GrouponReviews 5,287

" Horrible customer service!

I make a purchase on July 31,2011. The order was sent in two packages. The first package had a ship date of August 1 - 3. I did not receive an email confirmation so I emailed them on August 8 to inquire. I was told that Ideeli just started to use a combination of sending packages USPS and UPS (to save money) so it may take longer.The first package tracking indicated it reached the sorting facility in San Pablo, CA on August 8,2011 (not final destination); the second package reached San Pablo on August 18. I emailed again on Sept 25 stating I still have not received the package. The response is that the shipping does take longer and sorry for the confusion.

On August 30, I receive the SECOND package and I emailed Ideeli again about the first package and asked if they can refund my money. Their response was that they cannot cancel my order but will start an investigation that will be resolved within 8 days.

On Sept 8, I emailed idelli again for the results of their investigation. Their response was that the package is at a sorting facility and will be delivered within 4 - 6 weeks from when it first arrived there.

On Sept 12 (6 weeks from when it first arrived in San Pablo), I chat online with one of the ideeli representatives. She was very nice and asked if I could wait for another week. If there was no movement on the tracking number she would refund my money.

Today, Sept 21, I chatted online with another representative. I explained everything that happened and she told me that she cannot do anything but will send an email to the technical group to look into this further. She also stated that the order can be refunded when the package is deemed lost (when the tracking states delivered, but you have not received it.) When I asked what happens if it never gets delivered, she had no answer for me.

I'm a relatively long time repeat customer of ideeli, so I can see the pros and cons. If you love every single thing you order and never have to experience their return process then they're a great site. I love the amazing deals you can find. I love the variety. I love a lot of the things I've ordered from them...

BUT

In order of worst to least worst:
* Returns are a bigger pain in the as$ than an anal fissure. I've often had to wait 2-3 weeks after ideeli received my return before the credit is posted to my account (they don't offer refunds). My biggest problem with their returns department to date is that at the start of August I ordered two handbags and both turned out to be faulty. Ideeli kindly agreed to refund me the cost of the order plus shipping. I returned the bags over 3 weeks ago (separately because they broke at different times) and the tracking numbers show that the returns were received around Sept 1st, yet somehow I've only been refunded for one of the bags. I've emailed support and tried to get to the bottom of this, but I really feel like I'm talking to a brick wall. I don't understand why, when someone is inquiring into the status of two returns amounting to a total of $99.95, anyone would think that telling them that ONE return for $45 had been processed would solve the problem. I KNOW that one of the returns has been refunded to me – THAT'S WHY I'M CONTACTING YOU IN THE FIRST PLACE! What I really want to know is what happened to the other one? Where is the rest of my money?

[deep breath] – other comments:

* Their flat rate shipping is expensive. C'mon guys - $9.95 to ship one dress?
* You often have to wait 2-3 weeks between placing the order and receiving it. This is partially due to the fact that they use UPS sure-post, which transfers the package to the local post office at the end of the delivery. My local post office tends to be quite sh*t, so even after the tracking number says a package was delivered I don't tend to see it for another 3-4 days.
* Some of the sizing information is off. I'm definitely not a size 0, but if I order my normal size (2-4) I tend to be swimming in all the items.

All up, I used to love ideeli, but I'm so jaded by the lack of responsiveness by their returns and support departments that I just can't bring myself to shop there anymore. I'm totally, completely, utterly sick to death of having to battle to get a refund or credit. All the while they have my money, but I have no product because it's either in the mail on it's way to me, in the mail on it's way back to them, or their returns department is sitting in a circle twiddling their thumbs and looking at my return, but not actually doing anything about it. Sort it out guys!

I thought Groupon was a great site when I first saw it, and by rights, if it did what it said it would do, it would be fantastic. The customer gets a very reduced price when things go right.
Unfortunastely there are a number of things that seem to make this outcome very unusual rather than usual.
First, companies cheat a little and up their prices on a particular service before going to Groupon.
Secondly, and more often in my experience, the companies do not give the same treatment to Groupon users as they do to their regular customers.
For instance, a recent voucher I bought through Groupon for a stay at the Northern Serviced Apartments in Manchester. Sounded great and I bought it so I could take my wife out shopping and to eat in Manchester and then surprise her with having a lovely apartment for the night too.
Unfortunately, now I am trying to book an apartment and the hotel says email enquiries only and then don't reply to emails. So it might be a week before I know if a room is available and that will be too late.
SAD!
I know that this is not Groupons fault, but thing like this have happened in more than 50% of the coupons I have purchased through Groupon. They have taken a good idea and are slowly ruining it!
I am beginning to hate them! Probably better to go through the usual discount sites... bookings.com, laterooms etc
Seriously disappointed!

