Scam??_Garraway enterprise, capital Gateway, GMC, Glitterati
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Dont bet on it Mindeye. It used to be the case that you would choose to use your credit card to purchase items so that you can stop payment if there was a dispute after the sale. In any case, I understand that it is totally different for the "instalment" payment scheme. We are all dubed into thinking that the bank is only paying the instalment amount money from our credit card statement but the reality is that the bank would have at the first swipe transferred the whole transaction amount. When you try to get the bank to cancel the transaction, you will find the bank telling you to sort it out or that only the merchant can advise the bank to recredit / cancel the transaction. So it is a merry go round.
Best is to pay as you go. So who needs 40 spa treatments or $50 massages - provided you buy a $3K - $5K package? You pay upfront for a ridiculous number of treatments which you are unlikely to utilise anyway. You are bound to the terms and conditions which the merchant never tells you about - but it is your own fault cause you are suppose to read the terms before you sign.
If you think about it - it will work out overall cheaper if you pay when you want to use the facilities. You may like to change spas or services after a while and you are not tied down. How nice. And you dont run the risk of spa closures or services being pulled out without you knowing!
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Hi All,
i have signed a contract with smith and barons just last week, but after checking this forum i want to get out of this contract. I have not utilized any services so far. Not utilized any of their vouchers...I have sent them a letter within 2 days of siging the contract abt asking for termination ...any ideas to help out will be appreciated.
If ppl are going to the STC, I will join too this will make the case stronger, and also know some others who will like to go to the STC.
Can anyone confirm if the CTS is registered with NATAS as they claim????? this can help us file a case against them.
Please contact me on [email protected]
Rgds.
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Hi Sandrac,
They are not with NATAS, For list of NATAS Accredited Travel Agents refer to http://www.natas.travel/page_news1.aspx?id=36
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Hi Sandrac
Best is to go SCT to claim against them within the cooling -off period. You have to act fast. SnB might ask you to go to their office for the termination but to pay $500 as termination fee. Beware of their trap. I am fighting against the cooling-off period and will go for the mediation on 30 Dec. They did not come for the 1st mediation.There are more and more people trying to terminate their contracts. They mispresent and mislead people to sign up so we need to put a stop to this.
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Glitterati Confirmation Email
From: GMC ADMIN (gmc.admins@gmail.com >> GMAIL?!! This company is really unprofessional.
Your Glitterati Invitation
Dear Mr xxxx
This E-mail is confirmation for your event attendance on
Date : 3 January 2010 @ 12.30PM
Venue : 20 Maxwell Road Maxwell House # 04-01A Singapore 069113
to receive our complimentary gifts below:
1. 3D/2N Complimentary Luxury Hotel Accom. Only (Perth Australia, Seoul Korea, Phuket Thailand, Bali Indonesia or Hong Kong)
2. S$20 SEAFOOD VOUCHER
3. ONE FREE “BEST IN SINGAPORE” SNOW CAR WASH
4. S$25 OPTICAL VOUCHER
5. I DAY V.I.P Entry to California Fitness Raffles Club
Vouchers are absolutely free with no obligation
Requirements:
1. Must be able to converse in English, Mandarin or Malay
2. Produce your IC & must be a member of a local credit card company (eg. Visa/Master/Amex/Diners)
3. We will be introducing GMC(who we are & why we are giving these gift vouchers) & participate in a survey with refreshments served and finally collection of the gift vouchers, no shorter than 75 mins for eligibility of our gift.
PLEASE PRINT THIS EMAIL AND BRING IT FOR VERIFICATION
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Hi All,
SCT has awarded full refund to one of us for misrepresentation. Hope this is good news.
I advice all those thinking to go to SCT to do so quickly.
The procedure is as follows:
First you file your complaint.
Then about 1-2 weeks later you go for mediation. (if no result)
2 weeks later you go for consultation.(if still no result)
About 2 weeks later you have a hearing. Results will be made known immediately.
So dont think about it so long. You are already in the contract. What have you got to lose?
Some time and about $10-$20. If you lose, the contract is still with you. You are where you started.
But if you win.... Then it is a different story.
If any of you have success stories, do share them. This will make the case of stronger for others.
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Hi Kena Scam
My case was discharge from SCT a few days ago. The judge told me that SCT do not take in time share. Althought Garraway claim that they are not time share but the judge understanding from the aggreement, it is time share. He said if i'm not satisfy, I can appeal for another hearing. I'm going for it.
Could you share more about the success stories.
Hi all
Mistake that I made at SCT is that I go head on the with the other party and miss my chance explaining my case to the judge and when I want to explain, he dischagre the case.
Point to note during consulation;
1. Keep cool
2. Only bring out you point to the judge, explain clearly with support doc will be good.
3. Do not head on with the opposit party.
4 What ever question they throw to you, answer his question to the judge.
Wish all of you the best at SCT.
