Case gets 2 complaints about sudden closure of Pure Yoga’s Suntec City branch, some users bemoan membership’s ‘diminished value’
A view of the entrance to Pure Yoga at Suntec City mall.
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- Two complaints against Pure Yoga have been filed to a consumer watchdog related to the unexpected closure of its Suntec City outlet
- Members were informed on Sept 27 that Pure Yoga and Pure Fitness outlets at the mall would be closed on Oct 8
- This was less than two weeks' notice
- Some members said they were disappointed but not surprised since Pure Group has closed other outlets before
NIKKI YEO
Published September 30, 2023Updated September 30, 2023
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SINGAPORE — The Consumers Association of Singapore (Case) has received two complaints against Pure Yoga related to the abrupt closure of its outlet in Suntec City mall, while many Pure Group members continue to air their grievances on social media channels about the way the closure was handled.
TODAY spoke to five people who are members of Pure Fitness and Pure Yoga, two of whom said that they were especially frustrated because they had seen warning signs that the gym and yoga studio at Suntec City may close but were told by Pure Fitness' staff members that such rumours were baseless as recently as August.
Yet, not long after that, members were informed about the imminent closure of the Suntec City outlet, which comprises both a yoga studio and gym, via an email sent to members on Wednesday (Sept 27).
The branch at Suntec City, which comprises Pure Yoga and Pure Fitness, will close on Oct 8.
There are two remaining locations at Asia Square and Ngee Ann City, which have both Pure Yoga and Pure Fitness outlets.
Pure Group, set up 2002 and headquartered in Hong Kong, has fitness and yoga centres in China, Hong Kong, Singapore and New York in the United States.
In Singapore, it started with Pure Yoga in Ngee Ann City mall and expanded to have branches at Chevron House and Republic Plaza in Raffles Place, then at Asia Square in the Marina Bay area in 2016, followed by Suntec City in 2018.
Pure Fitness was launched here in 2010 and there was a branch along Orchard Road as well as Ocean Financial Centre in the Central Business District.
Pure Fitness at Ocean Financial Centre and Pure Yoga at Republic Plaza shut last year.
Mr Melvin Yong, president of Case, said that the two complaints filed between Sept 27 and 28 this week stated that the notice of closure given by Pure Yoga was less than two weeks.
Case is a non-profit, non-governmental organisation that handles consumer-to-business disputes.
When TODAY reached out to Pure Group for comment, it confirmed the closure and said that “all resources and staff will be reallocated to (its) Asia Square and Ngee Ann City outlets”.
Pure Group said that it decided to close the Suntec City branch due to the “evolving business landscape in Singapore” and the decision to reallocate resources was to “optimise” its offerings.
For 41-year-old research scientist Timothy Lee, who is on an all-branch access membership plan, losing access to the Suntec City branch is disappointing but something he will adapt to eventually.
Being self-employed, he is open to staying on as a member since he can do his work from any location and he can access the other gym locations.
However, some other members who spoke to TODAY said that the Suntec City branch was their preferred choice because it is relatively less crowded and in a central location, especially convenient for those who work nearby.
Celine Cheung, who is a 41-year old banker, said: “I don't get to go to the other gyms. Suntec is nearest to me. This is the key criteria for gym access. You don't want to go all the way to somewhere else.”
Ms Cheung found the lack of transparency and forewarning about the closure upsetting, that it left a “bad taste in (her) mouth”.
“It’s very disappointing, but I must say I’m not surprised,” she said, adding that it was not the first gym Pure Group has closed, but the short notice would not give members enough time to make “alternative plans”.
Zach Levine, 41, who works in the legal industry, has been a member for more than 10 years and has frequented other Pure outlets overseas.
He said that he was not surprised by the latest closure as “the writing was on the wall”.
Last year, a branch of Pure Fitness at the Ocean Financial Centre branch was closed. Then members were told that opening hours at other branches would “be extended for greater booking and access flexibility”, but that was not the case in the end because the extended hours were eventually reduced. These signalled to Mr Levine that another closure might be imminent.
Hearing murmurs that his preferred branch of Suntec City might close soon, he reached out to Pure’s customer service on Aug 25 and was told that there was “no basis to these rumours”.
Pure also said in their email reply to him: "There are no plans to close Pure Suntec Fitness.”
One member, who declined to be named because he did not want to affect the outcome of his ongoing negotiations for compensation with Pure, similarly tried to ascertain what he heard in August about the closure of the Suntec City branch.
“I had used all avenues to contact them for clarity: Emails, face-to-face talk, social media — they all said that the rumours were without basis. And yet, here we are today.”
FEWER LOCATIONS, ‘DIMINISHED VALUE’
Of the five members interviewed by TODAY, three were considering pursuing a full refund or terminating their contract when possible, while the other two are intending to continue their membership or are undecided.In a frequently-asked-questions webpage sent to affected members by email, Pure said that there will not be any changes to membership fee “with the revised access”.
Members will only be able to terminate their contracts if they have completed the “minimum commitment”.
Ms Cheung, who is still “at a loss” on what to do with the membership she has kept since 2009, said that the members’ agreement that she had signed was “airtight” and it made it difficult to terminate early and seek a refund.
One clause in the agreement that she highlighted was that people who have prepaid for memberships cannot get a refund under “any circumstances”.
Other members said that the closure of yet another branch meant that they were no longer “getting what they had paid for”.
For example, lawyer Weasel Chow, 30, had paid for an all-access package for two years, which would have qualified him to frequent four locations that include Pure Yoga and Pure Fitness outlets at the time of purchase.
Now, with just two remaining locations with yoga and gym facilities, he said that the package he was sold is now “cut by 50 per cent without early warning”.
The member who declined to be named also said: “When I re-contracted my new package, I had signed on the promise that I would have three locations that offered six yoga and fitness outlets to utilise. Now I’m down to four outlets at two locations. To me, I am no longer getting what I had paid for.
“The service that I’m paying for is of a diminished value.”
