The door of Gymboree Lingxiu City Guihe store is closed and is no longer open to the public.
Recently, the early education chain Gymboree has been exposed in many places across the country to suddenly close stores and relocate, and many parents have expressed difficulties in protecting their rights. At the end of December 2023, the Gymboree Lingxiu City Guihe store in Jinan has also been withdrawn. Of Gymboree's four stores in Jinan, only two remain open. Some parents told the New Yellow River reporter that there are still a lot of tuition fees that have not been refunded, and it has become a problem to get a refund. "If you don't get a refund, you can only go to a distant campus, and it's too far to go to the campus. Some parents said.
The staff of Jinan Gymboree said that the students who withdrew from the store could transfer to other stores for learning. At the same time, due to the reasons of the franchisee, only students who pay the fee after April 2023 are currently supported to be refunded in installments.
There are nearly 10,000 yuan of tuition fees left after the campus is closed, and parents want to refund them
Ms. Liu, a citizen of Jinan, spent 18,000 yuan in 2022 to register her child at Gymboree Jinan Lingxiu City Guihe Store. "At that time, I saw that Gymboree had been established for a long time, and the location of the store was also near my home, and many children also went here to take early education classes, so I registered my children. ”
At first, Ms. Liu felt that the teachers at the institution taught well, and the children at home also liked the class. In 2022, although Gymboree experienced a store closure turmoil, "At that time, it didn't affect our normal classes, so we didn't pay special attention." Ms. Liu said. But what she didn't expect was that at the end of 2023, the Gymboree Lingxiu City Campus would also have a situation where the store would not be renewed.
"We were told that we had the option to go to a different campus. Now in this situation at Lingxiu City Guihe Store, Ms. Liu can only choose to transfer to other campuses in the face of unconsumed course packages, but this choice makes her face huge traffic pressure. "Our family lives near Lingxiu City, and now we have transferred to the Eurasia Grand View Store, and the time spent on the journey has increased a lot, and the time is not suitable. But when it comes to refunds, Gymboree said it can't be refunded. The New Yellow River reporter learned in the interview that many parents still have thousands or even more than 10,000 yuan of tuition fees left in the Gymboree store, and the only hope for everyone is that Gymboree can be refunded.
Ms. Liu told the New Yellow River reporter that at present, among the four stores of Gymboree in Jinan, Lingxiu City and Jingsi Road Wanda stores have been closed, leaving only Gymboree Golden Times Square Center and Gymboree Eurasia Grand View Center are still operating normally.
The Gymboree staff said that they could transfer to other stores
Recently, the New Yellow River reporter came to the Gymboree Lingxiu City Guihe store in the central district of the city, and saw that the door of the store was locked and closed, and it was no longer open to the public, and a notice was posted at the door. According to the notice, "Because the lease term of the commodity lease contract is about to expire, the contract will not be renewed after expiration." Classes will be available until December 31, 2023. It will officially close after January 1, 2024. ”
Among them, for customers who still have course packages, they are required to come to the store to communicate with the teacher about the relevant courses before December 31, 2023, such as the parents of members who do not come to the store to communicate before December 31, 2023, all courses will be automatically transferred to the Gymboree Eurasia Grand View Campus, where they can continue to take classes. The notice is signed by Shandong Borui Education Consulting Co., Ltd.
Tianyancha information platform shows that Shandong Borui Education Consulting Co., Ltd. was established in 2023 and is an education-based enterprise.
According to the contact information on the notice, the New Yellow River reporter called Mr. Chen, the relevant contact person of Gymboree. Mr. Chen said: "Students who currently have courses at Gymboree Lingxiu City Center and Gymboree Jingsi Road Wanda Center can transfer to Gymboree Golden Times Square Center and Gymboree Eurasia Grand View Center. ”
As for some students who want to get a refund, Mr. Chen said: "At present, students who pay after April 2023 can get a refund. Because it was the previous franchisee who paid the fee before that, and the franchisee has run away. They are not from the same company as us, so they can't get a refund. "The refund time limit is from April 2024, and the refund of 2,000 yuan per month will be completed until the refund is exhausted.
Talking about the reason for the closure of the store, the contact person said frankly, "The rent of the shop in some campuses is indeed too high, and the early education industry as a whole is now sluggish, and we are doing our best." ”
Gymboree in many places across the country has news of store closures
The New Yellow River reporter learned that Gymboree is a professional childcare service enterprise with early childhood quality education and family parenting empowerment as the core, which was established in 1976 and officially entered China in 2003. As of 2021, Gymboree has opened nearly 600 children's diversified growth centers in China, covering nearly 200 cities, serving more than one million Chinese members.
At the end of 2023, Gymboree will be exposed in many places across the country with the news of sudden store closure and relocation. In December, Gymboree Beijing Songjiazhuang Center, Fangshan Changyang Center, Shijingshan Taihe Cuiwei Center and other stores were suddenly closed. At the same time, some Gymboree centers in Yangpu in Shanghai, Nanchang in Jiangxi, Nanjing in Jiangsu, Changchun in Jilin and other places have also suddenly closed their stores. And some parents broke the news on social media that Gymboree Shenzhen Longhua Center Store was still doing activities on December 9, and the teacher notified the suspension of classes on December 22, and the store was suddenly closed the next day.
The New Yellow River reporter searched for "Golden Baby" in the Black Cat complaint platform and found that there were a total of 1,518 complaints, most of which involved tuition refunds, campus relocation and closure, and other issues.
On December 27, 2023, a relevant person from Gymboree said in a previous interview: "The birth rate of the closed store population is very low, and there is no problem with the capital chain to reasonably optimize resources." In response to the issue of parents' refunds, the person said that he was making a schedule and would refund the fees step by step. The New Yellow River reporter called the Gymboree national customer service hotline, but the phone was not connected.
Regarding this matter, Huang Xiwen, a lawyer at Shandong Zhengdu Law Firm, believes that the temporary closure of educational institutions can be regarded as a breach of contract with consumers when they sign service contracts. Since the educational institution is no longer able to perform the service contract, the consumer has the right to claim compensation from the educational institution for the cost of the service that has not yet been provided. According to the relevant laws and regulations, since the contract established in accordance with the law is legally binding on the parties, the parties shall perform their obligations in accordance with the agreement, and shall not modify or terminate the contract without authorization.
In recent years, it has been common for beauty establishments, gyms, restaurants, and other establishments to close down for a variety of reasons, such as poor management and due rent, and many innocent consumers have suffered greatly. The New Yellow River reporter hereby reminds consumers that before applying for a similar membership card, they should first inquire about whether the institution has business qualifications, social reputation, viability and other relevant information to ensure that their economic interests are not harmed.