S'pore hair studio, caught for buying fake reviews, says staff did so 'independently' to earn more incentives

A Singapore hair salon has put forth an explanation after it admitted to purchasing fake reviews.

Picasso Hair Studio, which has outlets in Bugis and Novena, was one of the 45 businesses caught buying fake reviews, as detailed in an investigation by the Competition & Consumer Commission of Singapore (CCS).

All 45 were required to publish a "prominent public apology" and remove all fake reviews relating to their business.

Bought to earn incentives

In a Sep. 30 Instagram post, following its public apology, Picasso explained the context behind the fake reviews.

It said that staff members had procured the reviews "independently", without management's knowledge, and that the news had come as a shock.

The staff members apparently did so in a bid to earn more incentives.

The hair salon explained that as part of their quarterly staff incentive, staff members were assessed based on 50 per cent sales performance, and 50 per cent positive customer reviews.

The intent of this was to encourage stylists to "earn genuine feedback through good service", Picasso said.

"Unfortunately, some staff independently chose to take a shortcut and procure reviews instead.

This was never the intention of the incentive nor the way we expected our team to earn customer reviews."

Most reviews removed

The salon said it takes "full accountability" for the incident and has since taken steps to prevent a recurrence.

Moving forward, if any employee is found to have purchased fake reviews, they will be immediately terminated, Picasso said.

Staff members who were found to have previously done so have also been issued warning letters.

They have also removed four fake reviews so far, and are working on getting the remainder removed as well.

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