Spa outlet goes bust, customers alarmed

QX179R

10 Nov 09, 20:41

Has Wellness Village Spa left its customers in the lurch?

SINGAPORE: For over four years, it operated at the Pan Pacific Singapore hotel. But over the course of a day, the Wellness Village Spa left customers and the hotel in the lurch when it suddenly shut down, disconnecting its phone lines.

At its Pagoda Street outlet in Chinatown, the premises were empty, with the doors wide open when MediaCorp visited on Monday. Neighbouring shop owners said they saw movers shifting equipment and furniture on Sunday afternoon. In the quiet of the night, the same scene was seemingly repeated at the Pan Pacific outlet.

A nearby shop owner said the spa began retrenching workers last month. He noticed remaining staff packing up late last week, and believes that customers were told it was "fully booked" to keep them from coming down.

This was certainly the experience for one customer.

Ms Elaine Ong had been trying to make an appointment, but the spa kept telling her that it was fully booked.

The "first hint of trouble" came last Thursday when she called the Pan Pacific outlet and an employee told her only two therapists were being employed, said Ms Ong who is in her 30s.

As she has recently signed up for a $600 package, Ms Ong said she was a "bit alarmed".

At Pan Pacific on Monday, a hotel employee told guests the spa had closed without informing anyone. Dutch businessman Laros, 39, who had been peering through the spa’s glass door, said the hotel’s reception pointed him to the spa for a massage when he checked in.

The hotel told MediaCorp the spa "leases and operates the premises independently".

It "sincerely regrets any inconvenience experienced" and is now re—directing guests to nearby spa facilities. It will "continue to attempt" to contact Wellness Village Spa, it added.

Checks with the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority showed that Wellness Village was incoporated in June 2004 and is still a "live company". Permanent resident Lia Meyrina is listed as its director. MediaCorp could not reach the company.

Wellness Village Spa and Fitness, a limited liability partnership with Ms Lia and a Mr Christopher Tan Khee Howe listed as partners, was struck off in September. It was registered in 2007.

Consumers Association of Singapore (CASE) executive director Seah Seng Choon was "not surprised" by the spa’s actions.

"Don’t be fooled by the location. Spas are generally small businesses, unless they have an international chain ... Consumers have to be careful when transacting with them," said Mr Seah.

Since last year, CASE has received five complaints, including unsatisfactory services and difficulty in scheduling sessions, against Wellness Village. Four were made this year, with the latest complaint in October. CASE is trying to contact the company.

— TODAY/so

FireIce

10 Nov 09, 20:44

too many of these around these days
can expect more to close down.......
i dun have any packages with any spa......

charlize

10 Nov 09, 20:47

Times are bad.

Who believes no more recession in sg?

fireng

10 Nov 09, 22:12

Originally posted by charlize:

Times are bad.

Who believes no more recession in sg?

The stupid ministers believe lor

1greatguy

11 Nov 09, 12:57

See lah! if do special services, guarantee can survive one.

Real Massage is not for SG to do one...

QX179R

13 Nov 09, 01:25

Wellness Village spa closure: Who'll foot those credit card bills now?

SINGAPORE: Who foots the bill for credit card payments – the bank or cardholders – when a service provider makes a sudden disappearance?

The question is being asked after the shutdown of spa operator Wellness Village, which was reported in TODAY on Tuesday.

One customer was told by a former employee that the spa was still selling packages, some as costly as $10,000, up to the weekend before it closed down.

The four-year-old spa is also believed to have up to 7,000 customers and they are wondering about their credit card liability.

"I'm still paying off my instalment plan I paid with my credit card," said a customer who only wanted to be identified as Ms Tan. "Now that this has happened, will the bank take some liability?"

When contacted, the Association of Banks in Singapore (ABS) said the credit-issuing bank has already paid for the customers' purchases and the amount needs to be settled.

ABS said customers should take their grievances to the spa owner. Credit card holders can choose to pay in full or by instalments at some establishments.

