Living Deal King Buffet Refund Ridiculous!

[chillychin]

I had purchased a voucher for King Buffet from Living Deal here

http://www.livingdeal.com/view/2133

Upon visiting the place in January i found out that it was "under renovation" with no date of when they are going to reopen

Its been more then one month and the place is still not open

I promptly emailed livingdeal for a refund as per the policy that explicitly states that a refund will be given if it is determined that the voucher is impossible to use

http://www.livingdeal.com/help/faq

Under

Q. The business or service I bought with a Living Deal voucher is no longer in business or won't honour the voucher. What happens now?

I explained to livingdeal the place is gone and i would like a refund

They reply "its going to re-open in a few weeks"

Alright, i email livingdeal back since they seem to know something "so when exactly will it re-open? And if it does re-open is it the same management and will they honor the voucher?"

They reply and say "they have no idea when it will re-open"

Alright.........fine now having clarified that it looks like i pretty much will NOT be able to use this voucher, so i ask AGAIN can i get a refund as per their policy.

Then they say "we only issue full refunds if its within 45 days of the voucher purchase"

Gee whiz way to blatantly LIE about your refund policy

Has anyone else experienced the same kind of BS?

They are only offering a living deal credit, which i most likely will never use for a long time which is why i rather the cash.

Why the run around?

[ZeroToHero]

I dont think thats unreasonable that they are offering you their cash instead. The money has already left their hands and they already paid the business owner. Kinda sucks that the business owner is not honourable. So the most they can do is issue their credit.
I would take it and find another deal.

It happened to me with groupon, and I just agreed to go for their credit

Just find another restaurant or something, doesn't mean that LivingDeal is a bad company.
Well, thats what I would do. You are going to run around even more and likely get a CreditCard company involved, when you can enjoy a different restaurant.
My 5c

[chillychin]

I dont think thats unreasonable that they are offering you their cash instead. The money has already left their hands and they already paid the business owner. Kinda sucks that the business owner is not honourable. So the most they can do is issue their credit.
I would take it and find another deal.

It happened to me with groupon, and I just agreed to go for their credit

Just find another restaurant or something, doesn't mean that LivingDeal is a bad company.
Well, thats what I would do. You are going to run around even more and likely get a CreditCard company involved, when you can enjoy a different restaurant.
My 5c

Im just buggered that they didnt specify that there is this mysterious 45 day policy as it was not stated anywhere, its misleading.

Im not sure how the entire thing works with these group deals, but isnt it along the lines of

I buy a voucher and pay livingdeal X amount

When the establishment gets my coupon code, they can then go to livingdeal to be reimbursed for X amount.

Isnt that how it works?

I dont think livingdeal would pay the establishment before all the vouchers are redeemed, as that could lead a lot of businesses to do that before going bankrupt to generate some cash with livingdeal holding the bag for refunds

[ZeroToHero]

Im just buggered that they didnt specify that there is this mysterious 45 day policy as it was not stated anywhere, its misleading.

Im not sure how the entire thing works with these group deals, but isnt it along the lines of

I buy a voucher and pay livingdeal X amount

When the establishment gets my coupon code, they can then go to livingdeal to be reimbursed for X amount.

Isnt that how it works?

I dont think livingdeal would pay the establishment before all the vouchers are redeemed, as that could lead a lot of businesses to do that before going bankrupt to generate some cash with livingdeal holding the bag for refunds

It works a bit differently then u imagined. Business asks living deal to promote them, living deal/groupon etc run the sale campaign and pay the business lumpsum whatever was sold minus their cut usually within 10 business days (2 weeks) after the sale ends. Living deal/groupon usually have a window of around 30-60 days to claim a refund from the business if they are not operating in good faith/customers complain/service not as described etc. After that it's them directly taking a hit.

