bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

helpersCheckIsPostiesArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

hooksAmpRedirectArticle

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

paywallTypes

createdDate

publishedDate

moreOnThisArticles

urlAlias

commentCount

authorLocations

authors

corrections

sponsorType

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

socialHeadline

headline

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

additionalInfoBoxes

quizIds

images

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

sponsor

pdfFiles

seriesReverseOrder

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

readingTime

customTimezone

liveContents

Wynna Wong

A trade group for Hong Kong’s beauty industry has warned that unscrupulous salons are falsely using its name to coax customers into switching locations and spending more money through high-pressure sales tactics.
The Federation of Beauty Industry had received a number of complaints from consumers over the past few months accusing it of recommending unreliable and dishonest salons to them, chairman Nelson Ip Sai-hung said on Thursday.
“We were very shocked to hear about it as well … this has never happened before,” he said.
Ip told a radio show that the number of cases in which customers were persuaded to switch locations only to find out upon arrival that the new salon was run by a completely different operator had been rising significantly.
“Staff told them their old salon was no longer in operation and that the Federation of Beauty Industry had arranged for them to come here instead,” Ip said.
“This is completely false … we realised our name was being misappropriated out there.”
Victims said that once they arrived at the new premises, staff used high-pressure sales tactics, telling them how horrible their old salons were and subsequently persuading them to pay tens of thousands of dollars more for superior treatments and products.
Those who initially agreed on the “upgraded” services continued to face more badgering.
“When they started refusing, the staff told them that they would get the ‘downgraded’ treatments instead, which made the customers very frustrated,” Ip said.
Others found themselves unable to book sessions for months after paying extra money, with staff ignoring their calls and messages.

“One victim said she paid extra fees just to have her face cleaned and then she was left alone with a light shining in her face for over an hour,” Ip said.
The federation realised such scams were occurring repeatedly across multiple beauty salons after complaints were lodged. Ip described it as “worrying” and called on consumers to beware.
“One customer even directed a complaint at me, Nelson Ip Sai-hung, because the salons explicitly said I was the one who recommended them.”
Ip later told a press conference the federation knew of two cases so far this year in which its name was being used, but at least a dozen more people were being tossed around to different beauty salons and not getting the services they had paid for.
One victim, who only gave her surname, Liu, said she had been transferred three times over the past year, after a salon she had used for a decade shut down as the owner emigrated.
Liu said she and her family still had HK$30,000 worth of treatments to receive, but staff at the new companies refused to serve her because they claimed their ones were significantly more expensive than her original salon.
For example, a facial previously cost HK$200 each time, but at a new salon it would be HK$1,500, and if she wanted to finish the remaining 17 she had bought, she would need to pay the difference of HK$1,300 each time.
One of the new salons backed down after Liu refused to pay and threatened to sue, but then ignored her calls and messages, or cancelled her appointments at the last minute.
“In the end, they even blocked my number,” she said. “Honestly, it has been a frustrating experience and I am at loss with what to do next … even my lawyer tells me my case is complicated.”
She said she knew of many people like her who had just given up fighting their cases.
Ip also said he believed salons paid each other for customers’ information as several victims said they had been transferred more than once.
He said the beauty industry was “particularly vulnerable” to such scams since salons tended to sell their products as prepaid packages, adding treatments were usually conducted across several appointments instead of one-off sessions.
“It is normal for businesses to go under, especially in the current economic situation,” he said.
“But it is important that salons protect their customers’ rights and ensure they are transferred to a good alternative salon to complete their packages.”
Ip also reminded the public of the industry’s self-initiated “Beauty Safety Net”, which has been available since 2008.
The voluntary programme brings together a network of salons which have promised to complete the remaining treatments for customers without extra costs if their original establishments shut down.
He encouraged the public to keep records and receipts in case they needed to use the safety net in the future, so the organisation could better help them to arrange for remaining treatments.
The Consumer Council told the Post it had received 1,549 complaints related to beauty salon closures over the past four years, involving HK$46.9 million.
Most of them – 1,055 involving HK$41.8 million – were in 2021, with the watchdog noting more than 1,000 cases that year were linked to a single beauty group that shut down abruptly. In 2022 and 2023, 70 and 119 complaints were recorded respectively.
However, the council noted that in the first five months this year 305 cases, involving HK$2.3 million, were reported, a situation it described as “deserving of attention”.
The watchdog said according to past complaints, many salons used “questionable” sales methods after obtaining new customers through transfer, and reminded the public to weigh the risks before making prepaid purchases of any kind.


Hong Kong can save HK$90,000 per patient with better end-of-life care: think tank

Rescued Hong Kong leopard cat ‘growing stronger, preparing to return to wild’

Worker dies after iron beam falls at Hong Kong construction site amid rainstorm

Hong Kong authorities confirm bitumen in water in Sai Wan Ho private estate

Hong Kong society

Unscrupulous Hong Kong salons falsely using beauty federation’s name to scam customers

Several customers have accused the Federation of Beauty Industry of recommending unreliable salons to them. Photo: Xiaomei Chen

Federation of Beauty Industry chairman Nelson Ip says the body had been unaware of such activities before receiving complaints. Photo: Edmond So

Hong Kong police arrest 2 in raids on beauty salon after 15 customers develop bacterial infection following fat removal injections

Police arrested a 36-year-old and a 27-year-old woman during the raid. Photo: Handout

Police and the Centre for Health Protection have launched a joint investigation into Gals Glam Beauty following reports of adverse reactions among customers. Photo: Faceboook/@galsglam.beauty

One of the beauty centre involved is located inside the Hop Hing Industrial Building in Lai Chi Kok. Photo: Jelly Tse

Botched beauty treatments: Hong Kong clinics to be licensed to ensure quality of service, patient safety ‘starting as early as this year’

Potential clients outside a beauty salon. Hong Kong will require that a registered doctor or dentist be appointed as “chief medical executive” for each licensed clinic. Photo: May Tse

Two women were arrested during raids on several branches of an aesthetic centre in November after five customers suffered a bacterial infection in the wake of fat reduction procedures. Pictured is one of the clinics involved. Photo: Jelly Tse

Hong Kong customs arrests 3 beauty parlour staff suspected of using counterfeit skincare machines on clients

Inspector Vincent Kan of customs’ intellectual property investigation bureau with authentic and counterfeit skin treatment machines. Photo: Edmond So 

Genuine and fake beauty machines on display. The treatment using the authentic South Korea-made devices was sold as being able to fight sagging, wrinkles and other signs of ageing. Photo: Edmond So 

News

Hong Kong

Health & Environment

Victims say staff members use high-pressure sales tactics to persuade them to pay more money for superior treatments


Victims say staff members use high-pressure sales tactics to persuade them to pay more money for superior treatments.


Consumers

Scams and swindles