Chris P.

I've been a Living Social customer for the past 5 years (and a Groupon customer for the same period). Recently I attempted to redeem a restaurant voucher that I purchased on Living Social in 2015 - yes the "promotional value" has expired but as per conditions of the voucher and consumer protection laws I am entitled to the "Amount paid" for another few years. Turns out the restaurant went out of business a few days before my visit. Disappointing, ESPECIALLY SINCE I ALSO PURCHASED A VOUCHER FOR THE SAME MERCHANT ON GROUPON - THERES A REASON I AM MENTIONING GROUPON.

So I get home and contact Living Social - 3 times - all by phone - they do not offer the option of resolving this issue via e-mail (Like Groupon does). End result - 2 hours of my wasted time, 2 broken promises by Living Social (to contact me - I had to reach out to them each time), 3 days, and still no refund. They flatly refuse - first I was told that my voucher was "expired". Yes, I know that - I went to the merchant to redeem the "paid value" - which is $143 by the way. "oh: says the csr... well let me research the merchant. 10 minutes later she advises me that they will get back to me in 48 by e-mail. 48 hours later - no e-mail. I call again. This time I'm told that the restaurant is "under new management" and that I need to call them or e-mail the manager and ask them if they will honor the voucher. Really? Well, just before I call Living Social I already did my due diligence - the restaurant is NOT open, my phone calls to the restaurant are UNANSWERED, and I drove by the location just yesterday and its ABANDONED.

So, back to my refund request. Now I'm told flatly that Living Social will NOT be refunding my $ nor crediting my account with Living Social currency. The "contract" is between the merchant and myself. This is a LIE - Living Social billed my credit card - not the merchant. At this point I am admittedly becoming really annoyed having wasted so much time on an issue that is a clear case of providing good customer service, doing the right thing, and following the consumer protection laws which govern this industry. So I then ask the CSR for the Living Social corporate office number - I would like to speak with someone in the UNITED STATES, not a foreign call center. I am then given a number that turns out to be disconnected - no suprise just par for the course. Such a shady operation - I cannot believe that Groupon has associated its name and reputation with this scam company.

SO GROUPON - EXACT SAME SITUATION, EXACT SAME MERCHANT, EXACT SAME TIME - ONLY DIFFERENCE IS 1 VOUCHER PURCHASED FROM LIVING SOCIAL, OTHER FROM GROUPON. GROUPON PROCESSED MY REQUEST VIA E-MAIL IN 12 HOURS AND PROVIDED ME CREDIT THROUGH GROUPON BUCKS. THANK YOU GROUPON! THIS IS WHY YOU WERE ALWAYS THE LARGER AND MORE SUCCESSFUL OF THE 2 COMPANIES OFFERING SIMILAR PRODUCTS. AND WHY YOU WERE ABLE TO BUY LIVING SOCIAL.

It appears that Living Social has also done this to other customers and its STEALING consumers $. I would like to invite any attorneys out there interested in a CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT to consider targeting Living Social for this practice. Like I'm sure most consumers out there, I do not appreciate ANYONE sticking their hands in my pocket and STEALING $1 from me, much less $143! I will use every tool at my disposal from consumer protection laws (via my states attorney generals office to file a complaint) to Federal laws to social media awareness to soliciting interest for legal action against these thieves.

Its not the $ at this point, but the principal that a company thinks they can just take your or my $, not provide any exchange of goods or services, and tell the consumer flat out that YOU WILL NOT GET A REFUND! Challenge accepted Living Social.