$12 Haircut Shop Refused to Give Refund After Teen Put $20 Into Machine in Downtown East

Have you ever bought something before realising that the staff there wouldn’t give you the change?

That’s exactly what happened to this father-son duo just last week.

Except that the “staff” technically wasn’t an actual staff member; it was a payment machine.

Last Saturday (8 July), a man surnamed Wu (Hanyu pinyin) brought his 16-year-old son to the K Cuts outlet at Downtown East at around 1 pm.

When speaking to Shin Min Daily News, he explained that his son’s decision to get a haircut was an impromptu one, so they decided to visit K Cuts since they were already at the mall.

Put $20 in for a $12 Haircut, Couldn’t Get Change and Couldn’t Top Up to Get Two Haircuts

Once they got to the salon, Mr Wu saw that the price of a haircut was $12, so he gave his son two $10 bills.

However, his son only realised that the machine was unable to issue change or a refund after putting both bills in.

Mr Wu then asked the staff there if he could pay another $4 to get both his and his son’s hair cut.

(For those who haven’t done the maths yet, $20+$4=$24, $24÷2=$12.)

However, the staff member told him that that was not possible as the machine is only able to dispense one queue number per transaction.

With regards to this, Mr Wu admitted that it was partly his fault since he did not read the words printed on the sign on the machine carefully before giving his son the money.

However, he felt that the staff member could have been more flexible in dealing with the issue.

After the incident, Mr Wu also took to social media to alert others about the no change and refund rule.

He also encouraged others to look out and be alert about the rule.

Staff Member’s Explanation: They Do Not Have the Key to the Money

When Shin Min reporters visited the salon, they noted that customers have to get their queue number from the payment machine.

As long as the amount of money they feed the machine is $12 or more, they will automatically receive a queue number.

A sign stuck on the machine also indicated that the machine is unable to issue change or refunds.

When interviewing the staff there, the staff member said that they explained to Mr Wu that they do not have the key to the money box in the machine, meaning that they would not be able to issue change to customers.

They also pointed out that the machine had already told customers that no refunds or change would be issued.

Apart from that, the staff also told reporters that if they do not have the exact amount of money, they can scan the QR code on the machine to carry out cashless payment.

K Cuts Outlets Have Since Changed the Colour of Notice on the Machine

Beyond that, the staff also revealed that they have seen frequent cases of customers paying too much and realising afterwards that they would not be able to receive change.

Hence, the headquarters decided to change the colour of the “no change, no refund” notice to make it stand out more.

In the past, the notice was blue and white in colour, just like the machine.

Now, the notice comprises black and red words printed on a yellow background.

The staff added that there has been a decrease in the number of people paying extra after the new notices were put up.