Deals.dailycandy

Thinking of buying a deal through DailyCandy? Don't, if you want to avoid being ripped off and scammed by a company who thinks that burying fine print about tricking you into a renewing contracts and refusing customer returns is a positive business practice.

While I was at work, a DailyCandy email landed in my inbox promising me a supposedly fabulous deal for a three-month subscription to Love With Food, which would send a snack box each month, for three months if I paid $15. Not one to pass up food, I read the description again: "Includes a box of at least eight gourmet food samples delivered monthly for three months." Simple, right?

Wrong.

Later that night, I went to claim my voucher only to find, as I was entering my information at Love With Food's site, that with the DailyCandy deal, I was actually also signing up for a *continuing* *renewing* subscription, in three-month increments. Luckily, this warning was in BIG BOLD LETTERS -- as it should be, for an autorenewal program. Consumers should be clearly warned when they are about to sign their money away on a recurrent basis.

"But this wasn't what I signed up for," I thought. Sure, I was rushing around the office, but I had made it a point to read the DailyCandy description carefully. I therefore clicked back to the DailyCandy website to find that, if I scrolled downward on the screen -- further downward than I had -- there was small fine print that by purchasing this deal, I wasn't just buying one three-month interval -- I was pledging to buy a RECURRENT three-month subscription.

And even further buried in the description was DailyCandy's very fine print, deep in their FAQ section: No returns. All sales, no matter what, are final.

Fair? They don't care. I called customer service and told them what happened. The customer service rep started citing the fine print to me. Then "Simon E." from DailyCandy customer support emailed me -- again pointing to the fine print, and claiming that their fine print made the point very clearly that they don't give refunds.

Doesn't matter if you didn't think to scroll down to read the fine print. (GOTCHA!)

Doesn't matter whether you carefully read every other part of the deal's BIG print (which conveniently doesn't mention tying you into a subscription).

And doesn't matter that every other reputable deal site -- Groupon, LivingSocial, Gilt Groupe -- allows refunds.

DailyCandy, you lost my business -- I've spent hundreds on the abovementioned three sites, and was looking forward to buying your deals too. Now, you've just got yourself a chargeback and a negative review.