Living Social Warning

[bluehen]

I bought tickets to a festival from Living Social. The value was supposed to be a hundred dollars worth for 50 dollars. I was very disappointed to find out when I arrived that the tickets I had purchased had an actual value less than the 50 dollars I had spent. I could have bought the tickets I received for less than the original 50. I certainly complained to living social. There repeated response was that you only have 24 hours to get any sort of refund. *** If I had known I was going to be ripped off a month later I would not have bought them in the first place. That was the only response I could get from them, even after explaining I did not get the value promised. I have now gone through my credit card company as this response really pissed me off. The bottom line is......If you buy a living social and do not get what you paid for don't expect any help from living social. This episode has now put living social emails in my junk file.

 

[DisneyFansInLINY]

I had a similiar experience with ever save. I bought a voucher they said was worth $57.99 and that I would have to pay an additional $10 for shipping. However, when I went to purchase the item using my voucher, the website stated my voucher was only worth $47.99 and shipping was free! I had to pay the additional $10 not because of shipping but rather because ever save lied about the value of th voucher. I complained to them and they refused to refund me the $10. These websites make you think you are getting a great deal and sometimes you do, but majority of times they rip you off.

 

[auger]

Wow, sorry you had that kind of experience, but thanks for the warning.
I had an issue with a service I purchased from Groupon last year, but they immediately refunded my money when I complained about what I received from the merchant.
I haven't ever purchased anything from Living Social, but I have considered different offers.
Perhaps I will just stick with a company that I know will stand behind what they sell!

 

[pixiewings71]

Oh no, I'm so sorry you had a bad experience. I've only used Living Social a few times and each time has been great. I use Groupon regularly and have never had any kind of issues with them at all. Is your cc company helping you with this?

 

[HM]

That's so weird. What were the tickets supposed to pay for? A family of four? Did you go on a discounted day?

I've used Living Social for several local places and haven't had any problems with them. I'll keep your story in mind though, when looking at future purchases.

 

[kaytieeldr]

I had a similiar experience with ever save. I bought a voucher they said was worth $57.99 and that I would have to pay an additional $10 for shipping. However, when I went to purchase the item using my voucher, the website stated my voucher was only worth $47.99 and shipping was free! I had to pay the additional $10 not because of shipping but rather because ever save lied about the value of th voucher. I complained to them and they refused to refund me the $10. These websites make you think you are getting a great deal and sometimes you do, but majority of times they rip you off.

So, are you saying you paid Eversave $57.99 (with the intention/expectation of paying an additional $10 for shipping) but the vendor only allows you to spend $47.99 on merchandise (with the remaining $10 you paid being applied as "free" shipping? If you did, why?

Or did you pay some lesser amount for a $57.99 voucher, and they're only allowing you to spend $47.99 on merchandise? Frankly, if you paid $47.98 or less for the voucher, you're getting a bargain. The less you paid, of course, the better the deal. Knowing Eversave, you probably paid $30 or less. I get it, it's not the bargain you expected - but you were planning to have to pay $10 anyway. Instead of paying it for shipping, it sounds like you need(ed) to pay it to get $57.99 in merchandise.

It also sounds like an issue with the vendor.

 

[cole6179]

That stinks. We have had awesome deals through livingsocial. We bought 4 tickets for Kenny Chesney concert for $100 just last month. The tickets had been $100 each originally! And they turned out to be suite tickets. We were very excited.

I just used them to buy a Game truck party for my son this month too.

Could be an issue with the vendor? They lowered the price?

 

[jgreco]

I got burned through an offer through EverSave for some magazines, After waiting patiently over 4 months for the magazines, I contacted Eversave and all they responded with an email address to write. I jumped through hoops and finally gave up. Those deals just aren't as good as they used to be. I've found lately that most of the local deals in my area for most of the coupon-type specials are "over-inflated" in value

 

[kaytieeldr]

I never got a magazine I ordered through Eversave. I gave up on that one. But no problems with Groupon or Living Social.

 

[Jennia]

I also had an issue with Eversave, but it was a gift card. Never received it and never heard back from any of my complaints sent to them. No problems with Living Social or Groupon, though! One company went out of business and Groupon sent me an email and refunded me within twenty four hours.

