Another one bites the dust. Wax in the city, a relatively popular spa, manicure/padicure, waxing joint - with three branches - closed down in April this year. Over 3,000 customers have been left in the lurch in over thousands of dollars of unfulfilled spa packages. Interestingly enough, netizens believe that Wax in the City is related to another defunct spa, also of the same name, which was located in Johannesburg, South Africa. According to the Sunday Independent, "A few months before Wax in the City (South Africa) liquidated they embarked on an aggressive telemarketing recruiting exercise to beef up their membership of around 1 400. Then they folded." South Africa's Companies and Intellectual Property Registration Office database lists the owner of the now defunct Wax in the City as Raoul Martin Fenianos. Interestingly enough, in it Raoul lists a company called Naughty by Nature among his former employers. Naughty by Nature is also listed as the domain name controller for the wax in the city Singapore website, suggesting that all three companies are linked. Checks have also revealed that the two companies share the same registered address and company secretary.
CASE is looking into the matter and in the mean time advices customers to be careful when they buy packages involving instalments.
Seah Seng Choon, executive director, Consumers Association Of Singapore, said: "This pre-payment packages arrangement is totally unregulated and customers need to understand that. They need to be mindful of this and take steps to protect their interests for the time being. There are several disadvantages for consumers to sign up for packages."