HE PUSHED really hard to get her to commit to a package. But she just wouldn’t bite.

The accounts executive, who wished to be known only as Miss Tan, 26, did her own checks and became suspicious.

While she is glad she didn’t lose any money, she regrets not telling her story earlier.

She told The New Paper that she was at the beauty chain’s Orchard Central outlet in October last year and hada bad experience with its “pressure selling” tactics. She said: “I got a call last year telling me about a $6 manicure promotion. I decided to give it a try and was even prepared to sign up for a package if the deal was good.”

Halfway through her manicure session, a man entered theroomto give his sales pitch.

“He tried to ‘hard sell’ the packages saying that they cost $988, $1,188 or $1,488,” she said. When she asked for cheaper packages, he tried to convince her by “namedropping”.

But with so many customers, how would she get an appointment?

Noproblem, he said. I’ll put you onthe “VIP” list. She said: “It sounded very appealing. He even offered $1,000 extra credit. The promotion meant I could get a classic manicure and pedicure for only $20.” The market rate here for such a service ranges from $40 to $50.

But the prudent buyer was still not fully convinced, deterred by the man’s demeanourand attitude. She said: “I was suspicious. He said the chain was famousworldwide, yet I’ve never heard of it.”

She grew irritated when the man said that the offer was only valid for that day and that the salon would not entertain “walk-in customers” in future.

She said: “I don’t like such tactics. I told him I wasn’t prepared to pay that amount that day. I asked for some time.”

The man, looking unhappy, then gave her his name and cellphone number and told her to call him the next day.

She never called him. She went home that day and did an online search about the company.

She said: “I found an article on a South African news website. It said a shop called Wax in the City opened in Johannesburg, but closed a few months later. “It was liquidated and consumers were unable to get their money back.”

Investigating further, she found the Johannesburg website of Wax in the City.

Website’s design

“The website’s design was similar to the Singapore’s websiteand both logos were the same,” she said. Wanting to warn potential consumers about it, she said that she called the Commercial Affairs Department (CAD).

“I asked if what I found out was sufficient to warrant an investigation to begin but the officer directed me to call the Consumers Association of Singapore (Case) instead,” she said.

Miss Tan then went to the Case website but learnt that she had to pay $25 to lodge a formal complaint. She said: “I found the process troublesome. The website said the process would take four to six weeks. “I don’t mind paying $10 to talk to an officer about it, but to pay $25 to write my own report? I found that too much,so I didn’t do it.”

This article was first published in The New Paper.