Everyone loves a deal, and the quest to save a buck or two has given rise to a number of websites that offer discounts on a variety of goods and services.
The deal kicks in when a certain number of people buy in. The problem is some customers say they’re not getting what they paid for, and buyers should beware.
For 18 years, Dominic Chiu has owned a building in North Vancouver just off Lonsdale, and fortunately he’s never had a problem tenant in the commercial suites on the ground floor, until now.
At the end of August, he signed a two-year lease for a spa with Burnaby resident Sherry Jordan, but all of Jordan’s cheques have bounced.
The business never even opened its doors, and Jordan is nowhere to be found.
“She never answered the phone,” says Chiu. “Her voice mailbox is always full.”
But Chiu isn’t the only person who made a deal with Sherry Jordan that has come to nothing.
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Over the weekend, the group-buying website dealfind.com was selling a spa package at Hello Gorgeous for $44.
More than 100 people purchased the coupon to a non-existent business.
And in July, also on dealfind.com, more than 350 people bought massages at Jordan’s previous business, the spa at the North Vancouver Fitness World, now a Steve Nash club.
“With dealfind, they have a D+ rating with the Better Business Bureau in Ontario,” says Mark Fernandes with Better Business Bureau Lower Mainland. “They have approximately 243 complaints that have been filed in past 12 months.”
Jordan also did business with GroupOn in July.
Almost 900 people bought GroupOn for manicure-pedicure packages at Hello Gorgeous with the Lonsdale address.
That’s six weeks before Jordan even signed the lease.
That’s a total of more than 1300 Lower Mainlanders with potentially worthless vouchers.
Dealfind.com says it has not been able to contact the owner Sherry Jordan.
But this morning, it refunded every customer who bought this weekend’s deal and sent an email apology.
The spokesperson claims there is a process to vet vendors, and it works 90 per cent of the time, but sometimes they make a mistake.
“You have to do your due diligence,” says Fernandes. “If it is a new company offering a service or if it is a new group buying website, you have take into account that things may not work out.”
At the very least, call the business before you buy what you think is a fantastic deal. It may turn out to be an empty promise.
Dominic Chiu and his leasing agent have taken several calls from Jordan’s unhappy clients, who have nowhere else to turn.
“I could help other people stop paying her, and least not to be a victim, like me,” says Chiu.
He changed the locks and is hoping to find a new tenant as soon as possible.
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