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HIGH PRICE FOR LOOKING GOOD
SOURCE : By Ansley Ng, TODAY | Posted: 25 June 2007 0952 hrs
AT AGE 86, Madam June Wong's (picture) obsession with looking good maypuzzle some.
After all, while most people her age would prefer to enjoy their golden years at a leisurely pace, she is usually busy exercising on a Power Rider fitness machine at her Cairnhill apartment, or visiting a slimming centre four times a week.
"I have always been very vain," said the former nurse-turned-beautician unabashedly. "And lately, I have grown fat and need to slim down." The fashionable and alert matron is about 1.6m tall and weighs 70kg. At home, she walks on the treadmill, exercises on the Power Rider - a fitness machine that trains the upper body - or watches South Korean soap operas.
Her desire to lose weight - she claimed to have put on 9kg after a two-month holiday in London last year - made her sign up with a well-known slimming centre, chalking up a stunning $52,000 on treatments like chocolate slim wraps and face-firming therapies.
But three months on, not only did Mdm Wong claimed not to have lost weight, her family is fuming over how the package was sold to her. Her daughters, both in their 40s, have complained to the Consumers Association of Singapore (Case) about the slimming centre - one of the biggest in Singapore - for making the octogenarian pay in advance for treatments that would ordinarily require "two to three years" to complete. "My mother didn't seem to realise how long she was paying for and didn't think it was excessive until we expressed our shock," said one of her daughters, who declined to be named. "We have no problems with her going for treatment, but to pay two to three years in advance is excessive." The family wants two-thirds of the $52,000 refunded. But the slimming centre is only prepared to offer about $14,000. Case said it received two complaints this year against the centre, including the one lodged by Mdm Wong's family. The other complainant felt she did not see results after treatments.
Between 2004 and last year, the number of complaints against beauty centres doubled from 568 to 1,018. The grievances against slimming centres were 364 last year, up from 343 in 2005. Last Monday evening, Today met Mdm Wong at the Botanic Gardens, where she goes for thrice-weekly walks. When asked why she was only seeking a refund now, Mdm Wong, who suffers from obesity-related Type 2 diabetes and gout, would only say she "didn't know" the package was for "two to three years". "Naturally, every one would like to look and feel good," she said. Responding to queries from Today, the centre - which has about 10 outlets islandwide - said the treatment that Mdm Wong paid for would not last two to three years.
"She was not asked to pay for the packages two to three years in advance. On the contrary, the packages were designed based on the number of treatments she signed up for, as well as the frequency at which she would be undergoing the treatments," it said.
Since March 19, Mdm Wong has completed 152 sessions, with 373 treatments remaining.
In April, Case wrote to the company, saying that based on what Mdm Wong's family claims, the centre might have infringed Section 4c of the Consumer Protection (Fair Trading) Act: Taking advantage of the old and illiterate. In their reply, the centre said Mdm Wong was "very happy" with the services provided. "She is not illiterate - she can comment on the services and express herself well," the centre wrote. Calling it an "unusual case", Case executive director Seah Seng Choon said his organisation is continuing to help both parties resolve the matter.
"It is unusual for a business to get an 86-year-old lady to sign up a long-term package involving such a large sum of money," he said. "However, upon our representation and in view of the family's concerns, the company is willing to make an exception and give her a partial refund."
