Livingsocial Refuse Refund

[davos11]

Hi,
Sorry if this is a bit overdrawn but I've very recently had a problem with Livingsocial ,I bought some meal vouchers for a restaurant in London, I needed to book 24 hours in advance and that was really the only stipulation

It gave opening times which ran all the way to midnight on every night of the week , We tried to book our table via the website only to find it was down due to bandwidth problems which was worrying as it was only 48 hours before we were due to go there.
I searched the net and found an email address for them so emailed them my details and booking time and mentioned i was using the deal vouchers , The next day the site was working so i booked via there website the usual way

,BY the day we were leaving i still had not received any confirmation from the restaurant about my order , Again worrying .
We traveled to London and about 3 or 4 hours before we were due to eat i decided to ring them up to make sure they were still in business ,When they answered and we attempted to make the booking again for a 3rd time we were told that there was missing small print from the Livingsocial site which meant that the vouchers could only be used between i think it was 3-7pm ....There was n mention of this in any of the small print or terms on the website ,
we had paid for show tickets and did not have time to make these hours for our meal and we were leaving London the next morning so we were stuck, we made other plans and paid for another meal at a different restaurant..

When i got home a few days later i contacted Livingsocial right away via email explaining what had happened and confirming we had got in touch within 7 days to ask for a refund in compliance with the EU LDS regulations and not only wanted our money back but an explanation of what had gone wrong and what was going on with this restaurant that never replied, had a broken website and seemed to be aware that Livingsocial was advertising incorrect details yet they had not been corrected.

I received no reply and 3 days later i emailed again and the next day received this message
Hi lucy,

Thanks for contacting us!
We have spoken to the merchant who has advised that the vouchers are subject to availability so it may be that the times advised where the times they had left for the date you required.

In addition it is always best to ensure that you book ahead to ensure you have the dates required.

If you still have questions, please reply to this email. We're happy to help!

Thanks for LivingSocial!

Obviously i contacted the restaurant 3 times within 48 hours or more to try and book and subject to availability i don't really understand as its not like a free meal ,Its something i had paid for and booked then been told they were only valid for certain hours of the day , If Livingsocial had advertised this i could have decided if i wanted to purchase or not and if so made plans to arrive within those hours
Between the email i sent and the website booking , I received no reply, Not even an automated one for confirmation.

I'm at a loss to how i can be in this situation really as i cant see what i could have done differently or what i have done wrong to be at a loss here, It seems like there's been a string of errors on their behalf yet neither of them will take responsibility and as i type the restaurant have £20 of my money without so much as lifting a finger ....Surely this can't be right.

I have copies of the voucher deal , terms and conditions etc... If this would be a help

Sorry for the long drawn out message , It's hard to condense a weeks worth of message , emails and arguing into a short sharp message.

Any help or info would be greatly appreciated,
thanks

[divegirl]

For crying out loud! The op has just joined with a legitimate question and has not changed the default setting or something!

Sorry, I can't help with your question but some one will have some advice I'm sure .

Welcome to AB :0/

Lisa x

[Buenchico]

EU LDS???

If you're referring to the The Consumer Protection (Distance Selling) Regulations 2000, I've got certain doubts about whether they would apply, since your circumstances might be covered by the exemption under Regulation 6(2)(b):
http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2000/2334/regulation/6/made

If you have a claim against LivingSocial it's likely to be under the terms of the Trade Descriptions Act 1968 because what you purchased was incorrectly described (i.e. there was no mention of time restrictions).

You could try threatening LivingSocial with legal action. Send a letter to The Company Secretary, LivingSocial Ltd, 25 Wellington Street, London, WC2E 7DA by recorded delivery. (Retain a copy and check online to see that it's been delivered, noting the date, time and signature). The letter should be dated and show both your address and that of the company. It should clearly state that it is a demand for payment, stating the amount and giving the reason why. The letter should also state that if payment is not received within a specified period (I suggest 14 days) you will commence legal action.

Sometimes the threat of legal action is enough to get a positive response. If not, you'll have to decide whether it's worth pursuing the matter further via HM Courts Service's online claims system:
https://www.moneyclaim.gov.uk/web/mcol/welcome

Chris

[bednobs]

this is not an answer to your specific q but might help.
Recently i purchased a "groupon" deal similar to the way living social works for an overnight stay, and when i booked, only fridays and saturdays were available. Presented no problems to me as i wanted a friday, however, i received an email from groupon a day later informing me that they had forgotten to say it was f&s only, and invited me to ask for a refund if i wanted one or couldn't make f or s.