Scare tactics, pressure tactics: Why it’s hard to say no to hard selling in a nail salon

SINGAPORE: It was Chelsey Chen’s first time at a nail salon. But once her manicure and pedicure were complete, the salon staff refused to let her leave unless she signed up for a package deal.

“They didn’t let me get up after the pedicure… There were two ladies and they were standing there, pinning me down, so I couldn’t get up,” the 41-year-old housewife said.

The package costs S$1,000 (US$770) for a credit worth S$1,200 to use towards manicure and pedicure services. She refused, but eventually gave in and paid before being allowed to leave.

Nail salons and their sales tactics have been under the spotlight since the Nail Palace chain made headlines last week for its unfair practices.

Although Ms. Chen’s experience did not take place at the 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 made false or misleading claims when trying to sell a set of antifungal treatments.

The two media outlets – those in Bukit Panjang Plaza and Eastpoint Mall – were ordered to stop their unfair practices and publish statements in four major Singapore newspapers, but they missed the deadline by almost two weeks.

When the notices were posted, the words were “extremely small” and “virtually illegible”, the consumer protection body said.

Each media outlet was fined S$15,000 and their chief executive was sentenced to four months in prison for contempt of court.

STRONG SELLING AND FEELING OF FEAR

Getting pushed for additional packages and treatments is a common experience, even after clients have paid for packages at nail salons.

On her second visit to the same nail salon, Ms Chen was given a pedicure and the salon staff insisted that she had nail fungus on her foot. They convinced her to add an S$88 treatment. She also had to pay an additional S$128 for an anti-fungal cream that they deemed necessary.

“To me, they’re professionals. They probably see 30 meters a month, so you’d think they’d know more than us because of their experience and what they see every day,” Chen told CNA.

Staff at the salon, located in Novena, tried to convince her to sign up for a S$500 package for six anti-fungal treatments. Ms Chen refused, saying she still had plenty of credit, and managed to leave the salon.

“After that, I felt something was wrong. I asked my doctor for advice and he told me it was not a yeast infection.”

On her next visit, she told the same thing to the salon staff, who insisted the doctor didn’t know what he was talking about. “There was a lot of fear,” Ms. Chen said.

“(They said) that for your nails, if you do a pedicure, it’s not enough. You have to do an antifungal treatment to have clean nails. They will be very dirty, it will look very ugly, when you wear shoes, the bacteria will multiply.”

Salons should not be allowed to give false or misdiagnoses like the one she experienced, Chen said.

“I was very worried. Then, after seeking professional advice, I realized that this was part of their sales tactics.”

COMPLAINTS IN CASE

The Consumers Association of Singapore (CASE) has received 89 complaints about nail salons so far this year. It received 114 complaints last year and 127 in 2022.

The most common complaints came from customers unable to get refunds for their packages after salons were abruptly closed, customers unable to get appointments after paying for a package and high-pressure sales tactics, said the watchdog’s chairman Melvin Yong.

In April, CASE signed a memorandum of understanding with NAILS – the National Association for International Licensing and Qualifications (Beauty Wellness Singapore) – to accredit 50 beauty and nail salons over the next three years.

“This will help improve standards, resolve common consumer complaints and strengthen consumer confidence in the beauty industry,” Yong said.

Some beauty and nail salons already have CaseTrust accreditation, but accreditation is voluntary.

Ms Rachel Tang, founder of NAILS, which promotes the local nail and beauty services industry, said some salon owners have told her “they can’t control” what employees say to customers.

Many employees may share “with more passion” while trying to meet their commission quotas, she said. Some foreigners may also have difficulty communicating with customers because English or Mandarin is not their native language, and there may be communication issues about how packages are sold.

For example, although the CCCS has a list of fair business practices for the beauty industry, these employees may not be able to understand the document, Tang said.

“As an association, we do not endorse forced selling. Our association’s effort for better skills qualification aims to enable each service provider to attract customers through their technical skills and quality of service, instead of depending solely on packages, discounts and promotions,” she added.

Some salons understand that their practices are “not so perfect” and are willing to change, especially since the industry is competitive and salons have to do what they can to survive, Ms Tang said, adding that there are more than 500 salons in Singapore.