Subtle Senses Closed

[sgchen]

hi AmigoEva, may i have your contact. I need your help with some question. please....

[Bronze]

Please remember to file the proof of debt with the provisional liquidators before 4pm today (15/11/10) if you have not done so.

Please do check the Spa Beauty Welleness Alliance website (http://sbwa.com.sg/) for the "help" offered.

[junyi]

omg i just signed a $1500 pkg with them like 2 months before their closure T_T and yeah i heard from a friend that there's that SBWA rescue team thingo ^ for all affected customers. has any of you registered with any of the spas already?? i sent in my registration with wen spa (been there once for a trial. loooove the place!) and called them up to clarify some stuff. their staff are really helpful and nice ;D but apparently they've to wait for SBWA to give them all the info or something before the affected customers can start redeeming their pkgs.

[luvmsweet]

I also have this problem. I have to continue paying for the monthly installment to OCBC and they told me they can't stop it. We have to pay, but we can't avail of the services. What to do?

[kpoiprincess]

Hi All,

If you have not lodge a police report, please do so. All the police reports will consolidate at Tanglin Police station. Apparently unless the CAD steps in to investigate a fraud case.. it is diffcult to have any recourse.

Base on the last creditors meeting there were many dubious points about the company's financial health and statments. There's another forum out there collection signatures for a petition.

I think banks should not allow such instalment plans for some package services. I am a victim of Wellness Spa and now my sister is a victim of Subtle senses. Banks already earn a cut by working with the merchants, the credit risk is then transferred to us as customers. When issues like this happen , there is nothing we can do as consumers! Some banks insist they should not be reponsible. Then who should be? The type of interest free instalment plan should be banned for such service package. Customers have to pre-pay with their card for services which is not consumed. There is no guarantee or protection for consumers like us if the service provider goes belly up.

And in many cases, they were still selling packages at a dirt cheap price just to rip off some more customers at their last breathe.

[lladyrain]

Anyone knows if there's a formal forum chat on this where victims can grouped together and see what they can do? And maybe update one another of the developments too. If not, can we do so via Cozycot?[/I]

There should be threads in other popular forums.
I saw a group in Facebook too. HTH.

[barneybaby]

Hi All

Just read that we can redeem the utilised package with SBWA. How do we do that? Is it we just email directly to the 9 centers and they will tell us how much is their 1 hr body massage at ala-carte price? or we can only email to 1 center out of the 9 centers?

If ala-carte price, then it would be very expensive, rite?

Thanks so much.

[blissgal]

I have submitted my choice of the center via SBWA site.. however i didnt get any reply from the center at all.

Anyone has tried submitting their choice of center via SBWA?

[shan]

i'm quite lost. are there any update for this case?

[twinkst]

The FB group

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?sk=...749615018&ap=1

[Juneoesque]

Hi All,

If you have not lodge a police report, please do so. All the police reports will consolidate at Tanglin Police station. Apparently unless the CAD steps in to investigate a fraud case.. it is diffcult to have any recourse.

Base on the last creditors meeting there were many dubious points about the company's financial health and statements. There's another forum out there collection signatures for a petition.

I think banks should not allow such installment plans for some package services. I am a victim of Wellness Spa and now my sister is a victim of Subtle senses. Banks already earn a cut by working with the merchants, the credit risk is then transferred to us as customers. When issues like this happen , there is nothing we can do as consumers! Some banks insist they should not be reponsible. Then who should be? The type of interest free instalment plan should be banned for such service package. Customers have to pre-pay with their card for services which is not consumed. There is no guarantee or protection for consumers like us if the service provider goes belly up.

