Brawl over brow: Teen customer and beautician get into fight over $15 refund

A dispute over a $15 treatment resulted in a catfight between a 15-year-old teenage girl and staff at a beauty salon, with the police eventually called in.

This incident happened at The Bencoolen shopping mall located along Bencoolen Street on Monday (Nov 28), reported Shin Min Daily News.

A staff member at the salon, surnamed Wang, 34, told the Chinese daily that the customer was the one who initiated the fight, sharing that the teenager went to the salon for a brow-trimming service with a male friend on Monday.

And after the treatment, this customer paid $15 and left.

However, not long after that, she returned to ask for a refund. She also told Wang that she wanted to look for the beautician who had attended to her.

When Wang refused her request, she said the teenager shoved her and hit her neck. The former then hit her back, claiming she did so in self defence.

In a CCTV footage shown to Shin Min Daily News, the beauty salon pointed out that the customer did not appear to show any dissatisfaction when paying and that her entire visit took less than 10 minutes.  

Wang added that she had only been working in Singapore for a month and is traumatised by the encounter. 

Pricked by needle

The 15-year-old student surnamed Lin, however, countered that during the treatment, another beautician kept trying to push other services that were offered by the salon.

Lin said she rejected them all, reported Shin Min.  

And that's when trouble started, she claimed, saying that during the treatment the beautician used a needle to prick the skin around her left temple twice. 

At the same time, Lin recalled the beautician saying "one for $5... two for $10", explaining that she was removing her "oil seeds".

"Only when she was about to prick my skin for the third time did I realise what was happening and avoided [the needle]."

Worried over her safety if she were to confront the staff in the shop, Lin said she left immediately after paying.

However, she said she later returned to the salon, approaching a staff member outside to enquire about the name of the shop. She said that she also asked to see the beautician who tended to her, which led to the 'fight'.

Lin filmed the exchange on her phone, which she said angered the woman.

"When she found out [that I was filming], she smacked the phone out of my hands and hit my left cheek causing me to fall on the ground," said Lin.

She added that two other staff members approached the pair, and one even grabbed her shoulders from behind.

Lin said she made a police report on the spot.

The teenager told Shin Min that she suffered injuries to her eyes and limbs, including a fractured index finger, and has so far spent more than $300 on medical expenses. She said she intends to seek compensation from the salon. 

'Hard-sell' tactics 

When a reporter from Shin Min contacted the salon again, a staff member who did not wish to be named suggested that Lin could have called for help from her male friend waiting outside the room, or she could have refused to pay if she did not want the additional services. 

As for the physical altercation which occurred between the colleague and Lin, the staff member pointed out that it was Lin who blocked the colleague's way first and shoved her. 

When contacted by AsiaOne, police confirmed that a report had been lodged.

Based on data released by the Consumers Association of Singapore (CASE) in July this year, the beauty industry is among the top three industries for consumer complaints received from 2021 to 2022, mainly due to "pressure sales tactics and misleading claims".

There were 717 complaints lodged against the beauty industry from January to June this year, compared to 627 for the same period last year. 

Under the Consumer Protection (Fair Trading) Act, consumers have the right to cancel regulated contracts (which include time share and direct sales contracts) within five days.

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celest.tham@asiaone.com