The John Allan Company

Review: I have two complaints. The first is that I paid for a full year membership to John Allan's. They shut down the business midway through the contract and notified the customers that we would receive refunds. I have not received a refund and attempts to contact them for more information have gone without a response on multiple attempts. It has been roughly five months since the announcement of their closing and they must have been aware of the closing prior to the announcement meaning they have gone six plus months without providing a refund. As a side note, and I have no way to verify this, a former employee advised me that John Allan's was signing up members for one year periods knowing they would be closing the location soon. My second complaint has to do with unethical representation of what was in the contract. The first time I signed up for a full year membership I was told that the purchase price was locked in for life meaning I would pay the same amount when I renewed the next year. When I went to renew the following year they told me that the [redacted] who told me that was not telling the truth and I would have to pay the new amount.Desired Settlement: At a minimum I would like to be refunded for the amount of unused services (multiple months). Ideally I would like to be refunded more because they amount I paid was for a full year membership, not a partial membership. Furthermore, I feel cheated for the misrepresentation of the initial contact where I was told pricing would be locked in for life and would like an explanation for what happened.

Business

Response:

Dear [redacted],

Closing the Chicago club has not been easy. It was a hard decision to make and I appreciate it has disrupted some part of your life.

Before and even since the closing, our Chicago club members have treated us well - and we continue to try to repay the favor. We continue to be fortunate by patience and well-wishing from many of you - this amidst the turmoil that comes with winding down a business, not to mention the reality of letting down so many faithful members.

The process of sifting through hundreds of contracts and verifying membership information has been extremely time consuming and we have finally been able to move forward to validate contracts and amounts.

[redacted] has assessed your membership to be at a rate of $187.50

Please remit back to [redacted] that your contact information is correct.

Again, we would like to thank you for your patience these past few months.

Review: Upon closure of their [redacted] location, the company has failed to refund their [redacted] members. It has been over 3 months and we still have not received the refunded membership fees.Desired Settlement: The business should have had a plan in place to reimburse their [redacted] members in a timely manner upon closure of the club. Now it has been over 3 months since the club closed and we have not received payment, or an exact timeline as to when we can expect payment. I would like to receive an explanation as to why this has taken so long to process along with a date upon which I can expect to receive my reimbursement.

Business

Response:

[redacted]-

Please see below the most recent correspondence from [redacted] to [redacted] in regards to his membership.

Thank you.

[redacted],

On Fri, May *, 2014 at 9:35 AM, no reply [redacted] wrote:

Dear [redacted],

Closing the [redacted] club has not been easy. It was a hard decision to make and I appreciate it has disrupted some part of your life.

Before and even since the closing, our [redacted] club members have treated us well - and we continue to try to repay the favor. We continue to be fortunate by patience and well-wishing from many of you - this amidst the turmoil that comes with winding down a business, not to mention the reality of letting down so many faithful members.

The process of sifting through hundreds of contracts and verifying membership information has been extremely time consuming and we have finally been able to move forward to validate contracts and amounts.

[redacted] has assessed your membership to be at a rate of $250.00

Please remit back to [redacted] that your contact information is correct.

Again, we would like to thank you for your patience these past few months.

Consumer

Response:

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me and the matter has been resolved.

Sincerely,

Review: I joined John Allan's in July 2012, it is a barber shop with a membership system whereby you purchase an annual membership for unlimited haircuts. I enjoyed my first year of membership, and joined for another year on September *, 2013. Unfortunately, in November 2013 I received notice that the [redacted] location would be closing effective January [redacted]. At that time, we received multiple communication that the refund policy would be determined by the closing date, or January [redacted], and that no questions should be directed to club staff until that date. I then received an additional email on January [redacted] from their [redacted] that they would be refunding membership fees on a pro-rata basis shortly thereafter. It has been two months since that email, and after multiple attempts to communicate with John Allans, I have yet to receive $441.78 of refund that I am due for the 215 days of the 365 days left on annual membership I purchase on September [redacted] for $750.

I would very much appreciate help in receiving the refund that has been promised, and is required by the annual contract I signed.Desired Settlement: Simply receive back the $441.78, which is the amount paid ($750) less 150/365 for the days of the annual contract in which the [redacted] location was open.

Business

Response:

[redacted]

Dear Mediator:

This letter is in response to the above-referenced complaint filed by [redacted] against The John Allan Company (“JAC”). According to the information provided, [redacted] claims that JAC shut down and promised him a refund of membership fees and that such fees have not yet been paid to him. [redacted] was a member of the John Allan Club in [redacted] (the “[redacted] Club”), which recently closed its doors. JAC, which is affiliated with the [redacted] Club, has not closed and we do not believe that this complaint is properly brought before the Revdex.com Serving Metropolitan New York.

