Hi tomorrownevercomes- how did you fight to get back some of your $$? Were you within the cooling-off period or ?? You went to SCTstraightaway? My case hearing is next tues. I don't know what are my chances.
Filed at SCT. For termination - they did not do it. If you are going the first time, then it would be just to see if they settle with you and they are unlikely. You have to be prepared to go back for a real hearing before the judge.
Hi TNC2009 (TNC= tomorrownevercome)
I am signed with GMC - and asked for termination which they refused. I intend to pursue further. Can you share more of your case with me ? esp the procedure and experience of going to SCT. Did you file for misrepresentation, unfair contract and/or any other ? please kindly share with me either here or please email me at [email protected]
thanks for your help
Long tedious process. File, then kenna consultation and finally hearing before judge. SCT is pretty informal although you should get all the evidence and documents ready to show. The first stage is mediation, the next stage is before the judge who will decide on the case. Just present what you have. Say clearly what was promised to you and why you should get your money back. Limited to $10K only - so if you paid more, and you win, you give up any amount above $10K. It is a good resolution though - since you will have paid a lawyer the difference anyway - provided you paid may be a few thousand more? Filed for failure to do what they said.
How did your hearing go today?
hi all..
Last night me and my husband went down to smiths and baron office (they requested to meet them to discuss about our letter concerning the cancellation of the purchased of their membership called H.I.Ts). We met with the contract officer lady and asked them to give us back our money. They said they will bring our case to their head office and will answer us within a week. is there any of you here given the same answer like us? ( I am afraid this is just one of their trick). Me and my husband decided that if within a week whether they delay their answer and ask for more time or said they won't give us back our money then we will go with the case through SCT. Well, one more thing I went to SCT yesterday morning and they said that my case is out of their jurisdiction, cos the contract worth is 19k, even if i claim only 2k. But they say they will still process my case if i insist.
@tomorrownevercome : is my husband should come to the SCT too to filed the case? because when I went to SCT they didn't say anything about my husband should come there too. Thanks before.
Hi tomorrownevercomes2009, in the SCT - did you file for misrepresentation, unfair contract and/or any other ? or can we use all of the above ? GMC promised and painted a very different picture during the sales presentation versus the actual experience we had. Not sure how much you got back but please kindly share with me either here or please email me at [email protected]
thanks for your help
Chantiq - file anyway. If yours is a cancellation case - ie. you just bought, gave notice and they refuse to cancel and refund, you have a good chance. But yes, the SCT can only give you $10,000 at the end of the day unless the other side agrees to up the stakes to $20K. So what it means is that you will have to forfeit the $9K. I would just try. Never mind. Getting something back is better than nothing.
Mindeye - just throw everything in. Let the judge decide. But of course I am saying you must have something to support your case lah. If you say misrep, show where you were misrep to. cannot just say say and no proof. I just told my story - did not use any "legal" terms cos I am not too sure what it all means. Because you always hear pp say but what it is in legal terms may be different. SCT is not like normal court so the judge is more patient to listen to you cos no lawyer. If you not too sure, before you go for your hearing, seek out free legal clinic advice.
Chantiq - think both of you have to be in the claim.
Hi All
I am a member of CVC or CTS(Concept Travel Services) but I bought the membership from Garraway. I believed they are the same group. They promiss me 40% to 60% discount but only given 7%. Now they don't pick up me call and take ages to reply my mail. I would like to joint in to increase the member strength against them. Please keep me in the loop. I going down to CASE tomorrow at 9.00 am with another member got scam by them. Anyone want to joint in please be there to exchange contact.
Thanks
my email [email protected]
Hi All,
Yes do share around this. Hopefully, this will stop them or prevent others from joining in and get scammed.
Remember to tell others the company's name and address. They may go by different names but the address they use is the same. Smiths & Baron is working out if Nee Ann City Tower B, 14th Floor.
Hi All,
I went to CASE today and the officer advice me to lodge a claim at SCT. He feel that I have a strong case and I stand a chance to win. I feel we should meet and exchange our experiance and proof offline.
