SINGAPORE: Thinking that her 10-year-old son would benefit from brain training activities, a single mother enrolled the boy into Genius League, a child learning enrichment centre, in July 2022.
However, on Monday (May 8), the 38-year-old, who wishes to be known only as Ms Thong, was shocked to learn through a WhatsApp message from Genius League that it is undergoing liquidation proceedings.
The message informed parents that Genius League’s management would be “working with the relevant professionals” in their process of “winding down” the company, the data entry operator told TODAY.
When TODAY visited Genius League’s three branches at Tampines, Hougang and Novena on Tuesday, all three were closed. TODAY was also unable to reach Genius League through any available phone numbers.
Similarly, the firm’s website has been deactivated, while comments are being limited on its Facebook page.
“This is ridiculous, how can they close down without any notice? I lost about S$600 worth of lessons, including a S$200 deposit,” said Ms Thong. “This is my hard-earned money. I am a single mum, I just want what is best for my son.”
Several other parents spoke to TODAY about their alleged losses from the Genius League’s closure, ranging from about S$100 to S$2,038.
One affected parent, who wished to be known only as Mr Goh, had enrolled his 16-month-old son into Genius League after attending a trial class in January 2023.
He had previously enrolled his son in similar institutions and was trying to explore different options in “right brain training”, in which Genius League specialised.
“During the trial, the pace is a lot slower and the pricing is more affordable,” said Mr Goh, 34, who is self-employed.
However, Mr Goh’s son was able to attend only six of the 42 lessons that were paid for before the centre’s sudden closure.
As he had made payment in full for a year’s worth of lessons, Mr Goh estimates his losses at S$2,038.
“I feel horrible regarding the monetary loss as S$2,000 is not a small sum to me,” he said.
“That money was originally set aside with good intentions to spend it to nurture my kid, but now, I have to save on other areas of my life just to ensure my son can keep his weekends meaningful.”
Another affected parent, Ms Yvonne Soon, 37, a part-time packer, had also enrolled her five-year-old son into Genius League in June 2022, in hopes of improving his memory and attention span.
After her son had attended a fruitful trial class at the centre, Ms Soon found that Genius League also offered a more affordable price for its packages when compared to similar institutions, prompting her to sign up.
However, with the centre’s closure, Ms Soon’s son still has 16 lessons yet to be attended, at an estimated value of about S$760.
“I am very affected by this loss. As a solo-income family, this S$760 is significant to us. I would need to work two to three months (at a) part-time job to earn back this money,” she said.
Ms Soon said she is “definitely” hoping for a refund so she could use the funds on another enrichment learning option.
Affected parents also brought up several other issues with Genius League relating to the period prior to the centre’s closure.
These included frequently absent or sick teaching staff, undertrained administrative staff, as well as unclear terms and conditions and a rushed signup process.
Responding to TODAY’s queries, the Consumers Association of Singapore (CASE) said it had received 12 consumer complaints earlier this week, with complainants seeking to recover more than S$14,000 in the unused balance of their prepaid lesson fees.
CASE has highlighted this incident as an example of the importance of prepayment protection for consumers in sectors that collect large sums of prepayments.
“Against today’s challenging economic and business climate, there needs to be stronger safeguards to protect consumers from prepayment losses in the event of sudden business closure,” said a CASE spokesperson.
“We will continue to call on the government to introduce mandatory prepayment protection such as escrows for sectors that collect large sums of prepayments to safeguard consumers’ monies.”
Affected consumers can contact CASE via its hotline at 97958397 or visit their website www.case.org.sg for assistance.
TODAY has contacted the owners of Genius League and the police for comment and has yet to receive a response.
This article was originally published in TODAY.