Nevertheless, JAC is sensitive to [redacted]’s concerns and, as our staff is coordinating the post-closure wind-down of the [redacted] Club, in order to provide a complete response, we would have the Revdex.com consider the following:

1. On December *, 2013, [redacted] and all of the other members of the [redacted] Club were provided notices of the closure of the [redacted] Club, which explained the decision and indicated that a refund policy would be established, notwithstanding the non-refundable nature of the member contract – see attached.

2. On January **, 2013, [redacted] and all of the other members of the [redacted] Club were contact by John Allan explaining the refund policy– see attached.

3. On March [redacted] 2014 [redacted] and all of the other members of the [redacted] Club were contact by John Allan again- see attached.

The decision to close the [redacted] Club was not an easy one and the [redacted] Club and JAC have remained sensitive to the needs of its members to deliver not only refunds, but the information regarding the refund policy. However, the logistics of winding down the business matters of the [redacted] Club will take time and as soon as there is clarity on a number of fronts, JAC will be able to better identify a timeline for refunds. This has been the consistent message from the [redacted] Club and JAC.

Again, we sympathize with [redacted] and have addressed him directly in this respect (prior to his complaint). However, we do not believe [redacted]’s frustration is properly attributed to a lack of communication. He has been the recipient of both general notices and direct emails. His frustration is with the closing and the fact that he has not seen a refund. We share his frustration on both fronts. We can do nothing about the closing, but will continue to work on establishing a refund policy and will continue to update the former [redacted] Club members with respect to our progress.

Sincerely,

Consumer

Response:

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID# [redacted], and have determined that my complaint has NOT been resolved because:

I have yet to receive the monies due to me. I reviewed John Allan's response in detail, and two of their assertions are incorrect. 1) I received the third communication (attached) on March [redacted] after submitting my initial complaint and 2) as evidenced by the emails included, the decision to close the club was communicated almost 5 months ago - yet they have been silent as to a concrete schedule for receiving the monies due.

Furthermore, as evidenced by the attached email received January **, 2014, the company's representatives have sent misleading and cagey emails which might lead one to believe their actual intentions in administrating what is a simple refund process which per the agreements signed that is determined by simple arithmetic.

I will consider my complaint resolved upon receipt of the monies due to me.

In order for the Revdex.com to appropriately process your response, you MUST answer the question above.

Sincerely,

Business

Response:

[redacted]-

Please see below the most recent correspondence from John Allan to [redacted] in regards to his refund.

Thank you.

Thank you for the follow up, [redacted].

I extended my membership for a year on September [redacted], 2014 and thus I would expect my refund number to be $441.78 or 215 of 365 days. Alternatively, if you count the months remaining and not days of my contract it would be 7 months or $437.50.

My contact information is below - please let me know if you have any questions or require additional information.

All the best,

On Mon, May *, 2014 at 11:24 AM, no reply <[redacted]> wrote:

Consumer

Response:

At this time, I have not been contacted by The John Allan Company regarding complaint ID [redacted].

Sincerely,

Review: The Chicago location closed and I have not received a prorated refund for my membership fees. I have received multiple emails to let me know the refund would be sent when they have approval (not sure who is approving...). I have an email with my exact refund amount from the company. This email was sent over a year ago, yet no refund. I followed up last week and they still do not have approval. I know of one other customer that hasn't received their refund as well. However, I believe all Chicago members have not received their refund. If John Allans continues to open new locations, I'm not sure how/why they can't refund previous members that did not receive a full year of services as stated in contracts.Desired Settlement: I simply want the exact dollar amount I was told I was going to receive from John Allans. I have all emails as proof.

