A couple of months ago, I signed up for Dealfind.com, a Groupon type of online deals, and thought it was the best find ever. Where else could I get massages for 65% off, mani/pedi for the meager bargain of $20 or 50% off expensive all you can eat restaurants? I was really excited to start my new adventure being a savvy and smart shopper. And so the saga began.
Most of the places advertised were businesses I had never heard of, but sounded legitimate enough, especially because I would read the comments, questions and answers posted on the page about the business and the deal. I decided to buy a $150.00 voucher for Post Oak Hilton Salon that included a haircut, wash, blow dry, style and my choice of single process color or 10 foil highlights that I scored for $29.00. I called the place, which I had never heard of, but since it was located in a nice hotel in an uptown area, sounded good. Someone with a very heavy accent answered the phone with a plain "hello". I had to look back into the coupon to see the name of the establishment and ask if I had the right number for the hair salon. The person acknowledged and asked what I needed. I started to explain that I had the coupon from Dealfind.com for a special hair coloring/cut/style session and would like to come in for it. Silence. After a few seconds (which sounded like several minutes), he said - we are booked for the next two months. Really??? I just could not believe it. That was a frustrating attempt.
Post Oak Hilton Salon
$29 for a Haircut, Wash, Blow Dry, Style and Your Choice of Full Color or Partial Highlights from Post Oak Hilton Salon ($150 Value)
Purchase up to 1 for yourself and unlimited as gifts.
The voucher had no expiration date, so I attempt a few more times - and the phone was answered like I was calling a private house all the time. No name - just a hello. So I asked, are you salon such and such? Yes. Can I schedule an appointment for next week? What do you want to have done? Color, cut and blow dry - I have a coupon from Dealfind... The next available appointment is next year. Want to schedule it?
I stashed the coupon away and forgot about it and found it again recently. Since there was no expiration date, I decided to go to the business personally and have my turn. After I was sent to 2 different attendants, a lady finally came and told me that the business had been sold to someone else and therefore was not honoring those coupons any longer. She apologized and advised me to contact Dealfind.com who should reimburse me for it with no questions asked.
As soon as I got home I contacted Dealfind.com and explained the situation. Although they state in their fine print they only reimburse up to 1 year after the deal was purchased, I was confident that because there was no expiration date on the coupon and the business was sold, they would honor it.
I'm not impressed with Dealfind.com and won't try any of those again. Instead of saving money I just threw money away. They adamantly refused to reimburse my $29.00. I will never again use them and would really warn anyone to be very careful about spending money on some "too good to be true" deals.
The deals were so unbeatable and sounded so good. The idea is great though - I could really have saved a lot of money and had great deals and convenient places to shop and be serviced, but it seems the businesses are not honoring their part of the deal too well. At least, my experience was not worth the money I lost.
0 comments:
Post a Comment