Numerous questionable practices at some beauty salons in Nghe An?

Controversy erupts over beauty treatments costing over half a billion VND.

On June 30th, a woman in Nghi Xuan district (Ha Tinh province) shared a video on social media stating that her relative fainted and had to be rushed to the hospital after undergoing a cosmetic procedure at the Mayo Clinic's Nghe An branch (12 Nguyen Phong Sac Street, Vinh City). The incident immediately caused a stir, especially when the woman claimed the bill amounted to 513 million VND.

Specifically, on June 27th, after seeing an advertisement on social media, Ms. H. (30 years old) went to this beauty salon for a skin analysis and melasma treatment. However, there she was taken to a private consultation room, described as a closed environment with "signs of hypnosis" or "psychological manipulation."

After receiving consultation, Ms. H. agreed to undergo several services and paid 513 million VND. The invoice included many services with very strange names, such as the "Breast Enhancement" service, priced at 160 million VND... After undergoing a few services such as nose thread lift and breast injections, she fainted and had to be rushed to the hospital. Two days after the incident, the beauty clinic had still not offered a solution or provided any relevant contract documents, so her family shared the video on social media to report the matter.

However, by July 1st, Ms. H.'s posts, as well as those of her relatives, had been deleted from social media. Ms. H. later posted a "clarification" on social media stating that "the incident was due to a misunderstanding between the family and the beauty salon." Ms. H. received a large portion of the money for the services that had not been performed back. As a result, the bill was reduced to 133 million VND.

According to our investigation, this is not the first time this establishment has been criticized for its shady practices. Also on July 1st, we received a complaint from Mr. Chu Minh Q. (36 years old, Vinh City), accusing Mayo Clinic of deceiving customers by misrepresenting their services.

According to Mr. Q.'s statement, on January 18th, through an advertisement on Facebook, he contacted this establishment to use their abdominal slimming service. Upon arrival, he was advised by an employee to use "Package 2, using Spanish technology," priced at 25 million VND. The aesthetic clinic guaranteed the use of only modern, non-invasive equipment, no injections or medications, and a minimum of 3 sessions, promising a reduction of 7cm to 9cm in all three body measurements. Only after paying the full amount was he allowed to use the service for the first time.

According to the report, a female employee used various machines to treat his abdominal area. About 30 minutes later, another female employee, who introduced herself as being from the Sales department, continuously advised and persuaded him to have a type of medication injected under his skin to help stimulate fat burning. This medication was of unknown origin, brand, and had no label. After listening to the advice, the male customer agreed to have three injections.

Meanwhile, according to regulations, this beauty salon is not allowed to perform any invasive procedures, not even a single injection or pill.

After the first day, upon returning home, Mr. Q. reconsidered, believing that the experience was not as the beauty clinic had initially advised and promised. Therefore, he requested to stop using the service and get a refund. "The consultant promised to report it to management, but I have received no response to this day," Mr. Q. said.

Suspicious behavior

Besides Mayo Clinic, Medic Skin Beauty Institute (238A Tran Phu Street) in Vinh City also frequently receives negative feedback from customers.

Speaking with a reporter from Nghe An Newspaper, Mr. Nguyen Hoang H. (residing in Vinh City) said that he had just directly "rescued" his mother-in-law and her friend while they were getting beauty treatments at this beauty salon. According to Mr. H., after seeing an advertisement on social media for a service priced at only 1 million VND, his mother-in-law and her friend came here on the afternoon of June 30th for skin whitening. “When we first went for the consultation, the staff said it would only take about an hour, but we waited from early afternoon until almost evening and still didn't see my mother and her friend return. Because we had something to do at home that afternoon, after making dozens of calls, the staff finally let my mother answer one phone call. She picked up the phone and immediately said that her friend had just asked her to transfer money and that all her gold necklaces and rings had been stolen. While she was speaking, the medical staff snatched the phone and hung up. I felt uneasy, so I immediately ran to Medic Skin Aesthetic Clinic. At that time, many staff members tried to stop me, but I still rushed into each room, searching and shouting loudly. Finally, I found my mother-in-law's friend in a locked room on the 4th floor. At that time, my mother-in-law was not lucid and it took her a long time to calm down,” Mr. H. recounted.

