Swim school declines cash refund, lessons allegedly cancelled due to coach availability issues
A woman took to Facebook to vent her frustrations after a local swim school denied her request for a full cash refund.
According to Ms Janis Lee, Happy Fish Swim School had cancelled her 10-year-old son’s swim class due to coach availability issues.
Source: Happy Fish Swim School
This was despite the fact that she paid for the lessons up front to secure a slot in the class.
Pays deposit to confirm slot
On 8 April, Ms Lee uploaded WhatsApp screenshots of the school onto the Complaint Singapore Facebook group.
In the first screenshot, dated 2 Feb, Ms Lee can be seen expressing her interest in booking a swimming class for her child at their Jurong East branch.
Source: Janis Lee via Complaint Singapore on Facebook
She chose the 7.15pm timeslot on 17 March, and the school emailed her a confirmation on 2 Feb.
Payment was to be made within 48 hours to secure a slot in the class.
Ms Lee proceeded to pay for the class and was told that a reminder message would be sent nearer to the scheduled class.
Source: Janis Lee via Complaint Singapore on Facebook
Class initially postponed
On 9 March, Happy Fish Swim School informed Ms Lee that her son’s class had been postponed by five weeks.
According to the WhatsApp message, this was because the class “did not meet the minimum required number of participants”.
As such, the new start date would be pushed to 21 April.
Source: Janis Lee via Complaint Singapore on Facebook
The school also stated that the class would “not be postponed again”.
However, they provided Ms Lee with an alternative option on 31 March at 4.45pm, at the Jurong East branch.
Ms Lee did not take up the offer, as her son was unable to attend at the given time.
Class postponed for the second time
On 24 March, Ms Lee received another message from the school.
This time, she was informed that the lesson on 21 April would be cancelled, due to the “unavailability of a coach.”
Source: Janis Lee via Complaint Singapore on Facebook
The school then claimed to have arranged a replacement lesson on 21 April at 7pm with another coach, under the “Kids Foundation Class”.
However, Ms Lee informed the swim school that she was unable to make it at that time.
Source: Janis Lee via Complaint Singapore on Facebook
From alternative timeslots provided by the school, Ms Lee eventually chose to take a slot on Wednesday, 22 April.
Final straw
On 31 March, Ms Lee was once again contacted by the swim school.
They informed her that her child’s original class would be permanently cancelled due to a lack of a coach.
Source: Janis Lee via Complaint Singapore on Facebook
The class would now be permanently scheduled on Wednesdays at 7.15pm, starting from 22 April.
However, Ms Lee then claimed that she had not agreed to permanently switch to a Wednesday class, and informed the school that she wished to cancel the class.
Despite attempts from the swim school staff to change her mind, Ms Lee stated that her decision was final.
Denial of cash refund
Ms Lee was then told by the school that they would be offering an “e-voucher” refund.
Ms Lee then shot back, claiming that the school had made her wait and spend money “for nothing”.
Source: Janis Lee via Complaint Singapore on Facebook
Issuing an ultimatum
However, on 8 April, Ms Lee issued an ultimatum to the school.
She claimed that the “service was not delivered as agreed”, and as such, she was “entitled to a full refund”.
Source: Janis Lee via Complaint Singapore on Facebook
Ms Lee further emphasised that she would not accept credits or offsets.
“If this matter cannot be resolved, I will proceed to escalate it to the Consumers Association of Singapore (CASE) for further assistance”, Ms Lee stated.
She then urged the company to resolve the matter amicably and confirm the cash refund arrangement.
Hopes for ‘fair and reasonable resolution’
MS News spoke to Ms Lee, 45, who said that she had paid $163.50 for the swim lessons.
Ms Lee also pointed out that she had decided to share her experience online after being told that the payment could only be offset through credits.
“In my view, when a service cannot be delivered, customers should reasonably expect a refund,” she said.
Given that the original arrangement was not fulfilled, Ms Lee hopes for a “fair and reasonable resolution”.
Additionally, she noted that there may be others who have faced similar situations.
Swim School founder apologises
On 8 April, Tan Jian Yong, founder of Happy Fish Swim School, responded to Ms Lee’s post on Facebook.
Source: Facebook
In his reply, Mr Tan apologised profusely to Ms Lee for the poor experience.
You have every right to be upset. We completely let you down.
He explained that the refund should have been processed immediately, and that it was the school’s policy to “grant a full refund” if classes were not fulfilled.
Mr Tan also explained that while the team may have been “trying to save the relationship” by offering a voucher, doing so in such a situation was “absolutely the wrong call”.
He added that their finance team would immediately process the full refund to Ms Lee.
A review of procedures and training will also occur, so that similar situations do not occur again in the future.
Mr Tan ended his reply with an apology, saying: “I am so sorry again for the stress we caused your family.”
In an update on 9 April, Ms Lee confirmed on Facebook that the refund had been processed.
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Featured image adapted from Janis Lee via Complaint Singapore on Facebook and Happy Fish Swim School.
