BEAVERTON, Ore. — An abrupt spa closure in Beaverton left some customers and employees frustrated. This is not just any spa, though. British Manor Spa made headlines when it opened because the owner was Tania Farah, the wife of track star and Olympic gold medalist Mo Farah.
Several customers said they have tried calling and emailing, but have not been able to get in touch with Farah since the closure. One customer said she is out hundreds of dollars.
“It hurts, it sucks, it's shocking,” said Semaj Glover, who was the former operations manager at British Manor Spa.
Glover left shortly before the spa closed, but said at first it was a great place to work.
“It's a beautiful facility, especially in this area. There's not one like it and people really loved that,” Glover said.
KGW even featured the spa in a segment on Portland Today a few months after it opened and interviewed Tania Farah.
From 2017: Lady Tania Farah on new spa business
"The British are known for their royalness and I wanted to insert some of that culture here in Portland and have people experience that without jumping on a flight," Tania said during the segment.
Now, employees and customers said they cannot get a hold of her.
Several unhappy customers posted about it on the spa's Facebook page. One post reads in part, "They have failed to reimburse large gift card balances that were unable to be used due to their closure. They also continue to charge credit cards for memberships..."
Another customer KGW spoke with said she's out hundreds of dollars and had to report the charges as fraud to her bank. She said she did not find out about the closure until she showed up for an appointment and the doors were locked.
Glover said she has heard from many customers in the same boat.
“Not able to get their refunds, not able to get in contact with anybody, still being charged for membership. Negative reviews are being deleted and customers are calling them out on that, and they showed up for appointments and the doors were already closed, and money was already taken and not happy,” Glover said.
KGW did see some customers post on Facebook saying they got refunds or at least partial refunds, but that is not the case for everyone. KGW messaged the spa on Facebook, called, and emailed, but the owner has yet to respond.