And in many cases, they were still selling packages at a dirt cheap price just to rip off some more customers at their last breathe.

i fully emphatise with the people who got cheated from all these saga. Particularly because i have a couple of friends of my own who are victims as well. some signed up because they really enjoyed the services while some were because they experienced the hard sell tactics.

i do think the management and owners are nasty and to the extent evil! Particularly when they still continued to try to sell their packages right to the day before they suddenly closed shop. I know because sometime last year, i utilised one of my friend's session at the cuppage subtle sense for a massage. I must say it was fabulous especially with each session they gave some complimentary treatments and the hair treatment massage i choose was just heavenly. But as i was leaving, i still saw their consultants speaking to other customers trying to clinch the deal. about a week later, i realised it was closed for good and yes, i feel infuriated by the management.

but i think it is only fair and about time for victims etc to learn that credit cards are only a MODE OF PAYMENT. Just like how if you pay in cash/cheques. The DEAL is between YOU and the SPA. Not the bank. So if you had paid for the packages in CASH, who are u going to go after to chase for the money? It is the SPA isnt it? Changing the scenerio, if you paid for say an expensive meal using the credit card, if u got food poisoning after that, do you go back to the bank to bring u to the doctor or expect the bank to pay you back? No right? And do you expect the bank to test out the food at the restaurant first before granting them a credit card terminal? No right? How is it that in this case, you expect the bank to chase after this merchant who has cheated your money for you?

Also, based on my best knowledge, i believe after all this saga, a lot of banks have taken a more active and prudent role when it comes to issuing credit card terminals to merchants or even offering the installment packages.

What banks can do for you, when you face such situations, is to raise a dispute. I'm not like the best person to advise but what i am saying here is to the best of my knowledge. when you call the bank and indicate to them that you would want to raise a dispute, they will forward this to their chargeback department to investigate and the bank that issued your card will liaise with the merchant's banker to work on the dispute.

Also, what really happens for an installment package on the credit card is that if you sign a $1000 package in installment, what happens is although your credit card bank will split the charge and only charge it to your bill on a month on month basis, on the other end, the bank would have already paid the merchant banker and the merchant banker would have already forwarded your full $1000 payment to the merchant.

I am pointing this out hoping to highlight to people who are ignorant of the dynamics of how credit cards or particularly credit card installment packages work.

Also, this packages saga has been going on NOT just recently. Its been for years where there are different industries of merchants. Last time we had the naughty by nature for photoshoots etc etc. I'm sure we have seen, read or heard about all these horror stories. it can be nail parlours, weight loss centres, gyms, spas etc. My point is, if you are not comfortable, make the mature decision to NOT SIGN UP. or leave your wallet, particularly your credit cards at home when you visit such places.

i must add that i feel totally irked by the other spa centres around. Some time also last year after Subtle Sense closed down, another friend offered me a session of her package at Spa Elements at The Cathay to try (i was honestly sourcing around for packages because my backache was really affecting me, i needed good massages BUT i was very skeptical hence i was trying the different spas to be sure before i sign up for anything).

The sales consultant as usual tried to sign me up for their packages and she showed me a letter from their management indicating how reputable they are and how long they've been around and how the recent spa saga does not involve them blah blah blah. she even tried to sell me the idea of how good they are BECAUSE they actually 'adopted' in the poor victims of subtle sense. That 'corporate social responsibility' step DID get me sold for awhile.

i still did not sign up for anything, i went ahead with the massage and after the session, when she continued with her sales talk, i checked with her further about the adopting subtle sense packages because:
1. as mentioned, i have a friend who had the subtle sense packages that were still unconsumed, i thot my friend would be able to come here
2. i was also keen to know if they also had the same hair treatment massage i experienced in subtle sense the other time

that was when the sales consultant gradually told me that subtle sense members are only given restricted hours to visit them and priority are given to their own spa elements members. - which i thought, ok, fair enough because this IS, after all, considered charity work on their part to protect the spa and beauty industry name.

BUT, when she further told me that for the subtle sense members to consume their remaining packages of subtle sense, they MUST purchase additional packages from spa elements, i was totally applauded by it. This picture just came up to my mind ... This is someone who saw a person getting stabbed, walks up to give a pat on the back while continuing to twist the dagger on the wound! with this, i decided not to sign up for their package and would rather pay more for ala carte massages as and when i need them.

[efai]

latest update. body contours sent lawyer to express interest in taking over the customers from truespa/subtle senses.

thought i heard a lot of bad reviews about body contours......

[sharon71]

I've submitted those forms last year too but no reply till today...I'm utterly disappointed with the spa companies....I was from Wellness Village which closed down too, they told me SS was taking care of us & now they too treat us like ***....quite fed up with the whole spa thingy! I hope we'll get some news from the authorities...