WagJag, Groupon, WebPiggy, Dealfind, LivingSocial, and the list goes on. Seemingly overnight and out of nowhere, collective deal sites such as the ones listed above seem to have sprung up, one right after another.
(They sorta remind me of that old wives’ tale about plucking out your white hairs: When you pluck 1 out, 2-3 white hairs will grow in its place! If any one of these deal sites shutdown, no one would bat an eye as there are plenty replacements.)
I don’t know about you, but my spam box is bogged down with the “deal of the day” from these various sites; yet I’ve barely dipped my toe in WagJag/Dealfind, so where are all these other messages coming from?
My foray into WagJag was unfortunately an unsuccessful one. After the uneventful registration process, I purchased my voucher for Hero Burger…or at least I thought I did. And when the deal ended, nothing happened, no confirmation email, nada. So I emailed WagJag to find out what went wrong. I wasn’t as concerned about getting 2 burgers for $9 as I was with my VISA details floatin’ ’round cyberspace somewhere and possibly falling into the wrong hands!
I can’t remember what the specific outcome was, but after their initial response, I never heard from WagJag again. Needless to say, I am still keeping a close eye on my credit card statements.
As with Dealfind, a friend emailed me to tell me about a dental voucher: $39 for a Complete Dental Check Up, 4 Dental X-Rays, 2 Unit Cleaning and Fluoride Treatment at Canadian Place Dentistry ($364 Value). This sounded like an amazing deal, especially since I don’t have dental insurance, so I snatched it up! I have yet to make my appointment, so I can’t say whether or not my experience with Dealfind was better than that of WagJag.
What do you think of these sites? Do you use them, and if so, which specific one(s) and why? Did you actually get any good deals? Or do you think it just makes you spend extra money that you’d otherwise save?
Don’t forget that Smart Canucks has it’s own list of Daily Deals available! If we are missing a Daily Deals site let us know!
I love Groupon! They have always answered my inquiries super quick. I love their referral program. I have never had problems at all with them (knock on wood)
Team Buy on the other hand I bought a Smokes Poutine gift card, went in to get it and the Smokes employee was so rude to me (Queen st w) and wouldn’t honour it. (I was at the right location etc he just wasn’t “informed” of the deal.
Anyways all Team Buy did was offer me a lame $5 credit, which I never even claimed, it was kind of a slap in the face since I had purchased from them quite a few times before.
I honestly have been too afraid to use any of these sites. Maybe because it sounds too good to be true? I have heard a few horror stories about people not getting their coupons in the mail, stores not honoring the coupon etc. If any I would try Groupon, but for now I will stay away until they are more established.
I have used Teambuy …wagjag..and groupon !! and I never have problems with any of them !! They have some really good deals out there…that I just can’t resist!!!!
Coupons in the mail? Their always there by just logging into the respective site. 🙂
Groupon, teambuy etc are pretty safe with your info.
I think what would be really bad is that your voucher isn’t honoured AND your credit card is charged!
I really hope that my dental check-up is legit! I haven’t been to the dentist is years.
*smiles while teeth falls out*
stephania, I took had a similar experience with wagjag. I purchased a $5 voucher for Dairy Queen and when I went to log in to print out the voucher, there was no note of it. What I really don’t like about these sites is that they don’t allow you to print out the voucher right away, so you tend to forget about it after a while, so money sorta tends to go into the waste.
sometimes, I even find myself questioning whether I just imagined clicking the “buy” button, or whether or not I really did
I’ve used wagjag and fabfind. Both experiences were perfect. One was for free doughnuts at krispy creme and te other at a mom and pop pizza place. Not big ticket items. My SIL bought on wagjag a deal at a spa, went to claim and was told she had to pay all these extra fees and such, would have tripled the original voucher price. The lady wasn’t very friendly and made her feel small for trying to get “such a deal”. She told me that when she said forget it that the lady looked surprised that she didn’t just pay. I wonder how many people actually paid the “extra”. She spoke with wagjag and got a full refund.
I used deal55 (i think that’s what it was called) the other day. They were offering a $100 giftcard for Winners for $45. It sounded like too good of a deal and turned out it was. I found out a few hours after my purchase that the deal was not guaranteed and that I would only get it if a certain number of people “tipped” it. So they would hold my money and (credit card info) until the deal got tipped, which in itself was an uncertainty. So i quickly demanded a refund and have gotten my money back since. Not sure if people did end up getting the gift cards though because the deal just got tipped a few days back. Sounded like a scam to me though. Groupon’s not bad though, got a few things off it.
Joi, thats how essentially all group buys work.