"Regardless, the bank has a contractual obligation to pay the merchant in full once the charge slip is signed," UOB regional and Singapore head for cards and payment products Gan Ai Im also told MediaCorp.

"The card member, on the other hand, is obliged to make full settlement of all charges incurred on the card to the bank."

Wellness Village customers can call their card-issuing banks, however, to investigate or dispute the charges.

Said Citi Singapore vice-president of corporate affairs Caren Lee: "We understand the concerns of the customers and empathise with them in this situation."

"To support the investigation, the customer will need to provide supporting documents, including the purchase agreement with the merchant."

Consumers Association of Singapore executive director Seah Seng Choon said it has received 138 complaints from former customers since the spa's closure made headlines.

He said the "first thing the consumer needs to do is to file a claim against the business at the Small Claims Tribunal" to obtain an order demanding the business pays whatever amount is awarded.

This applies to firms that are still "live", such as Wellness Village, as indicated by checks with the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority.

If the amount is not settled, the consumer can make a writ of seizure or other legal action, said Mr Seah. But that could cost more than the amount some customers would forfeit.

Lawyer Doris Chia from David Lim & Partners pointed to another alternative: For customers to "band together" and wind up the company. An official receiver will then look into the accounts and affairs of the company to see if money can be clawed back.

Consumers can also file a police complaint. "If directors of the company continued to trade or accept more payments for packages even though they know there was no chance the company will be able to honour the packages, this ... may render the directors personally liable," said Ms Chia.

- TODAY/so

FireIce

13 Nov 09, 14:03

this type usually hard lah
tt person probably oredi not in this country
if want to fight it's going to take a lot of time and effort, and as mentioned, the amount incurred could be more than the amount they want to get back...
alotta ppl would kpkb now but later they would just give up bcos not worth it or too troublesome

QX179R

24 Dec 09, 22:05

Customers of Wellness Village and Simply Spa get help

Atos Wellness Group has offered to take in customers of Wellness Village and Simply Spa who were left in the lurch after the sudden closure of the two spas.

Atos's founder and CEO Ananda Rajah said, it's also working with other spa companies to take over the unused treatments of the affected clients as a matter of goodwill.

Over 500 customers who had paid upfront for spa and wellness services were affected when Wellness Village and Simply Spa got into trouble.

Now, they will be able to use up their unutilised treatments at no extra costs, thanks to a deal done by Atos Wellness Group.

Atos is also working with four other spa companies, Sutle Senses, Beyond Beauty, Beauty Express and Rustic Nirvana to help these customers.

Ananda Rajah is the CEO of Atos Wellness Group.

"I had some discussions with the owners of other spa companies and we all felt that having these two companies close down actually give a very negative image to the whole industry and by doing this we are giving confidence now for the end users that the spa industry is a safe place for them to come and spend their money."

Mr Ananda added his company felt obliged to step in and bolster confidence in the spa industry.

The move came as good news for many former Wellness Village customers, including Nellie Chan who still has about 2000 dollars worth of unused treatment.

"I'm very pleased to receive such good news, because it's like a Christmas gift, and at the same time it's because at the moment I have not really gone into which spa saloon I actually want to sign on to. So, I will be interested to really sit down, meet up with them and discuss what are the things they can offer to us."

Going forward, Atos Wellness Group is thinking of setting up an association to help customers affected by closure of spa companies.

"We are actually going to discuss with Case about the possibility of setting up an association of spa companies that they can actually look into helping out any of the clients in future that may sign up packages in spa companies which for some reason or another are not able to carry on."

Executive Director of Consumers Association of Singapore, Seah Seng Choon welcomes the move.

"The proposal to set up an association to look into that is certainly something worth looking at. If the industry players want to work with Case on putting in measures to protect the interests of consumers, we certainly welcome them."

Atos Wellness Group hopes to set up the association by the end of January next year.

--938Live