Laser Clinics Asia closes abruptly, leaving clients with unutilised treatments worth thousands of dollars

Yet another business that provided prepaid services has ceased operations, leaving clients concerned over the thousands of dollars they spent on the unutilised treatments from their packages.

Venting her frustrations on the Complaint Singapore Facebook page, a customer by the name of Nikku Sandhu said that she had signed up for 10 sessions of a full body laser hair removal and five sessions of scar removal with Laser Clinics Asia.

“I remember also asking them if they would close down because of all the scams I’ve been reading in the news. I spent over $8000 [in] total to pay [for] it,” she shared.

Sandhu also stated that she had specifically chose to sign up with Laser Clinics Asia as they had an outlet located at Parkway Parade, which was near to where she stayed.

However, the clinic that has over 200 outlets globally, shut down their Parkway Parade outlet abruptly sometime in June. This left Sandhu and others who were affected with no choice but to make their way to its Palais Renaissance outlet for their treatments.

“This was already an inconvenience as it was no longer near my place. Then they didn’t have any female doctors over the weekend… so sometimes I would need to apply for leave just to make it for my session or Grab both ways so I wouldn’t miss any important meetings,” she continued.

Another reviewer by the name of Terence Tan also aired similar concerns.

“I signed a package at Parkway Parade around mid April and just a week or two later it closed abruptly and I had little choice but to continue the package at Palais Renaissance,” he stated on the outlet’s Google Reviews page.

In a series of screenshots shared by Sandhu on Facebook, a representative from the clinic delivered the news of the remaining local outlet’s eventual closure via WhatsApp.

The clinic had initially only told her that they were temporarily shutting down, informing her that they were unable to process a refund for her remaining packages.

It was only when she inquired about the outstanding amount, that they told her that the clinic had “made a unilateral decision to go into liquidation.”

Customers are skeptical that the clinic was unaware of their ailing financial situation

Several customers have since spoken out on the situation, sharing that the company either ghosted them or started delaying a response when asked about how their remaining sessions would be compensated for.

“I am fairly certain the company knew it was shutting imminently when customers were buying packages. I don’t know what to say except I am completely disgusted. I am sure there are more people out there in this boat,” Tan shared in his review.

Another customer, Joanna Deakin, said that she turned up for her appointment at the Parkway Parade only to find out it had closed down suddenly due to “unforeseen” circumstances, with the branch failing to convey the information via any form — WhatsApp, email, or otherwise.

When she approached its Orchard branch, they allegedly “denied all responsibility, saying they are separate companies and are ‘not too sure’ what happened or why it closed down.”

Jamie Lee, a client who had three sessions left from the underarm and full arms laser hair removal package she signed, stated that she has yet to receive a response from Laser Clinics Asia.

“[I] asked them whether this was going to be long term but they told me to wait a few days ‘as they have definite answers for me’. It has been 13 days. Please give me a ‘definite answer’,” she lamented.

About Laser Clinic Asia

Touting itself as a market leader in laser hair removal, skin treatments and cosmetic injections on its website, Laser Clinics Asia appears to be a well-established medical group from its accolades in the industry.

Laser Clinics Group launched its first clinic in Asia in a strategic partnership with Privé Clinic.

In the financial year of 2018 alone, Laser Clinics Asia has performed more than three million treatments and welcomed over 229,000 new clients for their services. In the same year, the clinic chain was also awarded Emerging Franchisor of the Year by the Franchise Council of Australia and also taken home the title of Top Franchise in Smart Company’s Smart50 in 2016.

As such, their clients were shell-shocked to find out that despite purchasing packages from what looked like a well-established company, they’re now stuck with unfulfilled packages from its abrupt closure.

“I thought they were an established brand. And I wouldn’t have spent thousands of dollars with them otherwise. I did so much research before deciding to go with them and they had ticked so many of my boxes,” Sandhu shared.

Dr. Karen Soh has been the Medical Director of Prive Clinic, which she founded, for the last 13 years. On 12 September, she announced her departure from the clinic. According to Dr. Soh, the decision to close was made after she had left the clinic and she has been trying her best to assist frustrated clients despite her departure.

As of today, the Clinic has been marked as “temporarily closed” on their Google page. Additionally, they posted this notice on their official website:

Daily Vanity has reached out to Laser Clinics Asia for comment on the situation. They have yet to respond. This post will be updated if the company replies.

Featured image credit: Laser Clinics Asia/Facebook