I haven’t had any problems with Groupon. I’ve purchased quite a few of their deals so far, and I’ve never had a problem redeeming them, be it for Pita Pit or the Running Room. I love the referal program, because my $50 voucher, which was going to be $25 ended up being $15 for the Running Room, which is crazy!
I have only had good experiences (so far) with deal of the day sites and am really glad there are so many of them. More deal sites means more selection and competition for best prices. I regularly purchase deals for salon treatments like hair cuts, facials and massages, and feel that I spend much less money than I used to on these services. But the best part is the fun of regularly discovering new places to try.
I’ve used a few of them…WagJag being my favorite because you have a few days to make the purchase. There have been a couple times I did receive a confirmation after the purchase but the voucher was always in under my account. Try checking there if you haven’t already.
Sorry, meant to say “there have been a couple times I did NOT receive a confirmation…
I simply stick with SC site onry! 😀
I mostly do restaurant deals (50% off) from local radio station. I dislike those I have to print out a coupon – risk of refusal?
I love these sites. Never had any problems yet and I have purchased mostly from Wagjag all of the following:
(a) Wild Wing – paid $10 for $20 worth of food
(b) M&M meat shop – paid 10 for $25 worth of product
(c) Sweetness Bakery – paid $5 for $10 worth of product
(d) Joe Dog’s – paid $10 for $20 worth of food
(e) Amazing Adventures Play land – paid $13 for all day pass plus build a teddy
(f) Canadian Tire – paid $25 for seasonal special (incl. oil change, tire rotation, full car inspection including brakes, top up of fluids etc.) at a regular price of $39.99
(g) Lil Monkeys – paid $15 for $50 off bday party
I have also purchased from groupon. At groupon you purchase it and you get the voucher emailed to you. At Wagjag you have to wait until the deal tips (which they indicate is a whole 5 purchases that have to be made) but you have to wait until the deal ends which is typically a week unless it ends early due to the limited quantities available (this happened for the M&M deal). As Sheri mentioned though, you can log into wagjag and look under my account and you will see your vouchers there that can be printed at any time as many times as you need (ie. if you lose it no big deal, just log on and re-print or you can even gift it to someone). Of note though is usually you won’t receive the voucher until the next day after the deal ends or much later that same day in your email inbox so dont be overly eager to use it.
Hope that helps!
I’ve only had good experiences with Groupon, WagJag, Dealfind, KijijiDeals and Groupon (Yes, I’ve used ALL of them). My one slightly unsatisfactory experience was completely out of the website’s hands… I bought laser hair removal sessions from a MediSpa location and the spa refused to honour them because Dealfind wasn’t giving them the money. Turns out MediSpa was being investigated for tax fraud and Dealfind was forbidden by the government to pass on any money to them. Dealfind refunded my money promptly and apologised.
I’ve had little stores and big chains honour the vouchers without a problem. Everything from privately owned little restaurants to the Body Shop and Laura Secord. I flash the print out, they scan it, and done!
I’ve gottem about $25 so far in referral money too, which has made quite a few smaller vouchers freeeee!
Also, for people who can’t be bothered to check out all the different sites individually, OneSpout.com is great! It consolidates all the citywide deals into one page and lets you filter them by category.
I find if you find the rules and read them they will give you an indication of how legit they are. Most sites need a certain amount of people to sign up and they dont give the coupon unless they do.
Like anything else you have to read the rules.
Yes OneSpout.com is great, I don’t ever subscribe to group buy newsletters anymore.
So far I have only used Groupon, and all has been fine, no issues with them.
I’ve used dealfind and have recently used groupon… I haven’t had any major problems.. I have heard of some people having issues with smaller businesses honouring the coupon, sometimes it was because of miscommunication between the business and dealfind..etc..
I know for one voucher I have for mani/pedi, the place was booking about two months in advance because she had sold so many of them. I understand that. If 400 people bought that item, at a 70% off discount.. they lose serious revenue. It’s fine with me, I just plan ahead for things and don’t buy things that I want to use right away(if it’s for a smaller business.. big chain stores, that isnt such a big deal)
Great comments about these deal sites.I’ve been going crazy with them and have had no problems except for the deals that are sooo popular you have to wait a few months if you don’t book an appt. right away.
I would say that Dealfind is the best b/c they pay referral fees if a friend buys a deal that you recommend. I’ve been paid $52 to date from them. They automatically send you a check once a month without you having to make a request or fill out a form!
a lot of them guarantee your purchase as well.. even with wagjag, the store/whatever could go out of business and they would refund you. i’ve had no problems with it.
as for not getting confirmation emails: check your spam/trash folder.. or maybe you just did the transaction wrong. (or sometimes it takes a week or so for the vouchers to arrive).
