‘Pressured into buying it’: Tourists who have stiff neck and wanted a plain massage paid nearly $ 1,000 on treatments in a Chinese medicine clinic

SINGAPORE: A supposed relaxing treatment turned into a nightmare for a woman and her boyfriend when they visited a local Chinese medicine clinic for a massage. Instead of receiving the treatment that they initially wanted, they were persuaded to avail other services and ended up paying nearly $1,000. 

As reported by Shin Min Daily News, a 30-year-old professional from Thailand shared that she and her boyfriend came to Singapore to travel. During their trip, she felt unwell because of a stiff neck and went to the local Chinese medicine clinic for treatment.

At first, she was recommended a one-hour massage, muscle-relaxing treatment, and a one-hour moxibustion treatment. Her boyfriend wanted a one-hour back massage as well. During her procedure, the staff claimed that her stiff neck was severe and that the recommended treatment wouldn’t relieve it, so the staff suggested another procedure which cost $198 per hour. 

“I thought the price was acceptable, and since I really wanted to relieve my stiff neck, I agreed immediately,” she claimed. 

Furthermore, the staff also informed her that her boyfriend requested an additional 30 minutes for massage, and she agreed to it as well. 

When she finished her treatment, she saw the staff performing cupping and scraping on her boyfriend, and knowing that her boyfriend did not like this procedure, she suspected that he was pressured into getting the service. 

When they were about to pay, they were charged $866. Her boyfriend also paid an additional $88 for an extended service period, making their total $954. The woman was dissatisfied with the service, and later called the police to file the report. 

The woman claimed: “Since this was our first time visiting Singapore, we didn’t know about the pricing of massage parlours here. We also wanted to be polite, so we didn’t dare to argue too much at the time, but the more we thought about it, the more we felt that we might have been scammed, so we called the police.” 

Later on, the woman stated that the clinic apologised to her and her boyfriend about the incident and was willing to refund 15% of the total cost. The woman later requested a 50% refund, which the clinic refused. 

“I understand that they also made sacrifices, and we did receive some services, so I don’t ask for a full refund, but I think refunding half the amount is reasonable,” the woman declared. 

In other news related to Singapore complaints about business services, there was a report where a customer raised food safety concerns when a small cockroach was suspected of being found in a takeout soy milk. 

“We discard food immediately if we find it contaminated at home. Why would restaurant staff think it’s okay to continue selling such products? Where is the food safety?” the customer declared. 

Read more about the news story here.