The emails arrive in our inbox daily. Half off lobster dinner, 40% off hotel stay in Banff, Unlimited Yoga classes for one month.
Groupon, Living Social, Kijiji Daily Deals, Deal Find, Buytopia? I can’t keep up with the explosion of new websites offering daily deals and discounts on just about everything imaginable.
What is the biggest pet peeve consumers have with these coupons? Expiry dates.
Well, good news! The province says they can’t expire. Service Alberta says the coupons do fall under the province’s gift card regulation banning expiry dates on gift cards, certificates and these online coupons (as long as a dollar value is listed). Service Alberta has already received some complaints and wants to hear from consumers with expiry date complaints so it can ensure that companies are complying. Call 1-877-427-4088 to lodge a complaint.
Consumers I spoke with this week say it’s becoming difficult to use these daily deal coupons before the expiry date with service based businesses. Businesses like salons, spas, fitness clubs, etc. are appointment based, and they only have so many staff and so many openings. If they sell 1200 coupons through one of these websites, they may be scrambling to fit everyone in before the coupon expires. This could be bad news for you if you have one of these coupons, and don’t book quick.
Some businesses also say the coupons aren’t all they’re cracked up to be. One local salon and spa says it would never take part in a daily deal again. No cap was put on the number of coupons sold and it was overwhelmed. The business didn’t have the staff to handle it, and not enough time in the day to fit everyone in. The manager says loyal clients were put on the back burner to try to accommodate everyone, and it just wasn’t worth it. The goal was to bring in more business, but this salon and spa believes it may have even lost money. Staff believe most of the 1200 coupons sold were bought by people who go where the deal takes them and likely won’t become long term clients.
Websites like Deal Find, Living Social and Groupon say customer service is key for them. They say they will often refund money to coupon holders if they have any problem redeeming the deal with the business. Consumers we talked to were very happy with the quick refund response to their concerns. So, if you have a problem ensure you give the website customer service team a call.
The deals are there, and they can be great! The key is to buy ones you know you will use. Read all the fine print BEFORE you click “buy.”
And if you see an expiry date, call Service Alberta. It may not apply.
Happy Shopping!
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