Living Social is surely soon to go out of business with their awful business practices and that reason alone should be enough to not buy from them anymore.
I bought a 'living social voucher' several months ago for a service, and the service provider did not answer their phone or return my call regarding scheduling an appointment. After a few months of playing one way phone tag, I called Living Social and the customer service representative said they would be happy to oblige my refund, and that there were several other complaints of the same nature for this particular merchant. I even received a confirmation e-mail confirming my refund, but the refund was NEVER returned to my card.
I called Living Social today to receive a refund for that as well as other vouchers where the organizations were not even open during their posted business hours. When they were very rude on the phone - and I have several hundred dollars in vouchers on my account - I decided that I would request a refund for everything on my account. I had originally bought these vouchers to save money, but time is money... And to have to deal with auditing the refunds they promise but don't return, I decided I do not want to use any vouchers with this organization.
According to the law in the state I bought these vouchers in, it is actually illegal for a gift certificate to expire or not be refunded. When presented with that information, the 'manager' claimed that did not apply to them as they call these 'gift certificates' vouchers.By changing the name of the certificate, they claim they are allowed to bypass the law.
Groupon has always honored every refund I requested - and even suggested that I refund one that was expired. Their customer service and accordance with the law has always been great, and I expected the same from Living Social. Especially considering I 'was' an avid customer. Now, I can only wonder what would happen to those vouchers if this organization were to go out of business, and based on their practices I expect them to.
Consumers - please make sure they give you the refunds they promise and do not let this company pull the wool over your eyes. Living Social has zero respect for their customers. Fortunately I have a lawyer contracted and will be able to pursue this without an additional cost, but unfortunately this is not true for everyone.
Check into your state gift certificate laws! The minor name change should not matter - a gift certificate is a gift certificate!
They have already been sued several times - look it up. They do not protect the consumer, OR the companies they represent. Groupon changed their procedures since then, from what I can see, but Living Social is a joke.
More information:
Http://www.geekwire.com/groupon-living-social-targeted-over-terms-of-daily-deal
http://techcrunch.com/06/15/daily-deal-consumer-protection-laws
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