Caroline E.

Groupon owns LivingSocial, so be wary of either one. I've used both for years and until recently did not have a problem. In June, I bought a LivingSocial deal for a full interior/exterior car detailing. Since I wasn't ready to have my car done just yet, I waited until sometime in July to call the vendor. Keep in mind his business is on average a 40-minute drive away from my home, and I work full-time. When I finally called to schedule an appointment for a Saturday, I was informed that they aren't open on weekends and they close at 4:00 Monday through Friday. In addition, as the owner was talking to me he discovered that my car had never been detailed, and he informed me that he would have to charge me more than what I paid on the Voucher. He compared it to the first time you have someone else clean your home - it takes a lot longer and costs you a lot more. I told him I'd think about it. I called back a couple of weeks later and told him it wasn't going to work out. I would not be able to make that drive on a weekday with rush hour traffic and I wasn't willing to pay more than I already had. He assured me that all I needed to do was call LivingSocial and tell them he had agreed to a refund and they would honor that. He said, "They are very good about that." Nope, nope, and nope. When I spoke to Esperanza in their customer service, she told me flat out, no refunds for any reason after 3 days. So, I am out $178, the merchant gets nothing, and LivingSocial gets to keep $178 for services nobody provided. Since late-September I've had my LegalShield attorney write two letters to the company on my behalf, and both have been completely ignored - not even the courtesy of a reply. If you are not 100 percent sure you will use the service or product offered, do not purchase any vouchers from either Groupon or LivingSocial. In fact, for a service of any type, call the vendor and make sure it will work for you before purchasing. They may honor whatever deal you're seeing without the hassle of the middle company.