SINGAPORE: It was Ms Chelsey Chen's first time at a nail salon. But when she was done with her manicure and pedicure, the salon's employees refused to let her leave unless she signed up for a package. “They didn’t allow me to stand up after the pedicure .
.. There were two ladies and they were standing there cornering me so I couldn’t stand up,” said the 41-year-old housewife.
The package cost S$1,000 (US$770) for S$1,200 worth of credits to use on manicure and pedicure services. She refused, but eventually gave in and paid before she was allowed to leave. Nail salons and their sales tactics have come under the spotlight after the Nail Palace chain made the news last week for its unfair practices.
While Ms Chen's experience was not at Nail Palace, other customers have complained about the chain. Investigations by the Competition and Consumer Commission of Singapore (CCCS) found that two of its outlets had made false or misleading representations in trying to sell an anti-fungal treatment package. The two outlets – in Bukit Panjang Plaza and Eastpoint Mall – were ordered to stop the unfair practices and publish declarations in four major Singapore newspapers, but missed the deadline by nearly two weeks.
When the notices were published, the words were "extremely small" and "practically unreadable", the consumer watchdog said. Each outlet was fined S$15,000 and their managing director was sentenced to four months’ jail for contempt of court. HARD SELLING, FEARMONGER.