SINGAPORE – Amid a high number of complaints against businesses in the beauty industry in recent years, the Consumers Association of Singapore (Case) is working with a local industry organisation to give CaseTrust accreditation to 50 beauty and nail salons.
Beauty and nail salons will earn the CaseTrust accreditation if they have “consumer-friendly policies, such as clear fee and refund policies, transparent pricing and marketing, a cooling-off period to allow consumers to seek full refund of payment if they do not wish to proceed with their packages, and well-trained personnel to provide good customer service”.
This was announced on April 15 by Case as it signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) for collaboration with the Nationwide Association for International Licenses and Skills (Beauty Wellness Singapore), or Nails, to add 50 CaseTrust-accredited beauty and nail salons to the beauty industry.
Nails, previously known as Nailist Association for International Licenses Singapore, is an organisation that promotes the local nail and beauty services industry.
The collaboration between Case and Nails aims to jointly enhance standards, promote consumer confidence and address common consumer pain points in the beauty industry, Case said.
Case president Melvin Yong and Nails chairwoman Rachel Tang signed the MOU.
Case said it has received a high number of complaints involving the beauty industry in recent years – 1,434 complaints in 2021, 1,441 in 2022 and 1,166 in 2023. Most of them were regarding misleading and false claims, pressure sales tactics and unsatisfactory service.
Currently, there are beauty and nail salons that already have the accreditation, but these places get the accreditation on their own initiative. There were 537 accredited establishments as at March 31.
Nails did not share the number of members it represents.
Said Mr Yong: “Through this collaboration, we hope to better address consumers’ pain points and, hopefully, reduce the number of consumer complaints.
“Accreditation will help Nails’ members differentiate themselves from the varied beauty and nail salons currently in the market, and allow consumers (to have) greater assurance when patronising the accredited beauty and nail salons.”
Under the partnership, Nails will be onboarding 50 member businesses to undergo the CaseTrust accreditation process, Case noted. Details of the accreditation process will be announced later in 2024.
When the process is completed, the beauty and nail salons will obtain accreditation under the new CaseTrust Bronze tier, which is focused on small and medium-sized enterprises. The tier will be launched later in 2024.
Case said its collaboration with Nails supplements the existing CaseTrust accreditation scheme for spa and wellness businesses, which was launched in 2010.
Case also said it will be working with Nails to incorporate industry best practices into the Nails’ skills framework for beauty wellness services to train and license beauty services professionals.
Those working in the spa field are required to undergo courses to be recognised as professionals. But those in the nails sector do not need any qualifications.
Case said if there are any unresolved contractual disputes between Nails’ member businesses and customers, parties involved are able to mediate their disputes at the Case mediation centre.
In 2022, the centre mediated 137 cases and achieved a settlement rate of 77.3 per cent, with more than $412,000 recovered for consumers.