I’ve used Groupon for Body Shop. Paid $25 for $50 of products. Also used Kahoot.ca for half price ski lift passes. No problem at all.
I’ve used Groupon, WebPiggy and Fabfind, with no problems. Have so far bought gift certificates to The Gap, Teaopia, SkyBlueSky (sandwich shop), What A Bagel and a tapas restaurant – had no problems redeeming anything.
As of yesterday, though, I’ve unsubscribed from getting individual emails from all the sites. I signed up for one email from Cake Deals instead, which aggregates all the daily deals together. You can click through to the individual sites if you see something you fancy. I think it’ll keep the inbox clutter nicely contained.
I bought the Smoke’s gift card from Teambuy as well. I had no trouble redeeming it; it was just a bit slow because the staff had to go through pages of printouts with buyer’s names to validate our ID and vouchers. I guess management didn’t print out the list by alphabetical order or something…
I have purchased tons of these and mostly have had good experiences…except one. I bought a photofacial (at April Maloney Salon) coupon from Teambuy. When I went to get my facial done, the lady literally spent 5 minutes on my face (seriously). I called the teambuy people to complain and they refunded my money. I think its okay to buy a coupon for merchandise or restaurants, but if you are buying a coupon for a service (like facial, haircut, massage), you will not get the same treatment as somebody who paid the full price will.
I have also used Wagjag many times, and groupon twice I think; mostly for food/restaurants.
All of the experiences for me were perfect, and I love the referral system for wagjag as well!
I have also found a few amazing freebies from fabfind, including the free krispy kreme donuts and also what-a-bagel free bagels, and free icecream on queen st. west.
I haven’t tried any of the beauty services because you can never be too sure of what extra charges will apply.. but I find for food, it’s more straight- forward
Orangegummy, apparently I just got a rude employee. It was a younger guy at the Queen st location, we stood there and even called other smokes and their like he should take it no problem!
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I like cheep.ca better than onespout – it’s simply and easier to use. Lots of options isn’t always a good thing…
I have bought 50 coupons for Harveys combo meals (location specific) for $0.66 each from wagjag. And they honor it every time, though some have tried to abuse their restaurant by printing multiple coupons and trying to turn them in, but the codes are voucher specific so they get busted.
I also got a 1month fitness membership at a steal.
An introductory course to scuba for $20.
A premium hair cut for $15.
Car cleaning, filter+oil change and checkup for $29 per car (got 1 for each car). This was from Dealfind a smaller one that you may not list right now.
I think that’s it right now, I have only used wagjag, groupon, dealfind and maybe livingsocial for these. I like this new promotion system that came out of nowhere, it saves me from hunting for deals.
I used groupon once,on a deal for $10 worth of candy for $5.The candy was quite expensive for my taste,though and I wouldn’t go back.Not a good idea if you have credit card either.
Love all the sites! I actually used a wagjag coupon today and redeemed it at a local bakery shop in Vancouver and it worked out great! I don’t think they’re a dangerous company.
There ARE way too many of them but some do come in handy.. and some force you to spend unnecessarily!
I did redeem my $25 to Dairy Queen which I spent $12 on for an ice cream cake! It was a perfect deal, since we normally buy those delicious cakes once a year anyways! The $25 for $50 worth of clothing @ American Apparel was fabulous.. There are some great ones out there! I just got 3 months worth of contacts, an eye exam, and contact lens fitting done for $75 today and it was fantastic. They treated me well :)!
These sites are especially great for vacations! I’m stocking up on honolulu ones right now!
The ONE thing I DON’T like about most of these sites is that besides groupon, I haven’t had any other site email me reminding me that I had coupons sitting in my account waiting to be used! Anyways, overall, I really do think they’re all fantastic! 🙂
I have used WagJag several times – just yesterday I tried to redeem my little squeaky feet wagjag bought last week – although it was an online site you had to call to redeeem and the number given by wagjag was wrong. I tracked them down and called them to order and a lady with a crying baby in the background told me to just email her all my information including my credit card details (for shipping) I told her I preferred not to send my credit card inforamtion into cyberspace and she did take it by phone but then I had to send all the details of my order in a regular email (no customer service there) – she told me several times that orders would be filled as they arrived and it might take some time because they had sold 700 wagjags. I was definitely annoyed as if she didn’t have the capacity to handle that many orders why sell so many wagjags coupons. Will wait and see how this one works out
I only use Groupon and Wagjag.
I’m a little to scared to try any of the others.
