Man goes for $5 mole removal procedure, ends up paying $700

Drawn in by a special promotion, a man stepped into a beauty salon for a mole removal procedure, only to end up paying $700 after he was pressurised into signing up for a $1,980 package. 

Mr Hong Delong, 53, told Lianhe Wanbao that he was passing by Bencoolen Street on May 30, 2018, when several employees from a beauty salon nearby approached him. 

They allegedly told him that there was an ongoing special promotion, and removal of a mole would only cost $5. 

Mr Hong thus decided to remove two moles near his right eye. 

Upon entering the establishment, a beautician recommended Mr Hong to undergo a facial treatment, which he agreed to.

After the initial facial treatment, the beautician recommended Mr Hong another pearl treatment cream procedure, and he agreed to that too. 

He said that the beautician only started on the mole removal procedure after the first two facial treatments.

Without first consulting him, she removed 10 of his moles on the right side of his face and told him after the procedure that it cost $10 for the removal of each.

“The beauticians know the customers' mindset very well. They use ‘discount’ or ‘promotion’ tactics to lure in the customers.

“The amount kept increasing until they told me that all the treatments amounted to $550.”

The beautician even advised Mr Hong to purchase a $1,980 treatment package and told him that he would only need to pay $1,430 if they deduct the $550 that he owed.  

Said Mr Hong:

“I thought it was very expensive and wanted to reject her.

“She then sarcastically chided me. She said that men only know how to spend their money on alcohol and women. I was angered by her comments and signed up for the package to prove her wrong. I then paid $700 upfront and left immediately.

"I became increasingly discontented as I thought about it.”

Mr Hong later told his wife about the incident. 

A spokesman from the Consumers Association of Singapore (CASE) told Lianhe Wanbao that the beauty salon at Bencoolen Street had received 18 complaints from customers since 2016. 

Some customers complained that they were forced to sign up for packages and CASE has mediated on six instances, retrieving $3,290 in the process.

The spokesman added that CASE would continue to monitor the salon.

If there are further complaints, it would recommend for the salon to be investigated by the Competition and Consumer Commission of Singapore (CCCS).