Nail Palace, a Singapore nail salon chain, was issued a court order to stop deceiving its customers, according to The Straits Times.
Their employees had been operating a ploy at two of their outlets, misleading customers into buying fungal treatment packages by telling them that they have fungus in their toenails.
Nail Palace will now need to declare that they have engaged in unfair practices for the next two years whenever they treat a customer.
The salon chain was also ordered to publish the same declaration in various newspapers as full-page notices.
The Competition and Consumer Commission of Singapore (CCCS) also sought restraining orders against the two outlets at Bukit Panjang Plaza and East Point Mall, according to Straits Times.
District Judge Elaine Lim also proclaimed that the two outlets had engaged in unfair practices by misleading a customer into paying thousands of dollars for the aforementioned fungal treatment package.
Customers told they had “fungus” in their toenails
The customer was told in December 2019 that she had fungus in her toenails and the staff added that her “infection” would spread to her husband, before offering her a 15-session package.
The customer was also misled into paying for other products, being told to take several lipsticks and lip balm after being told they were “free”, but she later found out that she was charged $678 for them.
The total amount of money that the customer paid for the packages and the items amounted to $11,401.92.
Another customer was cheated by the Nail Palace outlet at Bukit Panjang Plaza, where she was told that she had fungus on her big toe.
She was told that her other toenails would be infected if she doesn’t get the treatment package, and the outlet then offered her a 12-session package for $3,000.
The customer later went to see a doctor, who told her that her toenails didn’t contain fungus, and the customer then sought a refund for the sessions (of the package) that she didn’t use at the Small Claims Tribunal.