BEAUTY INDUSTRY
Consumers in the beauty industry lodged the second-highest number of complaints – one, 434.
These types of losses mainly stemmed from an inability to obtain refunds regarding prepaid packages bought from beauty salons, visual clinics and health spas due to sudden company closure.
Regarding one in 4 complaints were because of pressure sales strategies along with misleading plus false claims, stated CASE.
Complaints regarding pressure sales tactics included elegance salons not enabling consumers to leave the premises unless they purchased increased price beauty deals, as well as performing higher end treatments on customers without their consent and charging all of them afterwards.
Complaints about misleading and false claims included beauty salons misleading consumers on the efficacy of beauty treatments, and exactly how certain treatments cure or alleviate pre-existing health ailments.
As online shopping continues growing in popularity, CASE observed that it also received more e-commerce problems last year – two, 530 – compared with 2, 206 in 2021, which was the 14. 7 percent increase.
Typical complaints included lacking items, failed deliveries and defective or even non-conforming goods.
On Friday, SITUATION president Melvin Yong said the consumer is concerned about the razor-sharp increase in prepayment deficits from 2021 to 2022, especially contrary to the backdrop of an unsure economic climate.
“We reiterate our call on the Government to consider mandating prepayment protection in industries which gather large sums of prepayment, ” he said in a Fb post.
Mr Yong, who is also a Member of Parliament, urged consumers to patronise CaseTrust-accredited businesses, “which are committed to reasonable business practices plus consumer-friendly policies”.
He noted that CaseTrust-accredited renovation companies, for instance, have to protect consumers’ prepayments via the purchase of a deposit performance connection. The bond shields deposits against drawing a line under, winding up or even liquidation before the renovation is completed.
Since Jan 31, over 1, 200 companies across the beauty, immediate selling, jewellery, motoring, retail and renovation industry have been certified under CaseTrust.
Overall, CASE obtained 15, 144 problems in 2022, that was slightly lower than the 15, 515 problems it received within 2021.
This added that it provided advice to 88 per cent of shoppers on how to resolve their particular disputes with companies, and helped 12 per cent of them bargain and mediate their particular disputes.
Regarding two-thirds of these situations were resolved, with S$2. 1 mil – in-cash and in-kind – recovered for consumers.