An elderly consumer visited a hair salon in Ang Mo Kio for an $8 haircut but ended up paying nearly $1,000 for a hair wash and a 10-session hair treatment package, both of which he had not agreed to purchase.
The incident took place at a hair salon operating under the HairFun brand, which has since promised to stop engaging in unfair trade practices and to refund affected consumers.
Halfway through his haircut, the elderly customer was shown images on a monitor screen, which an employee claimed showed haemorrhaging on his scalp. However, no device had been used to scan his head.
Without the customer’s consent, the employee washed his hair with a powder. The customer was later instructed to enter his personal identification number into the point-of-sale device, while the employee concealed the total payment amount.
The elderly customer later consulted a doctor, who confirmed that his head and scalp were normal and showed no signs of haemorrhaging.
The Competition and Consumer Commission of Singapore (CCCS), which disclosed the details of the case on June 4, did not state when the incident took place. It said it began investigations after receiving multiple consumer complaints concerning the sales tactics adopted by HairFun employees.
It then made unannounced visits to three branches of HairFun salon in October 2024 – Hairfun Beauty in Ang Mo Kio, Hairfun in Tampines, and Scissors & Comb in Toa Payoh Central. The authority found that the first two outlets had targeted elderly consumers by offering free or low-cost haircuts between May 2023 and July 2024.
HairFun customers, particularly the elderly, were misled about their need for treatment packages, and were charged for expensive services and packages that they had not asked for.
The HairFun companies have since agreed to refund all affected consumers. Close to $12,500 was “recovered and returned to the affected consumers, many of whom are elderly residents living in the neighbourhood of the hair salon”, Consumers Association of Singapore president Melvin Yong said in a Facebook post on June 4.
The Straits Times
