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A 33-year-old woman has alleged that she suffered second-degree burns on over 15 per cent of her body after going for a waxing session at a parlour located at Oxley Tower, near Tanjong Pagar, on Dec. 1.
Burns on thighs and legs
Speaking to Mothership, Elizabeth (not her real name) claimed the waxing resulted in burns on lower parts of her body, such as her thighs, legs and private area.
The hotel executive added that when she visited the doctor on Dec. 5, she was allegedly told the burns could result in scarring.
A photo of the tax invoice for her visit to the doctor showed the expenses came up to S$197.70.
Elizabeth also clarified that the most expensive portion of the tax invoice, Symbicort, was for her asthma while the rest of the expenses pertained to her burns.
She subsequently reached out to the shop asking for S$3,850 in compensation.
This figure includes a refund for the session, the amount she had spent on her medical expenses and a week's loss of income.
However, the parlour told her that as they are a small business, they are unable to properly compensate her over the matter.
Elizabeth further alleged, "They are just answering me with excuses: 'my skin was too dry/ some people are more sensitive/ she doesn’t speak good English/ I probably had a hot shower after waxing and that burned me'."
What happened on the day of the waxing
According to Elizabeth, she had allegedly sounded out twice during the waxing session about how the temperature of the wax was too hot.
She also shared a video with Mothership, which she claimed was taken by her husband on Dec. 5, when she returned to the parlour to confront them about the session.
In the video, the staff could be heard confirming she had stopped the waxing when Elizabeth said the wax was hot.
Staff: "Sorry, just now... last time I do for you, you checked that... when I apply the wax, you feel the temperature OK?"
Elizabeth: "No, I said it was hot."
Staff: "Then I stopped a while, right?"
Elizabeth: "And then you did it again. I said it's-"
Initially thought the redness and itchiness on body normal
Elizabeth added her body felt "bad" following the session on Dec. 2, with itchiness and redness.
However, she thought this was normal as she had never felt good after a waxing session.
In addition, the waxing had been done over a large area of her body, which made Elizabeth assume her body was simply in "shock".
The hotel executive further said she took ibuprofen -- a painkiller -- in response to her symptoms.
As of Dec. 3, Elizabeth pointed out she was still hoping at this point that the redness on her would simply disappear.
She also thought her symptoms were due to either "harsher work" or inadequate skincare.
She claimed she only noticed she had second-degree burns when she was still in pain on Dec. 4 and she asked her husband to take a look.
It was also at this time her skin supposedly started to peel, including on her frontal private area, while her back showed signs of blistering.
"I told the wax parlour I would meet on Monday (Dec. 5) because I need to go to doctor to understand how bad the burns are, and doctor tells me [there is a] chance of scarring," she said.
Elizabeth also alleged that she had wanted to see the doctor first before accusing "anyone of anything".
Why seek S$3,850 in compensation?
When asked about why she sought S$3,850 as compensation, Elizabeth told Mothership, "I cannot afford to risk my career by missing days at work."
This means having to suffer through her work, while sitting on her burns, and changing her pants three times a day due to the oozing and ointments on her injuries, she added.
This cost also does not include surgery or laser treatment to remove the scars, she said.
Waxing parlour: Customer did not say anything during the session
In response to Mothership's queries, the manager of the waxing parlour said in Mandarin she was told by her staff, who conducted the session for Elizabeth, that the executive had not said anything during the waxing.
The manager added that during the session, her staff will ask the customer if the temperature is tolerable and whether the wax is too hot.
However, Elizabeth supposedly did not say anything from the start to the end of the session.
With regard to the cost of Elizabeth's waxing session, the manager said it came up to about S$173.
Why didn't customer mention burns earlier?
The manager also noted that Elizabeth had left behind her hat on Dec. 1.
In questioning why she only brought up the issue of burns on Dec. 5, the manager pointed out that when she messaged Elizabeth on Dec. 3 about the hat, the executive did not mention she had burns in her reply of thanks.
She also questioned why Elizabeth did not let her know as soon as Friday about her situation, as she would have taken steps to help address her symptoms.
What Elizabeth told her staff on Dec. 5
The manager further said she was not in Singapore on Dec. 5 as she had returned to Malaysia to look after her mother.
The confrontation was between Elizabeth and her sole staff member, who had also done the waxing for the customer on Dec. 1.
The manager added that according to her staff member, Elizabeth had claimed she already felt uncomfortable immediately after the waxing session, was unable to sleep properly, and could not go to work on Dec. 2.
Elizabeth had also supposedly said there were no doctors available during the weekend.
The manager said when her staff informed about this matter later on the same day, she tried calling Elizabeth, who refused to pick up her call.
Manager tells customer's husband she will be handing matter over to lawyer
The manager said she eventually returned to Singapore on Dec. 7, whereupon she was allegedly contacted by Elizabeth's husband who said he wanted a peaceful resolution.
Her husband also supposedly said Elizabeth had decided to inform the media about the matter and that he would be coming down to the parlour on Dec. 8.
In response, the manager told Elizabeth's husband she would be handing the matter over to a lawyer and asked him not to come down to affect her business.
The manager also told Mothership she was afraid of misunderstanding what was being said as her command of English is weak.
Being contacted by Elizabeth's husband also made her feel highly pressured and affected her sleep.
Husband also alleged that she had bought the five-star reviews for her parlour
The manager also said she took issue with a review that her husband left on her parlour's Facebook page as it said she "had bought" her "Google reviews".
"I have been approached many times with requests about whether I want to buy Google reviews. I replied, sorry, my reviews were written by my customers themselves. I don't need to buy them," she asserted.
Currently looking for a consultant to verify Elizabeth's burns
On the issue of compensation, the manager further alleged that Elizabeth had also suggested collecting the compensation in two tranches, one on Dec. 8 and the other on Jan. 8.
When Mothership asked the manager about why she took issue with the compensation, she said that she initially felt it was too high.
However, upon finding out more the situation, she felt that the reasons Elizabeth gave was strange, especially with regard to why she took so long to see a doctor.
The manager added that she feared if she provided the compensation, there would be "no ending" to the issue on account of Elizabeth claiming she had second-degree burns and scarring.
"If I compensate her after understanding the whole situation, that is an admission I burned her," the manager added.
In voicing out her fear of responding in the wrong way, she added that this was why she had sought out a lawyer and why she was also looking for a consultant to verify the burns on Elizabeth's body.
Top left image courtesy of Elizabeth, right image via Google
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