Livingsocial deal - misrepresenting full price?

mildred1978

Hi there. A few months ago I purchased a spa package for a local beauty salon. The package was sold as:

"Spa Package with Express Facial, Mani/Pedi, and a Full-Body Swedish Massage"


for £39 - a 61% discount on a £100 value package.


I booked my appointment yesterday and was asked whether I wanted a manicure or pedicure, which surprised me as I was expecting to receive both. The girl told me to ring back today and speak to her boss, as she'd been told it only included one or other.



Now, whilst I admit that the use of '/' usually means 'or', I'm going to push for getting both, for 2 reasons.


On their online price list the cost of the massage is £35 and an express facial is £20.


Their nail list is as follows:

"Manicure£18

Express Manicure£12

File and Polish£8

Luxury OPI Spa Manicure£25
with Paraffin Wax Treatment.
Manicure and Pedicure£35
Paraffin Wax with Hand and Foot Massage£10

Pedicure£20

Express Pedicure£14

File and Polish£9

Luxury OPI Spa Pedicure£27"

Now I can't find the 'missing' £45 value unless they include their "manicure and pedicure" with "paraffin wax massage" thing.

The girl on the phone told me that the whole package would last 3 hours. Now assuming an hour for the massage and half an hour for the facial, it doesn't take 1.5 hours to do a manicure or pedicure!

I'm hoping I won't have to push too hard, but if they are difficult about it, what are my actual rights? With just 1 nail treatment the overall cost is £73/75, not the £100 advertised.

As these 'deals' are supposed to get them regular business afterwards, I'm surprised that they seem intent on ripping people off from the get go!

Can anyone advise, please?

somethingcorporate

What would you like?

At the end of the day you have a price for a service, regardless of the RRP of that service.

mildred1978

somethingcorporate wrote: »

What would you like?

At the end of the day you have a price for a service, regardless of the RRP of that service.

I'd like a massage, facial, manicure and pedicure, because that's what I believed I was getting.

I believe the RRP is important, actually. If someone offered me a Merc for £15k instead of £30k I'd want to know if I was getting an A class or a C class!

somethingcorporate

Sorry, I mis-read your post. I agree with you! Keep pushing with the manager.

mildred1978

Spoke to the salon owner, who was adamant that it was either or, and blamed livingsocial.com for any confusion. Swore blind that they had nothing to do with the advert or the costing (yeah right!) and said that they'd sold "hundreds" and had no issues with anyone else. Pointed out that they'd actually sold 38, and that I may be the only person to notice, but that doesn't make it right. They offered to shorten the massage to fit in a manicure and pedicure. Basically as long as it doesn't go past 2.5 hours of treatments they don't mind.

Thought this was a reasonable offer, but was so peed off with the lies about the advert and costing (i mean, who would trust an unknown company to write the advert without signing it off?!) that I rang livingsocial. They confirmed the advert is meant to offer both manicure and pedicure, that the salon would have had to have agreed every single aspect of the offer and that they would have provided the costing too.

Livingsocial are taking it up with the salon for me, and will tell me the outcome by Friday.

Will keep you posted.

somethingcorporate

Well done! A good result so far and it seems that more could be on the horizon.

sarahg1969

You could always report them to the ASA as well.

http://www.asa.org.uk/Complaints/How-to-complain.aspx

There have been adjudications on similar offers recently.

http://www.asa.org.uk/ASA-action/Adjudications/2011/9/MyCityDeal-Ltd/SHP_ADJ_162648.aspx

mildred1978

sarahg1969 wrote: »

You could always report them to the ASA as well.

http://www.asa.org.uk/Complaints/How-to-complain.aspx

There have been adjudications on similar offers recently.

http://www.asa.org.uk/ASA-action/Adjudications/2011/9/MyCityDeal-Ltd/SHP_ADJ_162648.aspx

Ooh, thanks!

hcb42

based on that wording I would have assumed either or, but of course the costings need to be auditable.

I am suprised though, as about to do a deal with groupon (hotel/restaurant) and I have to show online auditable verification of list price for 3 course meal plus accommodation should I choose to do it.

I wonder how long these schemes will last though, that spa will be taking about £16 for your booking!!!

mildred1978

hcb42 wrote: »

based on that wording I would have assumed either or, but of course the costings need to be auditable.

I am suprised though, as about to do a deal with groupon (hotel/restaurant) and I have to show online auditable verification of list price for 3 course meal plus accommodation should I choose to do it.

I wonder how long these schemes will last though, that spa will be taking about £16 for your booking!!!

They get £26 of the voucher price, apparently. I was honest with the salon owner - it's still a good deal at £39. I've already bought a friend a full price voucher for a massage based on the fact they were offering such a good deal earlier in the year.

I don't often get chance to treat myself, but was hoping that if there was a good place locally I'd be able to once a month or so. I've a wide circle of female friends that I could recommend them to as well. But none of that was enough for her to want to keep me happy, which is slightly disappointing.

The girl I spoke to at Livingsocial was really good. She said absolutely they'd require the salon to use the word 'or' if it was an either or situation. The salon must have signed it off, and confirmed the full value of the package before the advert ran. She's referred it to the merchant services team who will check all of the correspondence and contact the salon to negotiate on my behalf.

I don't really want to do a local business out of any more money, but the fact that she lied to me makes me want to assert my 'rights' even more strongly.