After reading all the reviews, I totally expected to be disappointed with my purchases. I expected the shipping to be slow. I expected the products to be irregular/floor samples/incorrect sizes. I took the risk because it was so dirt cheap. I was nervous because I was ordering 3 pairs of shoes, and you are never sure how they will fit! They were also non-refundable because of the extreme discount. My boyfriend told me to just gamble and do it. I'm so glad I took his advice!
First, the shoes fit PERFECTLY.
Second, the shoes were absolutely brand new and probably never have been removed from the packaging/box ever before.
Third, the shipment came in FOUR days.
Fourth, the shipment arrived safely at the post office and not left at my apartment door to be stolen.
THANK YOU SO MUCH IDEELI!

The Problem:
1) I never received my package
2) My package was sent from UPS to a random local post office without any notice
3) Complained to "ideeli Customer Service" and didn't get a response back

This my first time and probably my last time shopping at ideeli.
I ordered a watch THREE WEEKS ago (also additional 2 weeks for the product to actually ship out) and still have not received any package.
The following shipment said it was delivered by a local post office but
Haven't received anything from the mail. I am extremely frustrated and upset to have paid so much on my first product ever bought on ideeli and to found that UPS decides to send it to a local post office... who probably has lost the item or cannot be found. Who knows?
I have no contact on how to contact the random local post office to retrieve
My item since ideeli is terrible at giving us any information or acknowledgment but the acceptance of our credit card numbers.

Now I'm just finding ways to file a complaint to ideeli for it's irresponsible shipping
Handling. DO NOT USE THIS SITE to buy anything from them. It won't be worth the hassle.

As a business owner myself, I know how hard it is to advertise to the right customers and keep customers who aren't just looking for the next deal. When speaking with someone with groupon, I asked them, "how can I even begin to make a profit if you insist upon a 50 percent discount then you take 50 percent?" Her answer was this: that's the price you pay for marketing your business. She was so certain I would get repeat customers and not one time deal seekers. My advice is this: if you really want to support small business and still get a good deal, contact the business owner directly and cut out group on altogether. A lot of business owners will give you the discount if you skip group on altogether.

Wow! I am blown away by the negative reviews on idelli. I actually just googled idelli reviews because idelli is my favorite on-line shopping EVER! I used to love eBay. I do well with Ruelala and Hautelook.com, but idelli is hands down the best for many reasons. In no particular order, here's why: Firstly, when you buy higher end clothing, the sizes are TRUE TO SIZE. Oh my God, I have spent a ton of money on idelli in the past two years and I think only 3-4 things didn't fit (the ones I kept I simply will take to a tailor). GO to a department store, try on the brand you'd like to buy and trust me, for the higher end clothing, the sizings are extremely consistent. EXTREMELY. The dresses I have purchased for work - I've never been so well dressed in my life. And I get compliments daily. Never got them before like this. The prices are incredible. The fact that you can pick out multiple items and it's only $9.95 s&H total is incredible. And the return policy (I only had one dress I spaced out and waited too long), but the 14 days, - hey I am a procrastinator, so for me, some time constraints are a blessing. And no tax! The return policy is a piece of cake - piece of cake - but I have UPS at my office so that helps.
The end of summer sale they had today was fabulous. And the fact that they offer the same clothes a couple of times - God I love that. There have been a few items I was too slow on and missed out on. When they relisted them later (many times heck - a $130 dress for $18!), I was elated.

Enough said. LOVE IDELLI! Love it - I could never, ever have been this well dressed on my income without you. Xxoooxxx

My issue with Ideeli is a technical one but I won't start on a sour note: Ideeli has some fabulous deals and I think their return policy is reasonable and fairly easy. One time I needed to return an item, I had exceeded the amount of days allowed to return because I was out of town. I will say that they were not responsive over email. I googled "ideeli" and "phone number" to find their actual customer service line. After leaving a few messages, someone got back to me and they happily agreed to take back the return as a one time courtesy. Now if I have issues or questions I just use their "chat" option. Someone is always available w/ an answer. I think customers have to realize this isn't a huge operation like Gilt where you might get a response more quickly but the items are more expensive. Now for my real gripe. One day I logged on and the images just didn't show up when I clicked products. The "chat" rep informed me that the site does not work w/ any search engines out of date. At work we have to use IE 7 because some of the apps we use are not yet compatible w/ IE 8. To me it's ridiculous to have a site that goes on sale at 11:00 and not make your site accessible to many who are at work and have locked down settings. I really hope Ideeli fixes this soon because I won't be buying anything from them until then.

I have had good experiences with Groupon. I get to try things I might not have know about otherwise (foods, services, etc.) and I get a deal doing it. I have only ever had one problem and that was with a merchant trying to change the terms of the deal after I had already purchased a voucher. After getting the run around from the merchant's customer service, I called Groupon up and explained the dispute. Groupon's customer service rep agreed with me that the merchant was trying to enforce a condition that wasn't part of the original deal, and immediately refunded me what I had paid for the groupon. I trust Groupon and will continue to use them if the deal sounds good.