I’ve used both Groupon and Wagjag with no problems. I use Onespout to get a consolodated list of deals to reduce the inbox emails. I found the sites had much better deals leading up to Christmas time than they’ve been having for the last several months though so I haven’t purchased for a while. And I find you have to be careful not to get caught up buying things just because they are a good deal…do you really need that is the question I try to ask myself first…usually the answer is no. And also I find lots of deals for business that I’d never heard of before…if it isn’t a well know reputable store/business then I don’t bother.
It sounds like most of the complaints I’m reading are coming because people are not reading the fine print, of their specific deal, or of the coupon site itself. Also, the coupon sites are not responsible for making sure the vendors are polite to you!
Would love to hear others’ experiences using swagbucks.
After reading these comments I went to some of the sites that show all the deals on one site. Cheep.ca had a deal I was interested in. When I checked out the deal – it expired on March 28th. Not going to waste my time on Cheep.ca again. I have purchased from WagJag and so far so good. I did get a hair service coupon that expires Dec/11. I called for an appointment but could not get in until May 8th. My coupon was for 3 cuts so, I just booked my other 2 appointments now instead of waiting later in the year.
Another catch-all site is dealcatch.com.
I’ve redeemed some of these fantastic deals already (some waiting to be used in the near future), and have only had one issue, which was with WagJag. The company that provided the deal ended up going out of business, while I was in the process of getting my order delivered. So, I contacted WagJag, and they were absolutely wonderful to deal with. They resolved the issue quickly, provided me with a full refund PLUS a $10 credit to my account, for the inconvenience I encountered. $h*t happens, and there’s no way for these deal sites to know if the companies offering the deals are in financial trouble or not. Most aren’t, but I know from here on out, WagJag will be more careful about which companies they accept. This issue wasn’t their fault by any means, but they handled it amazingly well, in my opinion. I will continue to purchase these deals. 🙂
i have used groupon- my daughter told me about it -only used once so far -$25 for 50 from body shop-but loved it -no problems at all
I have only had good experiences as well. I’ve only used Groupon once, but WagJag quite a few times and have always been really happy with the deals and the stores honouring them!
I use Groupon and Living Social all the time. I love the deals I have gotten. Makes for cheap date nights with my hubby or fun weekends with friends. I have used KijijiDeals once, didn’t have any problems, but not a regular so cannot give an accurate review.
The only downfall as someone earlier stated is not being able to print the voucher right away. It doesn’t affect me now, however when I first started using the sites I had completely forgotten about a purchase and lost out on the deal because the print out was not in my purse to remind me (thankfully it was only $10).
Groupon actually sends you an e-mail when your deal is printable and will send you reminder e-mails to use your groupons, so that is nice.
Also the extra swagbucks for those sites is nice too since I would buy them anyways. 🙂
But agreed with the original….way too many. Some are heard to tell if they are scams or not.
I dont trust them. Refuse to use them. I dont want my info floating around. I think a lot of them are frauds. Just out for your money, plain and simple!
great experiences so far! the gap groupon was amazing, so was the hero burger wag jag… i’ve gotten free cupcakes, free yogen fruz, gift cards for eateries at amazing prices! i recomment just being prudent. if its a big chain like the gap, you’re probably safe as its regulated but if its some tiny store that you wouldnt normally consider trying, then use your best judgement.
I don’t mind some of them
A month ago got an amazing deal for Laser Hair Removal
but this business got so many ‘buys’ that each time I have an appt. they will call me to state ”oh we over-booked, can you re-schedule”
The last time, they called me on the DAY of my appt. asking if I could come a few hours later. I said okay. I get there 15 min before my appt. and sat in the waiting room for almost 25 min….I spoke up finally. They took me in but found it was such a rushed job.
For this, any SALON DEAL I will NOT take. My bad. Live learn:(
Also I find that a lot of people who buy are seriously CHEAP.
There is a deal today on Groupon for Toronto Boat Tours….in the comments someone wrote “do I get a cheaper price for an additional person and a child?”
I mean , come on……the deal is $10 plus tax for a tour of the harbour and Toronto Island. This person doesnt realize that these businesses are taking a loss. In this case about 65 percent.
The rules are posted on each deal site, yes, but a lot ask too much for a good price I find
I just find that people want something for absolutely nothing.
Very lame!
I’ve used Groupon and Livingsocial with no problems.
Hubster and I like to eat out a few times a week, but shoot costs add up quick! so I’ve been doing group deal vouchers for the last 3 months for restaurants. sometimes it’s like 50% savings, like 30 bucks for the voucher between the two of us, but we can order 60 dollars worth of food-(always check the restaurant menu before buying to ensure $60 goes a long way).. and then sometimes they have deals that like 60% off for the food (or more) it’s a great opportunity to have ‘date nights’ and explore the city together : ) and it’s much cheaper- like i’m ok with $15/each for a nice dinner!
