A 75-year-old woman with hearing impairment is claimed to have purchased an S$880 hair treatment package at a salon in Yishun, forcing her family member to file a police complaint.
According to Chinese media outlet Shin Min Daily News, the elderly woman's son-in-law, Huang, 43, explained that his mother-in-law initially visited "A Salon" at Block 414, Yishun Ring Road, for a S$38 hair dye service.
Huang, an engineer, added that as the dyeing process was almost done, the salon staff introduced a scalp care treatment, mentioning that it would only cost "about S$80" and take just a few minutes. The woman then proceeded to pay using her bank card.
Huang told Shin Min Daily News, "At that time, my mother-in-law was told that it would cost around $80, so she took out her bank card to pay." Later, the family found out that the salon transaction totalled $880 for a 12-session package.
Huang suspects that the salon employee exploited his mother-in-law and took advantage of her hearing difficulties, claiming that the old lady was completely unaware of what she had signed up for. He further claimed that his mother-in-law was under the impression that "she had paid $80 plus," unaware that she had purchased the salon package for ten times the price.
Highlighting the severity of the lady's condition, her son-in-law said, "We have to shout every time we talk to her so that she can hear us."
Huang said that he came to know about this incident last week as he came across the SMS notification of the transaction at the salon on his mother-in-law's phone. Following the discovery, he made a police complaint after being denied a refund by the owner of the salon.
In response to AsiaOne's queries, the police confirmed the report that has been lodged by the family.
On Monday, a reporter from Shin Min visited the salon to interview the employee surnamed Zhao, who had served the elderly woman. In defense, the employee said, "I wrote the price on a piece of paper and showed it to her, and she said OK."
The employee added that as he was aware of her hearing difficulty, he took confirmation from the elderly woman five times before going ahead with the sale. He said that the payment was made via a NETS terminal and "the font is so big that it's easy to see when paying."
The employee concluded that the salon had opened for only half a year and faces strong competition with nine other salons in the vicinity. So, it would not damage its reputation by cheating customers.
Post the incident, Huang said that his mother-in-law does not intend to patronize the salon despite having purchased the treatment package. According to him, "(My mother-in-law) is a frugal person and finds it hard to accept the situation."
Huang added, "We don't expect to get a refund. We just want to let everyone know about this and remind the elderly to pay attention."
