Singapore beauty industry sees 76.2% rise in complaints, over $2.1m lost in 2025: CASE
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox
The beauty industry accounted for over $2.1 million lost through prepayments, more than half of which were due to the abrupt closure of Wan Yang Health Product and Foot Reflexology Centre.
PHOTO: LIANHE ZAOBAO
SINGAPORE – There were 2,113 consumer complaints against the beauty industry here in 2025, a 76.2 per cent rise from 1,199 such complaints in 2024.
The industry accounted for over $2.1 million lost through prepayments, more than half of which was due to the abrupt closure of Wan Yang Health Product and Foot Reflexology Centre
Of the 2,113 complaints against the beauty industry, prepayment losses due to sudden business closures accounted for about two in five complaints, said the Consumers Association of Singapore (CASE) in a statement on Feb 9.
The beauty industry accounted for 78.6 per cent of prepayment losses logged across different sectors, while Wan Yang’s closure alone accounted for around $1.25 million in losses.
Other than the beauty industry, the travel industry also saw a surge in complaints, up 47.4 per cent from 420 in 2024 to 619 in 2025.
Of the 619 complaints, 50.7 per cent were related to cancellations, changes to travel plans or refund disputes.
Some 91.6 per cent of the complaints received involved online travel agents – such complaints almost doubled, by 49.2 per cent, from 380 in 2024 to 567 in 2025.
CASE said the increase in complaints against the travel industry was in line with higher travel volumes, with Singapore seeing all-time-high passenger movement of 69.98 million in 2025.
Including the beauty and travel industries, CASE received a total of 13,786 consumer complaints in 2025.
Other industries that accounted for the highest complaints were electrical and electronics, motorcars, renovation contractors and telecommunications.
The electrical and electronics sector saw a 3.4 per cent drop in complaints in 2025, with 41.9 per cent being related to defective goods and goods that did not conform to contract.
The motorcar industry saw a 16.5 per cent decrease in complaints. Around one-third of complaints were related to defective motorcars, and 15.7 per cent were related to failure to honour agreed terms and conditions after payments had been made.
Complaints against renovation contractors decreased from 962 to 787 in 2025, with prepayment losses in the sector decreasing from close to $730,000 to slightly above $190,000.
CASE said that the decline in complaints against renovation contractors can be attributed to greater consumer awareness and take-up of contractors accredited by CaseTrust, CASE’s accreditation arm.
The consumer rights watchdog also received 3,588 e-commerce complaints, a decrease of 22.7 per cent compared with the 4,641 complaints in 2024.
CASE president Melvin Yong said: “The sharp rise in prepayment complaints in 2025, particularly in the beauty sector, highlights the risks consumers face when paying upfront without adequate safeguards.
“Our consumer protection system needs to step in before problems happen, not after. CASE will work closely with the Consumer Protection Review Panel to examine prepayment risks and recommend stronger protections for consumers in higher-risk sectors.”
