Disharmony reigns as yoga studios close
A notice on the door of the Laoximen outlet shows it is in arrears of property management rents.
Yoga, an activity principally associated with both inner and outer calm, is at the center of an investigation after a yoga studio chain closed three of its outlets without warning, leaving hundreds of members in the lurch.
The three Yoga Wave studios are located in districts of Huangpu, Xuhui as well as the Pudong New Area. A Laoximen branch in Huangpu has been closed for a month.
Membership subscriptions amount to more than 2 million yuan (US$300,000), and more than 200 members have set up a WeChat solidarity group.
One of these members, Hou, paid more than 11,000 yuan for a three-year membership of the Laoximen branch in October last year. Other members paid between 3,000 yuan and nearly 30,000 yuan.
"The classes were very irregular, and the teachers changed very frequently," she said. In November, employees declared that they had not been paid, said Hou.
Hou and some other members asked refunds, but were denied. In January, the electricity supply was cut off and the studio closed, saying it would reopen after the Spring Festival holiday.
"We were cheated and duped into buying the cards when the operator knew that the outlet may close at any time," said Hou, accusing the chain of misleading consumers and of fraud.
Wang, another member, paid nearly 4,000 yuan for a two-year card at Xuhui outlet. The operator said it had not reached agreement with the property management company and would suspend operations for a few days. The "temporary suspension" has lasted for more than 40 days, said Wang.
A notice posted at the Laoximen outlet said it had been losing money since September and would merge with another brand, but there was no answer to the phone number given on the notice.
District market watchdogs said the person in charge of the chain was missing.
