Hair Salons Admit to Unfair Trade Practices Targeting Elderly

Companies operating hair salons under the “HairFun” brand^[1] and their directors have provided the CCCS with undertakings to stop engaging in certain unfair trade practices and refund affected consumers. Specifically, Hairfun Beauty Pte. Ltd. and Hairfun Pte. Ltd. were found to have targeted elderly consumers and, in some instances, charged them thousands of dollars.  

Investigations by CCCS started after the matter was referred to them by the Consumers Association of Singapore (CASE) after they received multiple consumer complaints concerning the sales tactics adopted by HairFun employees.

As part of the undertaking given to CCCS, the HairFun companies and their directors Mr. Roland Teo Jian Hao and Mdm. Chiong Hong Hioh, have admitted to engaging in unfair trade practices, and have undertaken to:

(a) Stop all unfair trade practices;

(b) Cooperate with CASE to resolve all complaints relating to unfair trade practices; and

(c) Provide a five-day cooling period for customers to cancel and get a refund for any prepaid packages.

CCCS advises that businesses should recommend and provide goods and services that genuinely meet consumers’ needs and should never resort to misleading consumers or using undue pressure sales tactics. On their part, consumers should not feel obliged to pay for goods or services that they did not ask for and should, in fact, satisfy themselves about the services and the price they will be paying for such services before making payment.

Please refer to the media release for more details.

^[1]These refer to three companies, Hairfun Beauty Pte. Ltd., Hairfun Pte. Ltd., and Scissor & Comb Pte. Ltd. that operates hair salons at Ang Mo Kio Avenue 10, Tampines Central and Toa Payoh Central respectively, using this brand name.