Sparkled Beauty

I was so aggravated last night that I drafted this post lightning fast. Brace yourself, as this is a rant!

I just found out that 4 vouchers I bought from Dealfind 2 years ago (no expiry date, valued almost $100) are no longer redeemable because the merchants were nowhere to be found. Dealfind wiped their hands on these because of their one year refund policy.

Now, to be fair, I don't have a problem with this policy if redeeming period falls within that range too. But having this policy in place while selling deals without an expiry date gave customers a false expectation of "I will save this voucher for that special occasion years to come". And it is always too late when we find out the merchant had packed up and gone without a trace. Dealfind got the $, customers lost that $ for nothing!

The bigger problem is I was not alone and nothing can be done to solve it. Site Jabber had so many people posted about having the same issue and none could get any solution out of Dealfind or the Better Business Bureau. Well the $5 off coupon does not count, considering how much money people lost. Even CBC did an article on Dealfind - Avoid discount site Dealfind, angry customers warn but again, it was more at the warning level. And then there's an issue of merchants not getting paid by Dealfind after the deal ended and they turned around and refused honouring the deal for customers. How could Dealfind still go on this long after leaving so many people "stranded" with their no-longer-redeemable vouchers, and then happily partnered with TeamBuy in January?

So this is a warning for those who are a fan of group buy deals. Lessons I learned:
- Check out the merchants before buying a deal. If they are a mobile beauty service type of setup, or only have a phone number as contact info, run!
- Use your voucher within a few months of purchase, doesn't matter how long it is good for. If there's an issue, at least the deal site still honours the refund, or your credit card company could intervene
- Choose reputable group buy sites to give your $ to.