Complaints over Hong Kong beauty chains surge in wake of abrupt closures, watchdog says
- Consumer Council says angry clients of three companies that closed on Wednesday seeking an average of HK$32,500 each
- Overall complaints about the industry are also on the rise, council chief says, despite pandemic having shuttered many outlets for months
The three spa chains – About Beauty, Dr Protalk and Top Comfort – all cited company restructuring in announcing their closures on Wednesday. The chains, which together ran about 10 locations across the city, each posted fliers at their entrances reading: “The company has been temporarily suspended due to internal issues until further notice.”
Gilly Wong Fung-han, the council’s chief executive, told a Friday morning radio show that, following news of the suspension, complaints about the chains had surged, with 125 received as of Thursday night.
The average amount of money involved per complaint – HK$32,500 – was higher than usual, she added.
Wong also revealed the council had received 581 complaints in total concerning beauty services in the first seven months of this year. There were 867 such complaints for all of 2019 and 850 in 2020.
“The number of consumer complaints concerning beauty services has been on the rise,” she said. “Although the operation of beauty parlours was suspended for most of last year due to the coronavirus pandemic, the number of complaints did not slow down.”