Takashimaya
Shopping Centre
391A Orchard Rd
#16-00
Singapore 238873
Tel: 6732 9555
http://www.truespa.com.sg/
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Reported on ChannelNewsAsia:
ReplyDeleteTrue Spa spat goes to the courts
By Teo Xuanwei, TODAY | Posted: 12 February 2009 1014 hrs
SINGAPORE : They had complained of unprofessional service, unanswered phone calls to the spa and having to make bookings four weeks in advance.
After nearly a year since grouses about the level of service provided by True Spa were aired in online forums, 16 people have filed a collective action suit against the beauty services provider.
In their suit, the 16 alleged that True Spa had breached its respective contracts with them because it had not “kept up to (its) side of the bargain”.
Rajah & Tann’s Francis Xavier, who is representing True Spa, confirmed that they received a writ of summons on January 24.
“It is our view that the claim is unmeritorious. It is not clear to us at this point what are the specific complaints from each of the plaintiffs as the statement of claim had yet to be filed,” the Senior Counsel told TODAY.
Mr Xavier said True Spa had tried to resolve the 16 individuals’ complaints amicably in the past but “all our client’s overtures have been unreasonably rejected”.
“Our client believes that some of these members’ complaints also arise purely from buyers’ remorse and not any specific grounds of complaint,” he added.
The 16 complainants have engaged Clifford Law’s lawyer Nicholas Aw to obtain a refund of the unused amounts in their respective contracts because of their “unhappiness and disappointment at the level of service accorded to them”. The packages the group had signed up cost between S$500 and S$7,000.
TODAY understands that lawyers for both parties were in court on Tuesday and the complainants now have to file a statement of claims.
The wheels for the suit were set in motion last May when one of the 16 complainants, Ms Tan Siang Mei, went to online forums in search of spa members who had had a similar experience.
Ms Tan had signed up for a S$4,000 package with True Spa - which has outlets in Ngee Ann City and Cuppage Terrace - in June 2006.
So far, Ms Tan said she has only used about S$580 worth of services.
“It was such an unpleasant and frustrating experience. I wanted to find others like me who just want to cancel their packages,” the 29-year-old assistant marketing manager told TODAY.
Ms Tan said she left her contact details in over 50 forums before rallying together 15 others who wanted to seek legal recourse - after her complaints to the Consumers Association of Singapore (CASE) and Small Claims Tribunal did not make much headway.
Like several others among the 16 complainants whom TODAY spoke to, Ms Tan alleged that “it’s almost impossible to even reach the staff of True Spa, let alone book appointments”.
Another complainant likened securing a booking to “striking lottery”.
A 24-year-old financial services consultant, who declined to be named, said she had experienced several last-minute cancellations.
“Having to make bookings four weeks in advance is already ridiculous,” she told TODAY. “Then they call you shortly before your appointment date to say that the slot has been taken up because of a mix-up. And it happened not just once.”
Senior Counsel Xavier noted that True Spa “had revamped and upgraded their spa software and booking system, increased their rooms in their flagship store at Ngee Ann City and has also opened another spa in the city area at Cuppage Terrace, offering all members additional facilities”.
According to CASE’s executive director Seah Seng Choon, the consumer watchdog has received three complaints against True Spa this year for unsatisfactory service (inability to make bookings), misleading claims (inability to terminate contracts despite earlier verbal promises) and pushy sales tactics.
Insurance executive Mary Gomez, 38, another member of the group of 16, said that she had not been able to book any appointments since she signed up for a S$1,300 package in January last year.
She added: “I just pray that I can get my money back.”
I would like to cancel the contract with True Spa. But unfortunately due to Clause 6 in the contract....it looks impossible. What can I do?
ReplyDeleteDo a google search for 'small claims lawsuit true spa', there are several blogs started by many others about the unhappiness with true spa and how to get money back.