Hi all
I am within the cooling -off period. I went to SCT for my mediation on 1 Dec. No one from S&B turned up. The asst registrar said that he will send an order for them to pay the deposit I've paid. If they still did not pay by a certain time given to them, SCT will send a court order to them
So, please if you are fighting against cooling off period, please go to SCT immediately. Don't wait any longer. I suspect S&B will take their time to pay me back but I will continue to pursue this!
hi all
@gh5128 : Me and my husband also were in the cooling-off period but SnB replied that their not a time share so, we can demand it. Pufff..... Then on 1 dec i and my husband went there to talk to them and demand to cancel our contract and give us back our money ( we met with shobana (indian) the contract officer lady and kartini (indonesian but now singaporean) the manager). they said they will answer us within a week. and last tuesday they email my husband and said that they agree to cancel the contract but the money we have paid will be retained as written in our contract. This is what written in our contract :
"if the purchaser shall fail to make any payment due to the company under the terms of this agreement by the due date, either the company or the company's legal representatives acting on behalf of the company may (without prejudice to the company's other rights under this agreement) serves a contractual default notice on the purchaser specifying that if payment is not made within seven days of the date of service of such notice then all payments made by the purchaser and any rights occurring to the purchaser under this agreement shall be forfeited and retained by the company and shall not be recoverable by the purchaser and the purchaser shall remain liable to the company for the outstanding balance under this agreement"
The due date supposedly on 24th dec 2009, and in the contract it's written we pay "deposit". Isn't deposit meaning money that you give to other party, that should be recover if u don't use the service or buy the goods? I kind of confuse with this term. Because we haven't use any of their services and we didn't get the card either yet. So, how come they can say they agreed to cancel the contract but couldn't give us back our money?
Chantiq - the whole idea of the cooling off is that both parties are returned to the position as if the contract never happened - so they have to cancel AND RETURN your money. No keeping of deposit or any amount for admin fee or that fee. So make sure you do not sign anything else and make sure they give you back your money.
Alain - you should go and claim on the letter of refund as soon as possible. I wonder if you can use the letter n show to your credit card and get them to refund the amount instead of having to wait for the company to do it.
Think they are very sneaky now - if there is an order, they just ignore and dont pay.
Hi Chantiq
S&B is receiving more and more complaints at SCT. I have a friend who also went to SCT last Wed and there he met another person also claiming against S&B. So, I urge more and more people to go to SCT.
Initially when I wrote in, they did not reply my letter so I went to file at SCT.When the mediation date comes, they did not attend so now they have to pay back my deposit +$15 of disbursements ordered by SCT.
So now, as S&B is getting more and more people wanting to cancel contract, they try to counter offer you and they will ask you to pay admin fee. Don't listen to them. Let SCT handle them. Make S&B busy- let them go down to SCT every now and then to face SCT and disrupt their operations!!!
Hi Chantiq
Dont be afraid when you go to SCT. You have nothing to fear; just describe your case to the retired judge (or referee) in choronlogical order and where you were misrepresented. You do not need to know legal terms. Justice and fairness will prevail !
Good Luck!
hello all,
I went to SCT this morning for my consultation and guess what, no one from SnB showed up. So, the referee told me that they will send a letter to SnB to give all my money back by 15 january 2010. Thank Goodness. I also just found out that the contract officer lady from SnB, tried to call and email my husband related to the letter they've received from SCT for today's consultation, but my husband never answered them. Maybe it's a good move not answering them, I guess.
so, anything I could help, please send me email. If I can I would be glad to help. Btw, I probably leaving singapore on the 24th dec and going back to my country. I'll be back if only my husband get job again in singapore or have to deal again with SnB if they don't pay my money.
I wish you all the best, and thank you for all the support and sharing. I don't know how to say my gratitude to you all. But Thank you so very much. And hopefully the SnB will pay back our money. I crossed my finger.
It has been an eyeopener for me. After going through the forum, I realized that I have also been cheated. I then read the terms & conditions in the GMC contrat. It mentions that there will be no cancellation of membership.
I have paid SGD2500 for 3 years membership which was paid in full. They were telling me that they would be sending membership cards etc. but received nothing till date.
Do I have any option of going to SCT? Kindly suggest.
Hey Alain, I applaud your courage to go there to create a scene. Actually it has crossed my mind to do likewise at SnB.At least to put a stop to cheat more people. SnB is very tricky. They ask for another consultation with me because they claim that they did not receive the first letter sent by SCT.Funny right? And why didn't they say they did not receive the second letter too????
Hi Alain, Wonderful Job. Now to see if the cheque clears.
Hi all
The newspaper TODAY (18 Dec 09) has this in the front page; although it started because of the 2 spas' sudden closure - there are some stuff that may be relevant for us as well ...at the very least, we should start writing to our credit card banks and if many of us describe our similiar experiences with the same company and seek refunds or terminations, even if we are not successful, the banks will reconsider granting these companies the instalment plans - and if fewer banks give them instalment plans, fewer potential customers will sign up..
"Chargeback clause: Hope for stranded consumers?"
"......According to the global operating regulations of card companies such as Visa and MasterCard, which MediaCorp obtained copies of, a process exists for consumers to reverse a credit card transaction if they do not receive goods or services that have been purchased from merchants......."
If we all highlight we did not get the goods / services as promised, we have a strong case