The Korea Herald

피터빈트

Hair salons called on to improve price transparency

By 임정요

Published : June 30, 2016 - 15:03

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Hair salons will be obligated to inform clients of the complete details of their service fees prior to doing the work, effective from July 15.

The Ministry of Health and Welfare said Wednesday that the latest industrywide guideline would help eradicate the prevalent malpractice of the enterprises charging more than clients expect. 

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This move comes as a response to an incident in early June when a disabled customer was charged 10 times the rate she had expected.

The owner of the hair salon was later arrested under charges of fraud.

According to the health ministry, all hair salons must draw up a detailed bill that the client agrees to and accepts before proceeding beginning.

There is no set format for the bill, but content names of specific services and their individual rates, names and rates of hair products used, applied discounts and the final charge must be noted.

Previously, varying charges according to client’s hair length had made salons’ price ranges unclear. In cases when discounts are applied, the original price should be separately stated along with the applied discount.

By Lim Jeong-yeo (kaylalim@heraldcorp.com)