Snip Avenue office and spent 20 minutes verifying with them the legitimacy of the vouchers, which the office confirmed, according to Sim.

However, another staff at the Bishan outlet continued to question the voucher's validity, asking Sim for the date on which his mother purchased them.

Sim questioned why he needed to provide the date of the voucher if the voucher had not expired.

"Sensing trouble and further unnecessary delay which was getting out of hand, I called the police," Sim shared.

He noted that the hairstylist and staff changed their tone "180-degree[s]" after the police's arrival and he eventually received his haircut.

"I had no idea why I had to go through so many hurdles to redeem my paid voucher," Sim asked.

Online reviews

He also pointed out that there are online reviews regarding difficulties faced with the male hairstylist and other staff, showing that this was a "recurring problem".

Many of the Google Maps reviews seen by Mothership commented on long wait times.

"They sell these haircut tickets in bulk at cheaper price. But when you want to cut hair, they don't honour their tickets, turning people away saying 'no time'," one user wrote nine months ago.

Another reviewer mentioned that once he signed up for the salon's membership, he would be told to "come tomorrow" whenever he visited.

Pressure sales

This was not the first run-in Sim had with the Bishan outlet's hairstylist and staff.

In a Google Maps review from four months ago, Sim noted the poor quality of service received by his elderly mother.

He revealed that his mother had purchased two sets of vouchers from the outlet so far.

When asked why his mother had done so, given the negative experience, Sim explained that his mother was convinced by a hairstylist at the outlet to purchase another booklet before the price increases.

"After some pressure-selling while she was getting her haircut, she decided to get another booklet," Sim said, an incident which he confessed left him feeling "frustrated".

Sim estimated that he hopes to utilise the remainder of the voucher from the S$60 to S$70 booklet.

They still have over 10 vouchers remaining.

"I hope that Singaporeans will be educated enough to stand firm when attempting to redeem their deserved services from Bishan Snip Avenue after paying for the vouchers," Sim said.

Three complaints received by CASE so far

Responding to Mothership's queries, Melvin Yong, CASE President, said that CASE has received three complaints against Snip Avenue holdings from Jan. 1, 2026, to May 25, 2026.

"These complaints relate to pressure sales tactics and unsatisfactory service. CASE is currently assisting the complainants," Yong said.

Yong also advised 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," Yong added.

Consumers who require assistance may approach CASE via its hotline 62775100 or via its website.