Later, Mr. H. heard from the woman that after going in for a beauty treatment, she was persuaded by the staff to agree to a 20 million VND beauty package. However, because she only had 7 million VND, the staff took her gold necklace and rings. A short while later, the staff reported that the rings and necklace were still missing… “After we arrived and threatened to report them to the authorities, the staff finally took out the gold necklace and rings and returned them,” Mr. H. recounted.

As for Mr. H.'s mother-in-law, after receiving consultation at Medic Skin, she was referred by medical staff to Mayo Clinic on Nguyen Phong Sac Street to continue with other services.

"These two beauty salons seem to be part of the same system or have a close connection. As for my mother, she's too embarrassed to tell us how much she spent on beauty treatments," Mr. H added.

Similarly, Ms. Tran Thi Nh. (37 years old, Cuong Gian commune, Nghi Xuan district, Ha Tinh province) said that she and a friend initially only went to Medic Skin for eyelid surgery at a price of 299,000 VND, but were later advised to undergo additional facial lifting services at higher prices. Initially, they advised her on a 25 million VND Korean facial lifting package to fill out her face and temples for feng shui purposes, but later advised her to undergo more expensive packages, up to 65 million and 115 million VND. The beauty salon promised her monthly installments of 3-4 million VND, but after undergoing these treatments, there was no significant improvement.

Ms. Nh. recounted that after receiving the service, the beauty salon staff pressured her to pay the entire amount at once, even demanding a gold deposit and preventing her from leaving until 9 PM. The situation escalated when they threatened her and demanded immediate payment, to the point where she threatened to call her family for help.

On the morning of July 2nd, a reporter from Nghe An Newspaper contacted a representative of Mayo Clinic, located at 12 Nguyen Phong Sac Street. Ms. Pham Thi Thiem, who introduced herself as the manager of Mayo Clinic's Nghe An branch, acknowledged that Ms. H. from Nghi Xuan district (Ha Tinh province) had visited the clinic for beauty treatments on June 27th, costing 513 million VND. However, Ms. Thiem denied that the female customer fainted and required emergency medical attention after the treatment.

Ms. Thiem claimed that the large sum of money was due to the customer registering for multiple services. After receiving feedback from Ms. H., the beauty salon refunded the customer the money for the unused services. However, Ms. Thiem refused to disclose how much of the total 513 million VND had been refunded to the customer.

Regarding some of the services listed on the invoice, such as "Breast Enhancement" priced at up to 160 million VND, when the reporter asked what this service was, Ms. Thiem did not answer specifically but said, "This is full-body cosmetic surgery."

Regarding the case of customer Chu Minh Q., Ms. Thiem refused to comment, stating that there was "no basis" for the claim, even though the reporter had provided the full name, address, and date of the visit to the facility for weight loss services.

Despite claiming to be the manager, when reporters asked numerous questions, Ms. Thiem consistently denied knowing the answers. Specifically, this female manager didn't even know if the beauty salon had been licensed to practice medicine.

In addition, Ms. Thiem also admitted that this beauty salon did not list its prices.

Meanwhile, Mr. Tran Nguyen Truyen, Chief Inspector of the Department of Health, said that after receiving the complaint, the Department of Health's Inspectorate, in coordination with the Vinh City Police, went to the beauty salon to conduct an inspection.

“This beauty salon is not licensed to practice medicine. Therefore, invasive services such as injections, laser treatments, or administering medication to clients are all violations. This means they are only allowed to use services that are registered for business and external care. Initially, we are checking to see if there are any violations regarding unlicensed medical practice as the client complained. We are also checking the price listings. As for financial matters and signs of fraud, the police will investigate,” Mr. Truyen said.

As for Medic Skin Beauty Clinic, reporters have repeatedly tried to contact the management but have been unsuccessful. The staff there said that the manager is frequently absent and refuses to cooperate.