LK A.

I registered/subscribed to BigDeal.com on Saturday, May 28th, 2011, and requested a refund and cancellation of my membership the same day, as soon as I realized that this was a major scam. They refused.
BigDeal.com advertises itself as an auction site, but it is unlike any auction you have ever seen. First you buy a pack of tokens ($22.50 for 30, $37.50 for 50, etc.). Then you bid on items with these tokens, each bid showing as if it equals one cent. If you bid 50 times, it looks like you bid 50 cents, but you really bid $37.50 (50 x. 75 = 37.70). If you run out of tokens, you have to purchase more if you want to keep bidding so you invest even more.
Here is the big rip off—once you bid, that money is forfeited even if you don't win the item. To not lose your money completely, you must buy the item at full retail price (also called "buy it now" price) plus shipping and taxes minus the money you bid. This entire process is a scam to make you pay full price for an item you might not be able to afford. If you wanted to pay full retail, you'd just go to the mall and save yourself shipping costs. You even lose this option if you don't act immediately.
There is a second layer of rip off that they call "loyalty rewards." Again you spend additional money to buy an item you don't really want so that you can use your token $$ to reduce the price slightly. For example, you can buy a $49.99 coffeemaker for $39.99, using tokens for the other $10.00. You have just spent 39.99 more (plus shipping and tax) and still have $27.50 in tokens to redeem. You could end up spending an additional $150 in order to redeem all of your tokens.
BigDeal.com isn't running an auction; it is a bait and switch scam, tricking you into buying and paying full price. If you realize you've been had and try to get a refund, they refuse because all of the regulations were written for you to read, and you should have known better. The confusing instructions consist of pages of "How It Works" and "FAQs" but most of the content is devoted to claiming how great a deal you'll be getting. The warnings are buried deep in the misleading propaganda about how everyone is a winner. Almost at the end, they caution that you might lose money, but lucky you—you'll get Loyalty Bucks so you really can't lose!
In addition, I received a notice from them that I had reached their monthly limit of bidding on ten auctions and had to wait for a month to bid again. When I pointed out that this "regulation" is nowhere mentioned on their website, they emailed that it was a mistake.
I want my $60 refunded (#*******), but I'm not holding my breath!