Living deal usually do research analyze suitability and study the markets on validity of the offer proposed so that it's reasonable and businesses dont just run away with money. They also look at how long the company has been around, any bankruptcies and so on and take a risk. That's why I would just take their credit, find another restaurant and move on ;)

[truel1111]

I also asked for refund for King's Kitchen deal. This is their response as of Feb 22, 2012:

The restaurant will be reopening in a few weeks. You will be able to use your vouchers then. Our policy for refunds is set at a 30 day money back guarantee, no questions asked. Since it is after that time frame, if you do not want to wait for them to reopen, we may offer you a LivingDeal credit for you’re the amount of your vouchers.

Please reply with “I agree” and we will put the credit onto your LivingDeal account for any future purchases. Not to worry, this will not expire.

If you have any other questions or concerns please do not hesitate to contact us.

Thank you,

Support

11 Allstate Parkway
Suite 300
Markham, On
L3R 9T8
Phone : (416) 574-DEAL(3325)
Toll Free : 1 (877) 341-3220



Living Deal make their own rule along the way. Living Deal knows King's Kitchen is out of business, their phone number is not in service, but Living Deal continue to lie to their customers. Living Deal should refund to their customers and go after King's Kitchen instead.
It is ridiculous for big company like Living Deal to bully poor people us. Shame on Living Deal.

I will contact Toronto Star and CBC MarketPlace to investigate the dark side of group buy business.

[truel1111]

Here is return policy from Living Deal's site.
Returns:

Returns are handled on a case-by-case basis. Within the limits of reason, we'll do what it takes to make you happy. Unless there is something wrong with the purchase, we are generally unable to offer refunds after one week from the purchase date. If you would like to discuss returning a deal voucher contact us here. We may change this Privacy Policy at any time by posting the revised Privacy Policy in the "Privacy Policy" section of the Website. The revised Privacy Policy is effective immediately when posted on the Website. It is the responsibility of each User to review the Website and the Privacy Policy periodically to learn of any revisions to this Privacy Policy. Your continued use of the Website after the effectiveness of such revisions will constitute your acknowledgment and acceptance of the terms of the revised Privacy Policy

Go after Living Deal! Don't let LD get away.

[chillychin]

I also asked for refund for King's Kitchen deal. This is their response as of Feb 22, 2012:

The restaurant will be reopening in a few weeks. You will be able to use your vouchers then. Our policy for refunds is set at a 30 day money back guarantee, no questions asked. Since it is after that time frame, if you do not want to wait for them to reopen, we may offer you a LivingDeal credit for you’re the amount of your vouchers.

Please reply with “I agree” and we will put the credit onto your LivingDeal account for any future purchases. Not to worry, this will not expire.

If you have any other questions or concerns please do not hesitate to contact us.

Thank you,

Support

11 Allstate Parkway
Suite 300
Markham, On
L3R 9T8
Phone : (416) 574-DEAL(3325)
Toll Free : 1 (877) 341-3220



Living Deal make their own rule along the way. Living Deal knows King's Kitchen is out of business, their phone number is not in service, but Living Deal continue to lie to their customers. Living Deal should refund to their customers and go after King's Kitchen instead.
It is ridiculous for big company like Living Deal to bully poor people us. Shame on Living Deal.

I will contact Toronto Star and CBC MarketPlace to investigate the dark side of group buy business.

I got the same reply

I replied back asking if they knew exactly when the place will re-open (since they said it will be a few weeks it sounds like they may know)

I also asked if they know whether, even if the place re-opens is it under new management and will they take the vouchers and they never answered.

They blatantly know that the place is out of business but are making up excuses, as well as making up rules along the way like you said by suddenly throwing in this 45 day clause.

I am not against getting a credit back, i am just very frustrated that they do not state this policy anywhere. Its just plain shady

[Too itchy]

So, I drove by the restaurant and all I see is the tables and stacked chairs. No lights on, no renovations was being done that I can see. Looks like the owner hightailed out of there and yet the all you can eat sign still visible. I guess I will get a credit from livingdeal. *sigh*

[DealHunter99]

This deal ran in November 2011 and you're asking for a CASH REFUND NOW? Good luck!

Tell me what other business gives you more than a 90-day refund in the real world? This is part of the gamble for all parties involved when buying DEALS. By offering you a credit at this point, LivingDeal is doing their best to mitigate the situation. Stop being a douche about it.

