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| Not so social. |
Call Kurtis: I Can’t Get the Daily Deal Service I Bought - (Roseville) – Needing her windows cleaned before a party she was throwing in three weeks, Bruna DeLacy of Roseville bought a window cleaning deal she saw through Living Social. For $89, Top Quality Window Cleaning would clean her windows inside and out of her two-story home. “I’m thinking, wow that’s less than half I normally pay,” she recalls thinking.
Bruna says she’s called six times since early July to schedule an appointment, but they’ve never called back. The company hasn’t responded to our calls either, and it appears their website is down. She wasn’t able to use the deal before she threw her party. The Better Business Bureau’s Gary Almond says more Groupon and Living Social customers are complaining the companies offering these deals are not getting back to them fast enough. He says smaller businesses may not be prepared for the response they’ll get. “The companies themselves should be putting limits on how many they’re going to actually sell,” Almond said.
Living Social says it sold 521 vouchers for this window cleaning deal. They admit it’s possible for a business owner to be a bit overwhelmed at the start of a deal if it is really popular. Groupon tells us, “We’ll work with the merchant to cap the number of offers sold in order to prevent them from getting overwhelmed.” Living Social initially denied Bruna a refund because they said the window cleaners were still in business. After we got involved, Living Social agreed to refund Bruna and anyone else struggling to schedule an appointment with Top Quality Window Cleaning. Living Social has a seven day money back guarantee. After that, they tell us they’ll handle refunds on a case by case basis. Groupon’s policy allows for a refund at any time.
Living Social says it sold 521 vouchers for this window cleaning deal. They admit it’s possible for a business owner to be a bit overwhelmed at the start of a deal if it is really popular. Groupon tells us, “We’ll work with the merchant to cap the number of offers sold in order to prevent them from getting overwhelmed.” Living Social initially denied Bruna a refund because they said the window cleaners were still in business. After we got involved, Living Social agreed to refund Bruna and anyone else struggling to schedule an appointment with Top Quality Window Cleaning. Living Social has a seven day money back guarantee. After that, they tell us they’ll handle refunds on a case by case basis. Groupon’s policy allows for a refund at any time.
4 comments:
You have to be smart when running a groupon or living social deal. It's all about the fine print, but many time the buyers don't read the fine print.
It can be tricky and risky depending on the market you are in.
I have ran 2 so far and had an OK experience both times. Normally you will have 80% tire kickers and you retain the other 20% as clients.
I feel bad for the buyers that are 1:2000 purchased. That company will have serious issues.
It all comes back to the adage "you get what you pay for". It shouldn't surprise anyone when they get a ridiculous price for cleaning that the service or job will be poor or nonexistent. Coupons are meant for supermarkets and fast food restaurants. Anything else and you are asking for trouble.
You really do get what you pay for, if you wanted your windows cleaned by a certain date why would you buy a voucher that allows you to get a service sometime over the next year. The person could have been a smart consumer and called a professional company and if she was to cheap to pay for the full service she could have just have gotten the windows cleaned party goers would see, such as the first floor. Some things in life certain people refuse to pay someone to do, such as clean windows. If you normally wouldn't pay for something you shouldn't just because its cheap because it will always be a generic version.
I would never consider running a living social or groupon, no matter how slow my business got. Here's the logic: my business is slow.... maybe working for no profit will revive it!
Better to sell all your old vinyl records so you can afford to send out mailers. Nothings free, you have to spend something to make something.
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