Business

Response:

We have yet to receive the adequate funding at this time, therefore we are offering in return any of our products from [redacted] equaling your membership credit.thank you. [redacted]

Review: I was a client at the location in Chicago. I originally signed up on October **, 2012 for a year membership. I then renewed for $675 October [redacted] 2013. On December *, 2013 we received an email stating that the site would be closing down at the end of January 2014 and we would receive our refunds for the prorated membership. On May [redacted] 2014 I received an email stating that my refund was going to be $450. I followed up to see how the membership refund was calculated and never heard anything back. I have reached out to the club several times to check the status of the refund and get different answers everytime. It has now been over a year since the site has closed and I still have not received anything.Desired Settlement: I am requesting that I receive the refund. My renewal was $675. That comes to $56.25 per month for the membership. My membership started 10/**/2013 and the store closed on 1/**/14. That is 3 full months and then 14 days out of 31 in october. $56.25 * 3 months = $168.75. $56.25/31 * 18 days of october = $32.66. Total amount used of the membership before closed would equal $201.41 ($168.75 + $32.66). My renewal was $675 so the refund should be in the amount of $473.59

Business

Response:

[redacted]- I am sorry if you have not been contact- my email is [redacted] and I have been handling all the correspondences for the Chicago members.I do not believe I have received any messages from you.We have however slowly begun to issues some refunds, but we are still seeking financing - and until we secure that, the process will take time to get to everyone.We appreciate your patience.thank you.-[redacted]

Consumer

Response:

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID# [redacted], and have determined that my complaint has NOT been resolved because:

The business closed down over a year ago. To wait this long to issue a refund is unacceptable. This issue will not be resolved until the refund is received.

In order for the Revdex.com to appropriately process your response, you MUST answer the question above.

Sincerely,

Consumer

Response:

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID# [redacted], and have determined that my complaint has NOT been resolved because:

I was a client at the location in Chicago. I renewed my membership in October 2013. I renewed at the yearly membership rate of $675. Later that month we were informed that the site would be closing down at the end of January and we would receive our refunds for the prorated membership. A few months later I received an email stating that my refund was going to be $450. I followed up to see how the membership refund was calculated and never heard anything back. It has been 18 months since the club has closed down and I still have not received the refund. Every time that I have contacted them I get the runaround and no answers. I filed with Revdex.com on March **, 2015 and kept disputing but some how my complaint was closed out. My complaint # was #[redacted].Desired Outcome: Full $450.00 refund.

Sincerely,

Business

Response:

Unfortunately as stated before, until we receive funding we cannot issue any funds at this time.We regret that this has been taking such a long time and thank everyone for their patience.

Review: I purchased a 1-year membership to John Allans barber service which allowed for unlimited hair cuts for 1-year. They closed their store, sent me a notice that they found they owed me 562.50. They are still in operation but have not yet submitted the remittance to me.Desired Settlement: I would like them to submit payment of the 562.50 payable to myself at the address I provided them on May [redacted], 2014 which is when they sent a note stating they owed me 562.50 and asked me for my contact information.

Business

Response:

As communicated to all our members- although we are still operating in New York, our Chicago club was unsuccessful- which is why it closed.

we are seeking funding to offer the appropriate compensation to all members which have monies owed to them.

unfortunately- we do not have a time frame for when this will be completed.

we ask for patient in this process and the understanding that we are trying to do what is best for our loyal members and clients.

Consumer

Response:

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID# [redacted], and have determined that my complaint has NOT been resolved because:

[Your Answer Here]

John Allan's has already agreed on May [redacted] that they owe me $562.50 which is attached in the email above. John Allan's requires payment from its customers in 30-days and therefore I expect the same, it has been over 4 months and the organization is asking for me to be patient. All John Allan's locations are under the same organization and if they do not have funds to remit payment then they are in bankruptcy status.

I need a date in which John Allan will remit my payment.

In order for the Revdex.com to appropriately process your response, you MUST answer the question above.

Sincerely,

Business

Response:

Unfortunately we do not have a date secured yet for this endeavor.

We are seeking funding to apply to all refunds, as soon as that is secured, we can begin the process of contacting everyone with a suitable refund.

I understand how frustrating this is, and do ask for patience.

As a company, we are trying to do the right thing by our members.

Thank you.

Consumer

Response:

At this time, I have not been contacted by The John Allan Company regarding complaint ID [redacted].

Sincerely,

Review: I paid The John Allan Company's Chicago barber shop, in full, for an annual membership in August of 2013. Around January of 2014 this branch went out of business. Finally in May of 2014 I was contacted by the company stating that I will be refunded $325. It is now almost March of 2016, nearly three years later and I still have not received my refund. I have tried to email multiple members of the John Allan team and have not received a single response. I know for absolute certain that I am not the only former member that is being ripped off and ignored.Desired Settlement: I want my $325 refund and an apology from The John Allan Company.

Business

Response:

Unfortunately we have not received the funding for this as we had hoped for yet.however, I am happy to send you products from our website [redacted] totally the amount above- you are also always welcomed to come to any of our clubs for services should you be in NYC, LA, San Francisco or Toronto.