[chillychin]

This deal ran in November 2011 and you're asking for a CASH REFUND NOW? Good luck!

Tell me what other business gives you more than a 90-day refund in the real world? This is part of the gamble for all parties involved when buying DEALS. By offering you a credit at this point, LivingDeal is doing their best to mitigate the situation. Stop being a douche about it.

I am assuming that this post was directed at me as i had opened the thread, so first thank you for calling me a douche and skimming the thread.

Your right, I have not heard of any other business that gives you more then a 90 day refund, BUT livingdeal in their FAQ specifically states that if the voucher is deemed IMPOSSIBLE to redeem then they will offer a refund or a credit.

I would not be asking for a refund now if not for their policy as stated on their website and the fact that the place is closed down.

As i had stated earlier, I am not against getting a credit as it is better then nothing.

Living deal would do better to to mitagate this if they would CLEARLY state that there is a 45 day cash refund policy that is no where stated.

Again i am not against getting the credit, I just dont enjoy having someone pulling out rules that were never clarified in the begining.

This is why I started this thread to share my experience, see what others were and to also let people know that there is this mysterious 45 day policy.

In fact, if they said that there is no return policy at all on any voucher and its buy at your own risk, thats fine with me too as at least its stated clearly.

Im not dissatisfied at the situation, not being able to redeem the voucher or the credit. I am annoyed at the fact that their policies are NOT clearly stated

[thunderca]

My sister bought a group deal with the business went out of business. She got her money back. It is not something unheard of. She got the money back a week before the deal is over.

The problem with the King Buffet is they they probally sold thousands. So they would suffer a big lost if they issues all of us refund. If they issues us credit back then they probally don't loose any money.

[jerrysiz]

They should issue you a refund, not a credit, a refund as they promised. It is not unreasonable to assume they will honour their policy in regards to what happens if a business goes under. The catch is, you may have to jump through a few hoops to get a refund. My suggestion is to play along. They say the business is going to open in a few weeks? So email them back saying okay, you will try to use the voucher next month when they reopen. Then see what happens, if by some miracle they do renovate and reopen, you can use the voucher. If they reopen under new management and refuse to use the voucher, email living deal again and say that the business is refusing to honour the voucher and you would like a refund as promised. If (most likely) the place is still an unrenovated ghost town in a few weeks, email living deal and say that the business did not, in fact, reopen after a few weeks, they are out of business and you would like a refund as promised. Repeat this last step as needed until they give you a refund.

This is basically what many of us did with various deal sites when it became obvious that the infamous buchers deal was going south. I went through this with webpiggy in particular, playing along by waiting to use my voucher for a bit as they requested, then by placing orders for deliveries that never came when they assured me I would be able to use my voucher this way, then even by placing an order through webpiggy directly. When none of this worked, webpiggy eventually had to admit that there was no way I could use the voucher and finally refunded me.

I have to say though, trying to get around their own refund policies is going to destroy a lot of the deal companies through bad word of mouth. In regards to the butchers, I know that I would definitely use dealfind again as they processed my refund with no problems at all as soon as I emailed requesting one because the business was not honouring the terms of the deal, webpiggy I would be cautious about because of all the hoops I had to jump through to get refunded and because they never refunded some people at all, and buytopia I will never buy from again because they clearly don't honour their own policies.

I don't think it's unreasonable for living deal to ask you to wait a bit to see if you can use the voucher before they refund you, but if (when) it becomes obvious that there is no way your voucher can be redeemed, they should step up and honour their stated refund policy. If they don't, it would certainly make people think twice about buying from them in the future. Keep us posted.

[Jorpho]

My sister bought a group deal with the business went out of business. She got her money back. It is not something unheard of. She got the money back a week before the deal is over.Me too. Twice: Once with Groupon and once with Kahoot.

[truel1111]

Living Deal reply to my refund request. They say "We will issue you a full refund" to my credit card.

[truel1111]

There is "LivingDeal Toronto" group on Facebook. You can share your experience there.

