Etiquette Tuesday: Dealfind

©JohnnaKnowsGoodFood

Renee, a writer for Johnna Knows Good Food, contributes this weeks Etiquette Tuesday story.  She had such a difficult time working with Dealfind during the holidays, we decided to share her story in case you have had similar or opposite experiences with the company.  We kick 2013 Etiquette Tuesday tips off with this read and discuss post.  Have you used Dealfind for restaurant deals?  How was your experience?  Let’s Discuss!

It is holiday time.  This is the time of year where many shoppers much like myself are trying to get the biggest bang for their buck.  I want all to beware of a company committing fraud on many of its customers.  The company is Dealfind.  A deal you will find, but product/services, you will never receive.  This coupon company, similar to Groupon and Living Social, is based out of Canada.  You can go on this site and purchase heavily discounted products and services.  However, unlike other similar sites, this is where the pros of the company stop.  You are only able to contact this company via their website or postal mail (yes, pony express style..LOL).  This is unacceptable.  You then have no choice but to wait for them to respond to your inquiry via email.  Once they finally contact you, they have no problem letting you know there is no phone number which they can share with their customers.  I guess they are working out of a building with no phone lines.  Is this the year 1632?  Further more frustrating, they take no responsibility for the third party vendor.  I was told on several occasions not to go through them but rather to contact the vendor directly.  This is after I informed Dealfind I had no luck reaching the third-party vendor.  Furthermore, why should this be my responsibility?  Didn’t I pay you directly?  This would be similar to me contacting Verizon about not having service and they tell me it is not their problem and contact whatever contracting company they had install the lines.  Unacceptable.  Please read my timeline below.

May 15, 2012 (1^st purchase)

I made a purchase for maid service through Dealfind in the amount of $99.  I was excited about the great deal I received and passed the word along to family and friends.

 September 13, 2012

The maid company and I made several attempts to coordinate schedules for cleaning.  However, the company did not have the capacity to fulfill my requested dates for cleanings.  Please keep in mind I attempted to schedule both during the week and weekends.  On September 13^th, I received an email from the maid company stating “Effective Monday Sep 10th (company name removed) is no longer servicing DealFind customers, please give DealFind a call for your refund sorry about the inconvenience.”  After receiving this email, I contacted Dealfind for a refund of my money.

September 18, 2012

Dealfind’s only offer was Dealfind dollars in the amount of $99.  Essentially, it was a “store credit”.  While I was not happy about this, I did not push back as I always make purchases from companies such as this and I did not foresee any issues spending this credit in the near future.  If I only knew then what I know now!

September 20, 2012 (2^nd and 3^rd purchases)

I purchased another product from the site using my Dealfind dollars which were credited from the previous service not received. 

November 7,2012 (4^th purchase)

I purchased a service from the company and get this…..this a a good news story.  Take your time reading this because it is the only one!  I purchased a service for carpet cleaning and when I contacted the vendor to schedule my cleaning, I had NO issues.  I was extrememly pleased with this vendor.  Enough of the good news back to the bad stuff.

November 13, 2012

Neither the 2^nd or 3^rd item I purchased had been received.  I would have been a little at ease if I were able to log onto the site and track exactly where my products were in the process.  However, this is when I first realized there is no such thing.  I contacted the vendor for one of my products and was able to reach a live person.  I was informed that the product I ordered had run out of stock in the color I requested.  Since I had ordered through Dealfind, they had no contact information for me to let me know the status.  At that time he offered me the same product in another color.  I accepted the offer.  Since I was not pleased with this level of customer service, I requested the shipping on my item be expedited.  The vendor informed me this could not be done since it was coming from China.  News to me!  I received this item about a week and a half later.

For the other item I purchased on September 20^th, I had to contact Dealfind via their site.  Dealfind told me they would reach out to the vendor on my behalf to track my order.  It was at this time, I was informed by Dealfind they did not have a phone number where you can reach their company.  Yes, we are in 2012, and if you have an issue, there is no option for live customer service.  Everything must be resolved via email and email only.  While I am an advocate for technology, some things just get resolved quicker the old fashioned way.  On top of that, I have more of a reassurance when I am able to speak live and resolve my issue rather than speaking to someone “off in space”.   I eventually received this item about a week later.

