10 ml 'eye-tightening liquid' for $1,200: Store in Nex accused of hard selling beauty care products to elderly

One man has taken to social media to complain about staff of a beauty shop "disturbing the peace" in Nex with their touting and hard selling tactics.

In a Facebook post on the Complaint Singapore group on Friday (Oct 11), Derrick Law said that his 68-year-old mother was pressured by The Mineral Boutique to buy a small bottle of "eye-tightening liquid".

Law also accused the store manager of pestering his non-English-speaking mother to reveal her credit card details.

"Moreover, Mineral Boutique's products are astronomically expensive and unjustifiable," he said. "[How] can a 10ml bottle of eye-tightening liquid cost $1,200?

"In my experience, an alternative brand costs only less than $150."

The man also pointed out that the shop had a history of "exerting predatory pressure selling and unethical sale tactics on the elderly shoppers".

He shared screenshots of complaints from Google Reviews, with more than a dozen customers taking offence with The Mineral Boutique's sale tactics in their Nex and Jewel Changi Airport outlets.

"I hope Singaporeans will be educated about the existence of such retail shops in the neighbourhood which employ aggressive salespeople to target the elderly customers who can easily be convinced to spend an insane amount of money on skincare products," said Law.

He added that multiple police reports, as well as complaints to the Consumers Association of Singapore and Competition and Consumer Commission of Singapore have been made.

AsiaOne has contacted The Mineral Boutique for comments.

Under the Miscellaneous Offences (Public Order and Nuisance) Act, it is illegal for businesses to "solicit any other person persistently" which "causes annoyance".

First-time offenders would be liable on conviction of a fine of between $1,000 to $5,000 and/or imprisonment of up to six months.

AsiaOne has contacted the Mineral Boutique for comments.

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chingshijie@asiaone.com