I love Ideeli. They have great deals on items I actually want. I haven't had to return anything yet, so I don't know how that works. I'm very careful of what I buy online because it's always a hassle trying to return it, what with the shipping and all.
They're customer service seems good to me. I ordered a 10 dollar pair of sandals once, and I got an email about a week later informing me that the manufacturer had not delivered those sandals. It wasn't a big deal, but they refunded my money and gave me a $25 credit. I've ordered many items from them, and this has only happened once.
My only criticism is that they do tend to take a long time to ship. Not a problem usually, but don't try to but a new pair of shoes for an even next week or something. You will almost certainly not receive them in time.

In the past month, I've acquired a nearly $10,000 fall/winter wardrobe from ideeli for under grand. That being said, you get what you pay for. While all clothes are brand new with original tags, and often with hangers ( :D) , it can take over a month to recieve some items. Each sale does say when the date items are expected to ship, but 10 days to receive items is absolutely ridiculous. As far as fit, I've only sent two things back so far. My advice is to double check each designer's size chart as then one on ideeli is often incorrect or lacking information.

OMG! I had the worst experience ever! You can't get anyone on the phone and live chat it not even a person. Sound like some kind of bot and they disconnected because "it" was done with me. How rude!

Company placed an incorrect credit on my account. I had no idea, thought I won something and used it. Then they called and I was fine with sending it back. They even sent me an e-mail with the return shipping label. All was fine, then out of nowhere they reported me for fraud! Ummm... excuse me! You guys were the ones that made the mistake in the first place. I just thought I was lucky and won and used the credit. Now you have to nerve to call me on fraud? Shame! Shame!

To add insult to injury, they won't even let me have the correct credit put back on my account. I was told someone will get back to me as soon as possible. Whatever that means. Tried to ask the rep time frame and "it" just decided the conversation has ended because other customers are in need of help. Well, I guess I am just not important enough for them!

Buy from other sites, better shipping and prices. I have bought from Gilt, HauteLook, Modnique, Beyond The Rack, and Rue La La and Ideeli is the worst to me. Highest shipping price and totally riduculous care in customer service. They don't have customer serviice... more like customer disservice.

Don't go slandering your customers when you guys are the ones who made the mistake! Never again! Just stay away from them, not worth the time or the trouble. You would think a company with all that it has going for it and being on top in the flash site industry would value their customers more and not lie about their own mistakes and placing blame on others.

Mr. Paul Hurley, CEO and founder of ideeli.com, if you are out there looking at this... make sure your reps are properly trained and that your business standards is not about covering your own $#*! by throwing your customers under the bus. This is one IPO I will not look forward to or place any stock in.

Be very wary of Groupon! I looked up their site out of curiosity and did give an email address thinking that might be all they required (crazy I know). The next page wanted full information and so at that point I left the website without joining. I started receiving daily emails. I didn't mind since the email address I gave them was one I use strictly for this sort of thing. A few weeks later I started to also receive their daily emails on my main email address. I have kept this address private for years and only use it for personal friends. I unsubscribed on my main address and the very next morning had several junk/ad emails. That has never happened before on this particular address--coincidence? My belief is that they not only tracted down my personal information and additional email address even though I did not sign up but also retaliated by selling my info when I "unsubscribed". By the way, I never did open any of their emails since they appeared to be big savings on pretty useless stuff.

I think that Groupon has pretty good deals.

Some negatives are when I go to claim a Groupon, its really crowded or the merchant doesn't look so happy when I am there to use my Groupon. I don't like the feeling of them not wanting to deliver the service with a pleasant smile. Truly, how can you really blame the business. Reading all the reviews, it seems apparent that the business loses out.

The other negative is that I always get buyer's remorse, every transaction, I wonder if it was a good buy. In any case, with the Groupons, I feel like it's pressure buying. I've had a few Groupons that I've let expire and lost money on because I just couldn't use it in time, I couldn't make the drive over to where I bought the cupcakes from and I had to order 48 hours in advance.

I did find a website that I really like now called www.Stretche.com. It's all the good of Groupon without the bad. No buyer's remorse because you don't need to buy, just "clip" a coupon for free.

I purchased a groupon from Groupon. When I went to redeem it, I thought hitting the redeem button would set forth a series of web sites so I could complete my order. Ha! First of all, the Groupon number is only designated by a "#" sign. Reading the screen, you have no idea what that number is.

So I sent an e-mail to Groupon customer support and asked what number do I use? They sent me the BAR CODE number, which of course, was rejected by the business site.

I finally found Groupon's phone number (of course, it's nowhere on their website) in my "Welcome to Groupon E-Mail" when I first registered. I telephoned and the person could not get my e-mail address right; turns out I have TWO accounts with different e-mail addresses; they could find my credit card on one, but no groupons. The other address had my groupon but no credit card. Unbelievable. The woman who helped me was overly talkative and very defensive.

I wouldn't reccommend Groupon -- their web site is terribly designed and it's difficult to redeem a groupon. This took 3 hours of my valuable time to deal with this matter. Shame on this web site. Shame shame shame.