ReplyDeleteyou guys are just pathetic... plain pathetic... you should actually read the contract before signing them.. if you are saying the consultant forcing attempt to sign you up or etc in regards to the package, thats not an excuse.. still you should READ the terms and condition before signing. only you to blame in the first place. cant accept it? reality check.. its the truth.. cant get through the main line is normal. it shows that the spa is still operating. why i said so its because you maybe the unlucky one in the 5rd or 6th line and the cso are talking on the 1st, 2nd, 3rd or 4th line. why i said that? then how can you explain the slot is fully booked. get it? they are doing the job. only you consumers are not and impatient and thought the spa regulation unrealistic. a famous spa is always occupied.
ReplyDeletewe have strike toto. a staff from the spa finally spoke. a classic example of good customer service ( and you wonder why the rest are complaining.)
ReplyDeletei am one of them who signed up.. i hv been calling them for 3 months, is either no one pick up the phone, or FULLY BOOK.
ReplyDeletein the past i walk-in into spa when i am tired and need some relaxation. i didn't expect this to happen and i couldn't figure out myself why i signed up as i had paid 50% premium, now i have to go there fitting their free timeslot next month
i wonder who is the above siding true spa when their services and operation sucks. cant get thru the line is normal. true. then why is it so that so many customers went up to them to complain? did the above anonymous experienced their poor management? have the whole month of appointment booked and canceled for no reason? when you reach there then you know that your name has been deleted and none of the days are booked? or is the above anonymous one of them? to be frank, the therapists are good. but if cant get the appointment firming secure for you. then how to have your spa done? in the past i am not sure. but i am having this problem now. if you are saying i did not confirm my slots again before i go... yes, i agreed cos i BELIEVE the manager did his job and i trusted his word as BOOKED! CONFIRMED! NO NEED TO CALL AND CHECK!
ReplyDeleteI'm in the same boat as the 16 complianants. I signed up in Dec 2007 and I only managed to get 3 appts. The line is very difficult to get through. I put on auto redial for whole afternoon and the line is engaged throughout the day. Frustrated, I went down to speak to the staff there to request for refund. Staff Stephanie who attended to me said she's no authority on this and I need to speak to Alvin who is the customer service officer. He's not in the office that day so I requested for his contact. The staff did not want to give me the contact but said she'll ask him to call me. She then gave me his email address on my insistent. However, the email address is a fake email (Alvin@subtle senses.com) as the email sent was rejected. It's more than 1 mth and I did not receive call from him.
ReplyDeleteTo the person who said that those complaining are pathetic, what do they have to say now that True Spa has closed its Ngee Ann city outlet without any prior notice or advice to customers afterwards? Maybe, just maybe our concerns about the professionalism of this company and the security of our packages were justified?
ReplyDeleteAs far as I know when True Spa was taken over by Subtle Senses, the Ngee Ann outlet was the only one True Spa customers could use. initially we were told that the other outlets were only for subtle senses customers. This may have changed now that the ngee ann outlet is not operating. Yet, even with the ability to use the other 2 outlets, the fact that 15,000 customers are meant to be added to the existing customer base of the 2 other outlets means it will be even more difficult to get an appointment than before!
In a response to a Channel News Asia article Subtle Senses said those affected can call its hotline at 6220-6646. They said they will help people transfer over to the other outlets. In the past true spa customers have had to pay to do so which was very unfair and they were not given the choice to opt out or get a refund of their package even though they were not informed in advance of the change of ownership to subtle senses. Hopefully, they will not charge customers to do this now!
About getting my money back for my package, I have spoken to the bank and they cannot do anything and have told me to go through CASE. At the moment I am pretty sure True Spa have provided incomplete services because I havent been able to use True Spa services despite many many months of waiting to get appointments. I have filed the CASE report and will see whether I get any response. Knowing how things have been going with True Spa lately, I am not that optimistic. because I am filing a CASE report I have posted myself as anonymous (I dont want to put myself at any disadvantage in getting at least some of my money back).
Basically what I am trying to say is that True Spa have behaved unprofessionally and for someone to come on this forum without all the information and call people who are expressing their worries pathetic is in fact pathetic.
We need to unite to sue True Spa.
ReplyDeletePlease come on board at http://www.facebook.com/home.php?sk=group_170620749615018&ap=1