MORE than 500 clients left in the lurch by a spa which shut down abruptly last month are exploring all avenues to get back what they paid upfront for treatment packages.
About 520 of Wellness Village's clients have gone to the Consumers Association of Singapore (Case). About 330 have filed claims with the Small Claims Tribunal. Almost 300 have banded together on social networking site Facebook to share information on what they can do.
It is unclear how many clients have been left with paid-for treatments that are now likely unclaimable, or how much they had paid, but the 20 who spoke to The Straits Times had each bought packages costing between $550 and $6,000.
Most said they learnt of the spa through credit card promotions, and had either paid for the packages in full or in interest-free instalments using their cards.
Those who opted to pay in instalments are now trying to at least get the outstanding payments waived. Depending on the credit card they used, they have had varying luck on this front. Those who used Citibank cards have had their outstanding balances waived; those with other banks' cards have been less successful.
Citibank's spokesman said that in a genuine case, backed by necessary documentation such as this one, it would do its best to support its customers.
Communications manager Joanne Sophia Chong, 35, for example, had made only one payment out of 12 for her $2,750 package when the spa shut down.
She is thankful for the waiver, without which she would have been saddled with a bill for services she cannot use.
Civil servant Yvonne Neo, 27, who signed up for a $4,000 package - the instalments for which are split between her OCBC and Standard Chartered credit cards - said she is frustrated by the banks' poor handling of her complaints.
Some banks at first declined to absorb the charges. As the HSBC spokesman put it: 'Cardholders are liable for instalment payments on their credit cards as the full amount has been paid to the merchant.'
But some softened their stance following news that Citibank was absorbing the charges. OCBC said it will review appeals on a 'case-by-case basis'; UOB said it will suspend outstanding payments while the case is being investigated.
But the spa's clients are unappeased: Some have threatened to end their relationship with their banks. Still, there are others who know they have little recourse.
Research scientist Anna Chan, 33, for example, has paid for her package in full and cannot put the heat on the bank as she has no outstanding balance to speak of. Those like her are banking on the Small Claims Tribunal.
But some like businesswoman Mellie Chan, 42, have gone for the hearing only to be disappointed as the spa's directors failed to make an appearance.
She said she was told that if the spa's creditors apply to wind up the business, she and others in her position will likely get first claims to whatever assets the court manages to seize.
Director of the Association of Banks in Singapore (ABS) Ong-Ang Ai Boon cautioned against expecting blanket waivers as the decision to waive outstanding charges is a commercial one to be made by the individual banks.
Case's executive director Seah Seng Choon said he will take up this issue with ABS and look into how consumers with instalment payment schemes can be better protected.
Banks can pay merchants monthly instead of in full, since the services are not consumed at one go, he suggested.
Case has had complaints in recent years from nine clients of Kampong Ubin Resort, a membership-based resort; nail salon Pretticure and Beverly Hills Beauty House, who were left holding defunct packages. 'There is no way for a company to guarantee that it will not shut down before the contract expires, so staggered payment is best,' he said.
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This article was first published in The Straits Times.