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Hi Got Scam,
What you said is true. We must be level headed and cool. Remember the judge is impartial, he does not take sides. He only sees the facts. Get your facts in order and if possible, write it all down. If you are think that you will be blur in front of the judge then write all down in sentences and read it off the paper.
What is most important is to tell the judge that you were misled. Each point that you state that they misled you, state the facts as to why it is so.
I do not have any other success stories so far, Smiths & Baron are trying to settle with others outside. The customers are afraid that if they speak out, then they may lose their compensation. But when I went for my mediation, there was another who was also scheduled to mediate with them. Again they claim that they did not receive the mail.
But we still do have a few die hards. We will go all the way.
Wish you the best. Like I said before. You have more to gain than lose.
Do share if you have successful stories too. So that others who read know that they have options.
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Hi Kena Scam,
Of couse I will share my story when I successfully claim against them. Hopfully it will be of help to other.
I thought of voicing it to the MP at meet the people session. IF the police can't help, CASE can't help, SCT fail, then shouldn't the MP help. They are suppose to help the citizen right? How could the law allow such company? They just keep changing their company name and SCAM the citizen. The authority should put a STOP to this!!
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Hi GOT SCAM
Sorry to hear about your case - but what I dont understand is, why did the judge ask u to reapply if you want to, when he already dismiss your case - instead of letting u speak your case ? isn't reapplying a waste of everyone's time - including the SCT judge ?
Also, thanks for your sharing of lessons learnt.
Another point to share is that, before one go, do think from the vendor's perspective (pretend you are them), what they will say to argue their case, what they might do to purposely provoke one to lose one's cool, or have a friend to act this out. We need to get prepared.
Hi KENA-SCAM, were u successful in getting back your $ ?
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Hi folks,
I am a member of Garraway, I arrived in Singapore last Tuesday, 05 Jan 2010. I tried to call their office but nobody answered, I left message in their voicemail to call me back. And today, Saturday, 09 Jan 2010, I went to their office in Ngee Ann City Tower B, and you know what, nothing there, I saw S&B office but did not come in. I joined Garraway since 2007 and have paid the installments arouns S$ 8,500 out of $9,900, and until now have not used their services yet. I started to get anxious as I saw plenty of negative reviews about this company all over the internet. I came back to my Hotel and suddenly my mobile phone rang, people from Garraway called up at last. I told him I just went to their office but nobody there, and he said I can look up their office now at #14-01 instead of #14-07 and asked me to go back again to discuss anything I wish to know. Will let you know the update. Cheers!
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Hi All,
Still no money back yet.
I had just finish my mediation stage and will going for my consultation stage. I am mentally prepared. The mediation stage was a wake-up call for me. The mediator seemed like he was more for Smiths & Baron. Maybe he want to put presure on me to make sure I know what to do.
Anyways, still no word from Smiths & Baron.
They just act blur. Damn poor service.
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Hi Mindeye,
The judge told me that if I feel that if they are not time share, then I can appeal the case. I was advise by CASE to go to SCT. CASE even explain the procudure to me and told me that I stand a good chance to win. To my surprise, SCT discharge my case. I will go back to CASE and ask for an answer. They should know SCT do not take time share and should not refer us to them. I feel that they are pushing us around til are lost and give up.
Hi Kotaro,
I'm also a member of Garraway. I have try their services and so far none of their claim came ture. Garraway push the services to CTS (Concepts Travel Services P L) and CTS do not agree to the terms we sign with Garraway. Garraway members got stuck in between.
Call all Garraway members, anyone have try their services and satisfy?
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I am sorry to disappoint people who think CASE can do anything about our cases. Often, they act like letter writers only and their letters carry little or no weight. Their understanding of the SCT is at best minimal. They collect $10 write your letter. Then when it does not work, tell you to go SCT when you may not have a case. Ah well.
On SCT - the procedure is that there is the mediation part (consultation) which we all have to go through if we file a claim. It is heard before an Assistant Registrar. Not a "judge". Main job I suppose is to see if both sides will settle. Also can throw your case out if it is not without the jurisdiction of the SCT. But if you dont like the decision given at the consultation, you can appeal to the real SCT judge.
If both parties cannot settle and your case does not get thrown out, they will give you a date to have your case heard before the real SCT judge. The SCT judge will then decide on your case. If you dont like the SCT judge's decision, then it becomes complicated because you have to ask for permission to appeal to the High Court and if permission is given only then can you go to the High Court. The fees is apparently alot. You can go to their website and check out the procedures. All there.
On timeshare - as I have said previously, SCT has power to hear yr case if it is for cancellation of timeshare contracts within the cancellation period - 5 working days after you sign the contract. If it is for any other reason, you cannot take it to SCT cause they have no power to hear it. But if your contract is not timeshare - esp when the company say they are not timeshare - then you can still get some hope out of SCT.
But if you are not sure, file anyway since it is only $10 and if you have time to spare. The process is very troublesome but the waiting time is not that long. You have to be prepared to go back to court at least 3 times before you get a result (which may not always be in your favour).