November 19, 2012 (5^th and 6^th purchase)

As you are reading this, I know you are wondering, why in the world would I continue if I was having such bad experience.  My answer…they had my money hostage.  I had  no choice since all I had was “store credit” with them.  I made another purchase on the 19^th.  What is even worse, this was a purchase for Christmas.  Now, here I sit putting faith in the fact they can deliver my product to me in over a month.  Yes, I know crazy…all companies need six months to process and ship orders.  Isn’t that how long all companies take (sarcasm alert!)?

December 2012

I will summarize my latest episodes here. To this day, I have not received my 5^th and 6^th purchase.  Dealfind’s response is they are not taking responsibility and I am to contact the vendors directly.  Fortunetly, both vendors had actual phone numbers to call.  At least, that was my initial thought.  I called one vendor and after going through the automated system, I was given a message stating they were experiencing high call volumes due to the holiday season and to contact them through their website.  The call ended abruptly.  My only choice was to contact this vendor via their site.  The vendor responded and informed me that since the deal had not yet closed, my item had not shipped.  This was not true since Dealfind indicated the deal closed on November 17^th.  When I communicated this information back to the vendor, she stated “I can tell you your shipment has not gone out…sorry!!!”.  I immediately passed this information to Dealfind and received no response.  It was not until I went on their Facebook page and began responding to their advertisement posts about my displeasure that I received a response.  I received an email stating I had three choices to resolve this problem.  My options were Dealfind dollars, waiting for my product, or credit back on card.  Of course, I chose a credit back to my card.  About an hour later, I received an email stating I received a credit in the form of Dealfind dollars. WHAT?????  Of course, I responded and informed them this was not the option I chose.  No response.  So, I went back to old trusty Facebook and started voicing my concerns on their page for all to read.  Miraculously, I received an email response indicating I was given Dealfind dollars instead of a credit back on my card since I used Dealfind dollars to make the purchase.  This is insane.  The only reason I had “Dealfind dollars” was because it was given to me for a service I did not receive previously from your company.  How is this fair?  Is it me?  I responded to their email (remember this is my only option for communication) and told them I am not interested in yet another credit.  No response.  How surprising.

I am still waiting on resolution of the 6^th and final purchase.  The waiting game continues.

Update:  The only way I was getting a fast response from this company was to post on their Facebook page daily.  I finally got what I wanted, a live person, when I informed them I was passing my story along to people.  I couldn’t believe I was finally talking to a live person!  She told me she would make an “exception” and give me my money back for the product not received.  Wow, thanks, you mean I can get my money back if I don’t get something I paid you for?  How nice of you (sarcasm alert)?! When I inquired about their Better Business Bureau (BBB) rating, she stated BBB lies and you need to pay them in order to get a good rating.  She dismissed the over 300 complaints they have in 2012 alone.  I also told her I am not able to find one good review of the company on the internet.  She told me it is because customers only post negative and not positive.  This is not true, as I can find positive ratings for other such companies.  When I asked her why the business does not have a phone number for people to call, she claimed, everything had to be documented so they do not offer their customers the choice to speak with a live person.  I am still highly disappointed and discourage all to not do business with them.  I still have one product outstanding with them and she at least sent me a tracking number for this order.  Little did I know, this product is getting shipped directly from China.  They technically have until December 28^th to get this product to me.  It went out for shipment on December 9^th but has not made it through customs in China.  All news to me.  Had I known my product I was ordering would take weeks to get to me even after it has shipped, I would have never ordered it.

Dealfind’s current grade with the Better Business Bureau is “F”.  This company has had over 300 complaints to BBB in 2012 alone with many going unresolved.  Do your research before you purchase.  Don’t end up like me…donating your money to a mystery company with no phone.

Wow.  Thoughts??

Tags: dining etiquette, Etiquette Tuesday

Category: Etiquette Tuesday