 

[Mom_Rides]

I had an issue with a vendor that I bought a Groupon for. I had a voucher for comedy club tickets and I called to make reservations for the comedy club and they said they were booked for that voucher. I said ok give me another date. I was told they were completely booked until the expiration date. I called Groupon and they said because it had "limited access" there was nothing they could do. So basically the comedy club could put that wording and offer two seats per show for Groupon and not be held liable for all these tickets they sold but couldn't be used. Last visit to Groupon for me!

I hope that your credit card company can resolve this for you and return your money.

 

[Madison'smommy]

That stinks..... I have bought from Living Social many times and never had a problem! I hope you get your refund!

 

[bluehen]

Oh no, I'm so sorry you had a bad experience. I've only used Living Social a few times and each time has been great. I use Groupon regularly and have never had any kind of issues with them at all. Is your cc company helping you with this?

My CC company quickly refunded half of our admission. This is what I figured was fair. I have used groupon with no problem so have never had to use thier customer service. This is the first problem I have had with one of these. For others ...no real sympathy is needed. We had a good time. I just wanted to warn people of Living Socials lousy customer service.

 

[Golf4food]

A lot of those deals over-inflate the non-discounted value to make it look like a good deal. For instance I get "deals" for golf courses that say the deal is a $60 value for only $29.99 when I know full well I can book a tee time direct for $30 on my own without a coupon and the course never charges $60, so there really is zero deal at all.

 

[pixiewings71]

My CC company quickly refunded half of our admission. This is what I figured was fair. I have used groupon with no problem so have never had to use thier customer service. This is the first problem I have had with one of these. For others ...no real sympathy is needed. We had a good time. I just wanted to warn people of Living Socials lousy customer service.

Good to hear!! I'm glad you got the resolution you were looking and again, thanks for letting us know.

A lot of those deals over-inflate the non-discounted value to make it look like a good deal. For instance I get "deals" for golf courses that say the deal is a $60 value for only $29.99 when I know full well I can book a tee time direct for $30 on my own without a coupon and the course never charges $60, so there really is zero deal at all.

I only buy them for things I can verify the value of. I use them a lot for discounts on wine tastings and wine pairings. Rarely for things like golf because as you said, DBF and his Dad get better deals without coupons!

 

[wendow]

I have never had a problem with LivingSocial but I do know that I have heard lots of complaints about some of the "deals" they and other deals sites offer. Especially on the travel deals. I did go check a few travel ones that I was interested in a few months ago and I was able to get the same deal or even a few dollars cheaper on the hotel's own website. Like someone else mentioned, I only buy "deals" that I can verify are really "deals".

 

[DawnM]

This sort of happened to me. I had a LS deal that turned out to be very close in price to the student discount. I didn't see a student discount on the website, but I saw the price when I got to the museum.

 

[kaytieeldr]

Good to hear!! I'm glad you got the resolution you were looking and again, thanks for letting us know.



I only buy them for things I can verify the value of. I use them a lot for discounts on wine tastings and wine pairings. Rarely for things like golf because as you said, DBF and his Dad get better deals without coupons!

Yup! I recently purchased a Living Social deal to get the Sunday paper for 26 weeks for $22. It's $3.50 or $3.75 at the store. I'm sure I got a good deal .

 

[carebee21]

This sort of happened to me. I had a LS deal that turned out to be very close in price to the student discount. I didn't see a student discount on the website, but I saw the price when I got to the museum.

Ha ha. Glad I'm not the only one that's happened too. But mine actually happened with Groupon.

We were looking for something to do for the weekend, and decided to go to a local attraction. I googled online for discount tickets or coupons and came across a groupon deal for locals. It was a cheaper amount than what was listed on the website or even the AAA discount listed on the website so I bought the tickets.

Once we got to the attraction, I saw they offered a locals only discount which was the same exact price that I paid for our tickets. It wasn't listed on the website, so I didn't know they had it. So all in all, I didn't get a deal or any sort of discount going through groupon. I could have gotten the same deal at the gate.

 

[disneysteve]

A lot of those deals over-inflate the non-discounted value to make it look like a good deal.

I only buy them for things I can verify the value of.

Exactly. As with everything, it is buyer beware. Don't buy a Groupon or Living Social deal without first checking what the item or service would normally cost.

We've done both with success and gotten legitimate deals and savings. One time, however, there was a Groupon for a local restaurant that we had never been to. We first went to the restaurant's website to see the menu to see if we'd like the place. On the site, they had coupons that were nearly as good as the Groupon deal. We still would have saved with the Groupon but only a few dollars and would have had to use it within the stated time. We didn't buy it since we can go to the website anytime as they always have the coupon on there.