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Hi got scam
What do you mean that the judge discharge your case? Are you fighting within the cooling off period? From what I understand, we can fight the 5-day cooling off period as well as misrepresentation thus misleading you to sign the contract. I've got 2 friends who got full refund as ordered by the judge against Smiths & Baron. I am having my second consultation with them next week. If still cannot resolve, then will tender to the judge.
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Hi
I i'm not within the cooling period, I have fully paid the member fee. They do not full fill their agreement as per our member discount. I only get a fraction of it.
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Yours is same as mine. Misrepsentation. They say they will offer 50% but give you 10% or so right. Actually, the discount can also be obtained from other tour agencies.
You need to show that they lied during the presentation.
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I suppose if yours is not a cooling off period case, going to the SCT for misrep is not good cos you will be thrown out. You can go to the other courts but not SCT. You can still represent yourself or hire a lawyer but the paperwork is not so easy.
So if you went to SCT on a timeshare case and if the other side makes an offer, may be worth taking it even if at loss since you dont have to go through the whole process - if you file elsewhere, you might have legal cost so maybe come to the same.
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Hi, Tomorrownevercomes2009,
I think that SCT is the best place to go if it is misrep. So far I know now of two successful cases where full refund was given. Also, misrep should go to SCT as it is where such cases are solved. In fact I find the process at SCT quite straight forward. The truth of the matter is that Smiths & Baron have no case at all. At most it will be thrown out because you filed wrongly, not because you dont have a case. File under consumer protection act 4b.
Like I said before and will say again. We have little to lose. $10-20 and some hours. That is all.
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Hi Kena Scam
I agree with you - little to lose but the positive/possibilities is that we can get part or all of our money back. I am in the process of filing in SCT myself.
How do you ensure you do not file wrongly ? Is there a portion in the SCT form that show you to file under consumer protection act 4b ? I cannot find it. Please help. Thanks for sharing.
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Hi Got Scam, have you tried to get a full refund from Garraway as they do not fullfill their promise? Now I have stopped the monthly installlment to them, it's a little too late as I should have done it long ago. So far I have paid S$8,500 Garraway member fee. Any suggestion for my case coz I am not Singapore resident? Is it hard to report this matter to CASE? Please advise folks, thank you.
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Just can't believe club membership from S&B is going to be a scam....but all it looks from the feedback that i'm the latest victim...
Was walking past the Takashimaya during the weekend when I met this unfortunate group who pulled me in (with all the gimmicks that is mentioned by most of the affected) asking about travel plans, bla bla....To be honest I never had any suspicion during the presentation just becoz of one & only reason - 'This is Singapore'
I was about to walk out when they mentioned about the Membership fee amount of 30000$. But gradually they reduced it to 5000$ for a 5 year period. At that point of time, certainly it looked to be a good deal but later looking into this forum (thanks to my wife who had asked me to check the authenticity of S&B) I feel shocking....
I had paid a deposit of 1500$ and the remaining in 24 months IPP....Now I've made up my mind to cancel the contract anytime sooner...I remember they had mentioned about 3 days cooling period to cancel the contract. But the catch is there would be a cancellation amount of 500$ (which is certainly a big amount, is there a way to recover it???). Help me out in proceeding with the cancellation...i'm pretty sure if i go in person for cancellation they would certainly fool me with other gimmicks....
Need your help / advise. Thank you.
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Pras - send in the cancellation form by registered mail and by hand if you can. In any case, you have 5 days under the CPFTA. Dont bother paying the $500. If after notification, they dont give you back all your money, go to CASE or SCT to file your claim.
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Hi Kotaro Fun,
I'm in the process of getting my money back from Garraway. My advice to you is just go to CASE or SCT file against Garraway. Try their service and prove to the judge that they did not make up to their claim. Whatever you do, do not use their resort services or mention resort services. I just found out resort services for 7 days per year is regard as times share then SCT will not take in your case. Beware!!
CASE is bring Garraway to court, file your claim to CASE then to SCT. Increase the mumber of complain in CASE.
Pras, act fast, with 5 days you should get back all your money. Don't waste time go to CASE or SCT to file it. We all have to act fast in our claim. If they close down, we can't claim against anymore.
I went down to CASE with a member from LGM for advice. I relise LGM is not active for while. They should be in the process of closing down. If they successfully close down, then there is no way for LGM members to claim back their money. ACT FAST.
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Thanks Tomorrownevercomes2009 & got scam for your advice.
I'll go ahead for the cancellation right away.
But one more advice required....The contract I had signed states that if I do a cancellation within the cooling period, I still has to pay a cancellation fee of 500$ (of course, I really didn't bother that statement while signing during the contract due to the Trust I had on S&B). Would I still be able to goto the CASE or SCT to claim this amount of 500$ which certainly S&B are not going to refund me? As I'm not a Singaporean, your help would be much required. Thanks.