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.

“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.