[truel1111]

This deal ran in November 2011 and you're asking for a CASH REFUND NOW? Good luck!

Tell me what other business gives you more than a 90-day refund in the real world? This is part of the gamble for all parties involved when buying DEALS. By offering you a credit at this point, LivingDeal is doing their best to mitigate the situation. Stop being a douche about it.

We are talking about getting refund when a business cannot accept a group buy voucher. This is not our fault. Don't you think we should a refund ?

Groupon gives refund. Living Deal gives refund if you ask for it. Living Deal try to trick you to accept a credit note first. If there is enough of us to voice our concern on on Facebook and here, they will refund.

BTW Anthropologie has no time limit on refund.

[Diamond_Ace]

Group sites should just only transfer funds as coupons are redeemed or reach expiry. The store isn't 'out of pocket' until it gets redeemed anyways and this allows the group site to maintain the cash flow for refunds. Also eliminates the shady businesses that do a group deal just before closing up shop.

[DealHunter99]

Group sites should just only transfer funds as coupons are redeemed or reach expiry. The store isn't 'out of pocket' until it gets redeemed anyways and this allows the group site to maintain the cash flow for refunds. Also eliminates the shady businesses that do a group deal just before closing up shop.

While I tend to agree with your idea, this probably won't happen ever because I'm sure the costs will be much higher than it is with whatever current system is in place. Your suggestion would probably require banking/payment services with a company and take it from a guy who use to work in commercial banking - the fees are crazy. Imagine Groupon who routinely sells thousands and thousands of vouchers. Not sure they would prefer this method.

In addition, the amount of time spent tracking these vouchers for both companies involved for all deals would not be worth it; small business owners probably spend long days already managing their business no way they would want to spend an extra hour a day balancing their vouchers and making sure they get paid for each voucher.

[mslolo]

Group sites should just only transfer funds as coupons are redeemed or reach expiry. The store isn't 'out of pocket' until it gets redeemed anyways and this allows the group site to maintain the cash flow for refunds. Also eliminates the shady businesses that do a group deal just before closing up shop.

Groupon businesses receive their funds in thirds (or at least they used to) One third when the deal closes, one third half way through the redemption period and the final third at the expiry date. I'm sure most group deals are structured this way.

[truel1111]

Groupon businesses receive their funds in thirds (or at least they used to) One third when the deal closes, one third half way through the redemption period and the final third at the expiry date. I'm sure most group deals are structured this way.

I don't care how these group buy distribute their fund. If a voucher is no good, we should get a refund, no question asked.

[annara]

It looks like vouchers should be used as soon as possible, so there is less chance that the service supplier will be out of business, and easier to get a refund. Safer not to buy a voucher, that you cannot use soon.

I bought a voucher for five classes, but my teacher disappeared after third class. What should i do now?

[WhatADeal!]

It looks like vouchers should be used as soon as possible, so there is less chance that the service supplier will be out of business, and easier to get a refund. Safer not to buy a voucher, that you cannot use soon.

I bought a voucher for five classes, but my teacher disappeared after third class. What should i do now?


May I ask which business you're referring to?

[annara]

May I ask which business you're referring to?
Maybe she is sick or something - I don't want to publish her name here, because the girl was very nice. But any way, I paid for five classes but got three. I was supposed to redeem the voucher completely in six weeks after my first class, and sixth week is now over.

[IMWHFMPC]

wow we really have to be careful buying group deals from now.

[mslolo]

I don't care how these group buy distribute their fund. If a voucher is no good, we should get a refund, no question asked.

I totally agree with you. I was just clarifying how most sites pay out to the businesses as some posters seem to believe the businesses get 100% of the funds immediately.
Personally I've probably purchased 50+ deals over the last couple of years and whenever I have had an issue (business closing, business unresponsive etc) I've always received a credit and been offered the option of either credit back to my cc or a credit towards a future purchase.

[iris377]

thats a piont of view

[truel1111]

Have not received my refund yet. I am considering go to their office to get my money back.

[truel1111]

I got my money back from Living Deal on King's Kitchen purchase.