Hi,
I wanted to write a long-overdue complaint regarding the very first living social deal I had ever purchased. I purchased it after a friend purchased it to me and sent a forward of her link. I had never heard of living social as of yet, and I thought it sounded like an amazing deal. I then forwarded the deal to 2 other friends who also purchased the voucher happily. We decided to all do the picnic together.
The Voucher #100011039945, date of purchase: April 2, I redeemed the voucher on October 2.
It states that I would be receiving a picnic basket and blanket for two, along with a variety of food/drink items.
This is my complaint: We reserved our baskets nearly a week in advance (they require a 24 hour in advance reservation) When my friends and I (there were 6 of us total = 3 deals were purchased... It's "Picnic Basket for Two") arrived to redeem our "baskets"... We were extremely disappointed to see that our "picnic basket" was actually a large white paper bag. And our "blankets" were plastic tablecloths that would not even be sufficient to use more than once.
The way the deal was advertised, it specifically said, "picnic basket and blanket"... I'm not sure what universe a picnic basket can be substituted for a large white paper bag. And a blanket should never be substituted with a blue plastic tablecloth that rips immediately after we sit on it.
I spent $39 on this deal expecting to receive a picnic basket and a blanket along with my mediocre food. It was my first time ever purchasing from Living Social and had no idea that I would be misguided from the description of the deal.
We told the restaurant manager when we redeemed our deals that it was supposed to be a picnic basket and blanket, not a paper bag and a cheap plastic $1 tablecloth from the 99cent store. And they told us that "Living Social writes the deals, we are not responsible for what they say". We even showed them our deals, the "fine print", where it clearly states picnic basket and blanket", and they simply said, Living Social wrote it".
Another small complaint is that the deal also said we could choose which paninis we wanted... But upon giving our deals to the restaurant, they had chosen the paninis for us... It was already packaged into our white paper bags. That is kind of annoying and definitely misleading as well.
Needless to say, I am extremely disgruntled with the way that Living Social wrote this description, and I feel extrememly ripped off. The main reason why I (and my 2 other friends) purchased this deal is because it said it was coming with a "picnic basket and blanket". I wanted to be able to use the basket and blanket on future picnics. If I would have known that it was a paper bag and a plastic tablecloth, I never would have purchased this deal. We paid $39 for overpriced sandwhiches and apples that I could have made myself from Whole Foods for more than half the price.
I have never purchased from Living Social ever again, because I was so put-off by this situtation. I purchased the picnic basket on April 2, then purchased a teeth whitening on April 11 shortly afterwards, before redeeming my picnic basket. I didn't have the greatest experience with the teeth whitening appointment either (they made me wait like an hour after my appointment time to see me, and even then, the dentist forgot about me while i was sitting in the chair with the whitener on my teeth, the dental assistant finally came back and even said, "you're still here? She forgot about you..." but at least they actually DID whiten my teeth. Not give me a whitening at home kit or something, so whatever on that.).
So after I redeemed the picnic basket and recieved what I described above, I've never purchased from Living Social again, because I feel as if the advertisement is misleading to what you actually receive. It left a very bad taste in my mouth. I no longer trust the credibility of your company, and have told several people about my experience, who sometimes have their own stories of bad experiences.
I would appreciate it very much if they would find a way to redeem me and my friends for this lousy purchase. There needs to be more communication between Living Social and their vendors... If you write "picnic basket and blanket"... Make sure the restaurant does not give paying customers a white paper bag and a cheap plastic table-cloth.
Thanks for your time,
Amy Nguyen
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