Want to share an experience that I had with Living Social. I bought a voucher from them on September 22 for $79. I redeemed the voucher the same day - it was for Widget Circle. Not only did I redeem the voucher, but I also paid for shipping. Remember, this was on September 22! I received an order confirmation from Widget Circle that same evening. I tried to contact the vendor about 10 days later as I had not gotten any information on product shipment. I was using Mozilla Firefox to go to their web site and kept getting an error message. I tried for 3 days and then called Living Social for help. The CSR at Living Social told me to try Internet Explorer which I did and was able to send them an email requesting information on my order. This was on October 7 and I got a responding email telling me that my message had been sent correctly to Widget Circle. On October 10 I got a response from Widget circle telling me that my package had been shipped via UPSP Priority mail and that it should arrive within 10 days, but not to worry because even if it took a little while longer, it would be delivered to the shipping address. The email even included a tracking number. i received another email from Widget Circle on 10/14 telling me that the package had been shipped. Well, days go by and I was expecting a delivery because I know that it only takes a few days for a priority package to get to Detroit from Pennsylvania. Of course, 10 days came and went without a package being delivered (you all knew that didnt you?). I kept checking the UPSP web site using the tracking number but all the site said was that the USPS had received notification of a package to be delivered on 10/10/13. On 10/24 I again sent an email to Widget Circle and to Living Social. I never heard from Widget Circle, but got the following reply from Living Social: We appreciate your patience in this matter. We understand that you have been waiting for your merchandise from Widget Circle and sincerely apologize for the delay. We have confirmed that once you receive your tracking number from this merchant, you will receive the merchandise within 4 to 6 weeks. If you have not received your order at that time, please contact us and we will be happy to assist you further. Well, I got a notice on Friday that the post office had tried to deliver the package but no one was home. I went to the post office yesterday evening and picked up the package, brought it home, opened the post office packaging and then opened the product box, opened the bag that contained the DC power cord and following the instructions prepared to charge the device. I plugged the power cord into the power hole. The tip of the charger immediately fell out! Reading the package inserts, I sent a text message to 267-888-5910 about the problem - Widget Circle does not a voice line and this line is for problems and tech support. I resent the message again this afternoon since I had not heard back from Widget Circle. I then sent an email to Widget Circle and Living Social. Here is the email text: I ordered my device using a Living Social coupon on 9/22/13 and the shipping cost of $6.00 was debited from my checking account on 9/24/13. It took until November 4, 2013 to receive my device. I opened the post office packaging and then opened the product box, opened the bag that contained the AC power cord and following the instructions prepared to charge the device. I plugged the power cord into the power hole. The tip of the charger immediately fell out! I assume that I can use the USB charger to charge the device, but since I purchased the device so that we do not have to travel with a laptop, this is option is unacceptable. Since this is a new device, I expect it to be replaced at no additional cost to me. This was purchased as a birthday gift and the birthday is the first week of December. I waited weeks to get the first device, but if I cant get the replacement device before the birthday, I expect a full refund - including my shipping charges. Please have the courtesy to respond to this email in a timely manner (within 24 hours) unlike your response time in the past. I sent a text to your tech phone number as instructed in the user guide I received yesterday and have yet to hear from anyone. My order number is 022240 and the USPS tracking number was 420482079405510200828925783459. I got the following email response from Living Social: Thanks for contacting us. Hi Rhonda, We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused. In order for us to process a refund, the items must be returned to Widget Circle. All returns and exchanges must be made with the merchant and adhere to their return policy. They can be reached at https://widgetcircle/contact-us. We really appreciate your business and continued loyalty. If you still have questions, please reply to this email. Were happy to help. Thanks for LivingSocial! Kelly | Consumer Services Representative I then sent this to Living Social: Working with Living Social on a product that I purchased with a coupon that I purchased through Living Social has proven to be less than customer friendly. At every step of my journey, I have had problems. For every problem, I turned to Living Social for assistance, but all I have gotten from you is emails telling me to go directly to the vendor. If the solution was as easy as going to the vendor, I would not have come to you for help. Unfortunately for Living Social, my experience with you has been so poor that there is no way that I will ever use your services again. I have copies of the emails you sent me telling me that I had to deal directly with Widget Circle when I first contacted you for assistance, the next one that said our last response was unacceptable to us, but still wait more time, the next one telling me that I had to wait six to eight weeks for delivery of a package that was sent 20 days after the order was placed - even though the vendor had said it should arrive within a week or so, plus the one you sent this evening telling me that I had to go to the vendor to get a refund.At this point I am going to share each of those emails with facebook and my entire email list. You have done an extremely poor job of making me feel like a valued customer and I wont be back to deal with you and hope no one that I know will either. I will do everything in my power to make sure that happens. All of this for a Google Tablet that instead of costing $250 or so I paid $79 for. It was to be a gift for someone who is a Novice+ computer user so that he did not have to take a large lap top with him on trips! If anyone ever hears me say that I am going to use Living Social for anything, give me a quick slap across the back of my head! The service I have gotten from them is about as good as what I would expect from - well no one or any company. I cant even think of a company that would offer service as bad as or worse than Living Social and Widget Circle!
Posted on: Wed, 06 Nov 2013 04:15:31 +0000