Elderly man goes for $8 haircut in Ang Mo Kio salon, ends up paying for $99 treatment
An 85-year-old man went for a $8 haircut at a HairFun salon at Block 410 Ang Mo Kio Avenue 10 and ended up with a $99 hair treatment.
His son told Shin Min Daily News that on Nov 9 morning, his father was waiting for his mother and decided to get a trim.
A sign outside the salon said for non-members over 65 years old, the price of a haircut was $8 from Monday to Thursday from 1pm to 3pm. Nov 9 was a Thursday.
"It was his first time there," said the son. "When he came back later, he kept complaining he felt it was unfair that he paid $99 for hair care at the salon."
The son said his father’s hair was already white and he didn’t understand why the salon recommended the hair treatment.
When a Shin Min reporter visited the salon on Nov 10, the manager said the employees working the previous day were not there and neither was she.
"But our salon does offer hair treatment. It was originally $199, but now it is at a discounted price of $99," said the manager, who explained they would promote the hair treatment regardless of the customer's age or gender.
One male customer in the salon told Shin Min that he was there for the $8 haircut, but the staff did not recommend any hair treatment to him.
In response to a query, Consumers Association of Singapore (Case) chairman Melvin Yong said that so far this year, Case has received 15 complaints against HairFun, which also has outlets in Toa Payoh and Tampines.
“Affected consumers complained that the merchant exerted undue pressure on them to purchase hair care packages. They also complained that the merchant charged them without their explicit consent,” said Mr Yong.
In an online forum, one post claimed that an elderly man was charged $990 for 10 treatments without his consent.
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