Hairdressing & Beauty Exhibition in China (Photo : Getty Images)
In the U.S., a lot of massage parlors have been investigated and closed for being prostitution fronts. In Hong Kong, a beauty parlor’s manager and masseur were the subject of a complaint by a female customer because of the establishment’s alleged aggressive commercial practice.
She filed a lawsuit against 35-year-old Danny Kwan Ka-yee, the masseur, and 31-year-old Ling Pik-yee, manager of Spa Beauty in Causeway Bay, for allegedly forcing her to purchase beauty treatment while naked in the middle of a massage on Jan. 5, 2015, reported South China Morning Post. The two denied her accusation of engaging in aggressive commercial practice in the court of magistrate David Chu Yau-fong on Wednesday.
The woman said she went to the parlor to use a coupon given by her friends. But while having a massage, she said Kwan allegedly placed her hands on her breast as said there were lumps and also under her arms because of her lymphatic conditions. He then offered her a HK$24,000 treatment for the condition. He also sold her skincare treatment.
The victim said she just agreed to the sale because she was desperate to leave the parlor since she had to pick up her child. The woman described her experience as feeling like she was raped.
When she returned in July to use the services she paid for in January, she was against sold more packages worth HK$42,000.
A personal trainer, a former employee of a major gym in Hong Kong, explained the aggressive commercial practices to strong pressure from the establishments to meet ambitious sales targets, cutthroat competition and ridiculing of underperformers publicly.
