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Genius League, a chain of enrichment centres in Singapore, closed suddenly leaving numerous parents high and dry, prompting them to lodge police reports.

Those affected have also since sought help from the Consumers Association of Singapore (CASE) in a bid to get their money back.

The disgruntled parents have even set up a Facebook group, "Get Genius League to Refund", to consolidate their efforts to press the centre to return the fees paid.

As of May 12, 2023, the group has over 100 members.

The chain had three outlets at Novena, Hougang, and Tampines.

Centre for young children

According to Genius League's Facebook page, courses offered include brain training programmes for young children to boost their memory, math mastery, and language skills.

It accepted students from as young as six months old to six years old and older.

Why it closed

On May 8, 2023, the company announced its closure to customers over WhatsApp, citing high operating costs and a lack of funds.

These messages were shared in a post by a woman, Candice Toh, on Facebook on May 9.

The person who sent the messages claimed that the new management that took over in February 2023 had faced "setbacks" that "made it increasingly difficult" to "continue operating a sustainable business".

The messages claimed the company operated on limited funds as previous payments had gone to its ex-owner.

It also claimed that the company's Hougang centre's rent had increased by 42 per cent, and its Novena centre was affected not only by rental increase, but also by "noise disturbances from the tenant above".

"We have assessed the situation and came to the conclusion that we are unable to turn things around quickly to stay viable," the text wrote.

The company also apologised to its customers and sought their understanding during this "difficult time".

One parent paid S$2,268 for the year

Chen Weiyan (transliteration), a parent who has a four-year-old child who went to the Novena outlet, told Shin Min Daily News that classes had been cancelled due to utility disruptions two weeks before the closure.

"My daughter hasn't gone for classes for the past two weeks," Chen explained.

"The centre told us they would arrange replacement classes for my daughter, but I never expected they would actually shut down."

Chen claimed she had paid S$2,268 fees for the year.

When she asked for a refund, she claimed the centre told her they were seeking professional advice for the closure and needed more time to respond.

At least five affected parents had contacted Shin Min, and some of them had lodged police reports.

12 complaints received, seeking to recover more than S$14,000: CASE

In response to Mothership's queries, CASE president Melvin Yong said it had received 12 consumer complaints against Genius League from May 8 to 10.

The complainants reported that they each paid between S$399 to S$2,388 upfront in enrichment lesson fees to Genius League.

They are seeking to recover more than S$14,000 in the unutilised balance of prepaid fees.

Yong added that CASE has since reached out to Genius League to understand the situation and their plans to compensate affected consumers.

However, Genius League has yet to respond to CASE as of May 11, 2023.

Recovery of prepayments challenging for consumers

Yong pointed out that it is usually challenging for consumers to recover their prepayments from insolvent businesses as administrators will first pay off secured and preferential creditors, such as banks and employees of the company.

Customers will then have to divide whatever remains amongst other unsecured creditors, which include suppliers and landlords.

Yong said the incident once again highlighted the importance of prepayment protection for consumers in sectors that collect large sums of prepayments.

He said CASE will continue to call for the government to introduce stronger safeguards to protect consumers from prepayment losses in the event of sudden business closure, such as the mandatory use of escrows involving large sums of prepayments.

Affected consumers can contact CASE at their hotline 97958397 or website www.case.org.sg for assistance.

Top image via Marcus Woon on Google/ Genius League on Google.