The Consumers Association of Singapore (CASE) has so far received 15 complaints about Wan Yang Health Products and Foot Reflexology. The chain abruptly closed all its outlets.
Customers reported losses of more than S$29,000 in unused packages, said CASE President Melvin Yong in a Facebook post on Monday (24 Nov).
Source: Google Maps
Over the weekend, customers began reporting that they had found Wan Yang outlets closed without notice.
A Reddit user posted last Saturday (22 Nov) that they found the Thomson Plaza outlet closed, despite having an appointment for that day.
They claimed it was still operating on Thursday (20 Nov). Their family had paid S$7,000 for a 70-session package in April.
Source: Reddit
Another user said in the same discussion that they and their mother went down to the HarbourFront centre branch on Sunday (23 Nov) afternoon for their appointment, only to find it similarly shuttered.
Their mother had been patronising them for decades, and still had “a few thousand dollars worth” of packages unused.
Source: Reddit
Checks on Google showed that there were five Wan Yang outlets: Thomson Plaza, HarbourFront Centre, AMK Hub, One Tampines Hub, and Parkway Parade. All listings showed the outlets as either temporarily or permanently closed.
Source: Google
MS News visited the Thomson Plaza branch on Sunday. The outlet was boarded up, with no indication of what had been there before.
When Shin Min Daily News visited the AMK Hub branch on Monday (24 Nov) morning, the shutters were down, and the unit was dark.
At least 10 customers who came down to check were met with a closed shop.
Source: Shin Min Daily News
A notice was posted stating that the company had “ceased operations effective immediately” and would be formally liquidated.
Those with outstanding matters should contact the liquidators, who will be appointed “in due course”.
Source: Shin Min Daily News
Employees of nearby shops said the Wan Yang branch had been in business for seven or eight years. Thus, the sudden closure last Friday (21 Nov) puzzled them.
In his post, Mr Yong said CASE had reached out to Wan Yang to seek clarification on how it would refund consumers the unutilised amounts of their prepaid packages.
Affected consumers can approach CASE for assistance via its hotline at 6277 5100 or its website.
CASE is also “deeply concerned” over prepayment losses in the beauty and wellness sector due to sudden business closure, noting that consumers reported prepayment losses of S$108,000 against the industry.
This is a 464% increase from S$19,000 in the same period last year,
To address the issue, CASE has called on the Government to introduce a mandatory five-day cooling-off period for the purchase of beauty and wellness prepaid packages.
Also read: AMK Nail Salon Closes, CASE Receives 47 Complaints From Customers Who Bought Packages
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Featured image adapted from Shin Min Daily News.