Wellness Village Scam

I was happily surfing in HK when I saw this article on CNA news:

Has Wellness Village Spa left its customers in the lurch?
By Alicia Wong, TODAY Posted: 10 November 2009 0704 hrs

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.

I have 2 more unused sessions and I was shocked to see this news.

Not that I think that the owners are making huge profits from this Spa business but the fact that they were still asking customers to sign up for their packages on 31 Oct09...This makes me wonder whether this is a scam to cheat customers.

Yes, I had my massage done at Wellness on 31 Oct09 and I was one of the customers whom they have approached. But luckily, I declined immediately as their service was bad. The massage ended 10 minutes earlier than expected and no drink was served after the massage. I also witnessed an arguement between a staff and a customer at the reception.

In fact, I was supposed to go for my massage the week before (24 Oct09) as well. However, a staff called to inform me that 2 of their staff were on MC and thus, they had to cancel my appointment. So now I know that this was a lie, the staff weren't on MC. They were probably retrenched long ago.

My friend, QN, is also one of the victim of this scam. She called Wellness in Oct to book for massage sessions in Nov but was told that the spa would be undergoing renovations.

Though I think it is unlikely that we get refunds, I hope that the necessary legal actions will be taken against the owners.