THE Consumers Association of Singapore (Case) is considering firmer measures to curb pressure selling.

Pressure selling involves consumers being compelled to buy products under stressful conditions.

While the number of such cases has dipped from 389 in the first nine months of last year to 351 in the same period this year, the figure is still large, said Case’s executive director, Mr Seah Seng Choon.

The drop, probably due to the recent downturn, “is not significant enough to show that the situation is improving”, he explained.

Almost 40 per cent of this year’s cases involve the beauty sector, such as spas and health clubs, similar to past years’.

In 2007, Case suggested changes to the Consumer Protection (Fair Trading) Act to allow people to cancel beauty-industry purchases within a cooling- off period.

But the changes were not adopted when the Act was amended in April. Case will continue to push for the cooling-off period to be extended to the beauty industry, said Mr Seah.

Currently, the provision of a cooling-off period of five days is required only for timeshare and related contracts, and direct-selling purchases like door-to-door sales.

Financial products have their own cooling-off period as well. Mr Seah said that consumers subjected to pressure selling by beauty shops are likely to be enticed by discounts or free trials, and then approached to buy products while undergoing treatment.

“They could be half naked and the staff could tell them to buy a cream for the treatment,” he said. “In that situation, it’s hard for consumers to think clearly about their purchases.”

The cooling-off period would give them more time to consider what they have bought, he said.

In the meantime, Case set up a CaseTrust accreditation scheme for the beauty industry in May. Accredited firms would have met minimum standards for the trade.

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