Hotstone Yoga closes amid prepaid concerns

The Consumer Council receives at least 286 complaints involving nearly 3,900,000 Hong Kong dollars following the shut down of yoga centre chain Hotstone Yoga.

Lawmaker says the government should uniformly regulate all prepaid services beyond the beauty and fitness industries.

Operating for at least 10 years, Hotstone Yoga focuses on stone spa yoga.

At its prime, the chain operated seven branches.

Doors at the Cheong Lok Street branch in Jordan remains closed.

The company announces its sudden closure yesterday, saying it will no longer provides courses or treatments.

Affected customers can submit documents for claims.

A customer of the chain for more than eight years, May says she paid nearly 20,000 dollars in July for a package that leaves her now with close to 100 unused class credits.

A yoga instructor, Kan, says she still received class schedules on the day of the closure, and that the number of classes had been cut back significantly last month.

She goes on to say there are no unpaid wages.

The government previously conducts a two-month consultation on prepaid consumption.

However, the proposed rules currently target only fitness and beauty services.

Lawmaker Bill Tang says yoga falls outside the scope.

He suggests authorities uniformly regulate all services involving prepaid payments.

He also urges consumers to use credit cards for prepaid transactions, allows them to apply for payment cancellation if a company folds.