My fav’ group deal site for this purpose is “dealicious.ca” (brought to you by Dine.TO they do reviews of Toronto restuarants)
And I’ve used groupon for a gym membership at a discounted rate, I’ve ordered oranic fruits and veggies from groupon’s deals.., fabfind – I’ve used for fast food, or freebies (like free cupcakes from the designer cookie, at Avenue rd and Eg). I’ve used groupdeal websites for car detailing – my car looks brand spank’n’ new- they clean it like they are going to resell it man! I paid $39 for that, that package of detailing would have otherwise cost over $150 bones.
LOVE GROUP DEAL SITES! if you have a bad experience just call the group deal site contact info, to explain.. i tried to book a reservation for a sushi restaurant with my voucher, but they were being dicks about it, so i called dealicious to tell them and then decided i didn’t even want to give that restaurant my business, so i got a refund and a credit of $10 towards another future purchase in lieu of this bad experience..
I’ve used Webpiggy, WagJag, and LivingSocial with no problems at all. I love how these sites introduce me to new products/services.
I’ve only ever used the kijiji deal of the day, and Dealfind, and have had great success with both. I’ve redeemed both so far, no problems. Also, I received my vouchers within 2-3 minutes of making the purchases, so I’m not sure why a previous poster above said you have to wait and can easily forget about it. Maybe I’ve been fortunate with my experiences.
I love all the sites. I have purchased many deals through Goupon, DealFind, Wagjag, and have had no probles at all, and have saved several amounts of money-they are the best things ever!
I have always found customer service great at most sites, however did not like Team Buy Customer Service. They were not helpful, and I also did not like their referral process. If you are increasing their sales, and are referring people to their site, you should be rewarded with something.
Due to the high amount of deal sites around, I think sites should try to use the best incentives as marketing tools, otherwise a lot of purchasers will choose to buy from alternative sites. As a customer, you would like to feel valued, and incentives show you are valued.
Long story short, I LOVE deal sites, and buy from them regularly. I have never had any problems with them, during my purchase experience, and also during use! I enjoy looking at all the different sites, and if anyone hears of any new sites let me know!
I’ve used webpiggy once and dealgetters once. but i hate the email, i never ever look at them most days.
however, if you like the deals but don’t want to open 20 emails, use onespout.com and get all the daily deals for where you live in ONE email and unsubscribe to the individual ones.
i was SHOCKED at how many there are for Toronto (29, or something), and onespout does plenty of cities.
Dealradar.com offers all these companies in one place.
You just mentioned some more I’ll have to check out…oh, no, more email! lol
I’ve purchased and used vouchers from WagJag (Montfort’s, East Side Mario’s and Marble Slab) and got to go on some cheap(er) dates. As the wife of a student husband, that doesn’t happen too often! I’ve also purchased something from Steal the Deal with no problems, and one from Groupon. Groupon even sends out an email reminding you that you haven’t used your groupon yet, which I thought was brilliant, since I’m generally forgetful.
I love these sites. So far I have used groupon and wagjag and gotten several great deals and no problem at all redeeming. I highly recommend these sites and will definately continue to use them.
I’ve used TeamBuy, WagJag, Groupon, DealTicker, Webpiggy and more and they are all great! Never had a bad experience with any of them and when I had changed my mind on a purchase, they all refunded me without any issue….there’s a great site which compiles many of the deal sites into on easy email that they send to you daily, it’s called dealradar.com
I too have used such sites, but am beginning to question their repercussions. I was listening to an analyst on the radio who explained the deep cuts required by companies in order to advertise on such sites, since they are more often than not losing money on the prospect. The business’s return might be 10 or 20%, after offering a 50% discount and the remainder going to the website. True, they get advertising for their product, but it is often smaller, locally owned companies, as opposed to major chains, that need to resort to this. I do see the occasional offer from Future Shop, but it is not a discount, but rather a chance to bid on a $20 gift card, which I’m sure goes for very close to that amount. I propose supporting local small businesses regardless of discount rather than the predatory discounter hunters who may be more concerned with getting half off a mani-pedi than what such sites may be doing to the economy.
I mostly use WagJag and StealTheDeal, but I’ve also tried DealFind, Webpiggy, TeamSave, Buytopia, DealTicker, KijijiDeals, and Groupon, all without problem. And I LOVE the referral programs! I’ve made some of the deals even better by buying them on credit.
Thus far, the ONLY glitch I’ve run into was that I purchased a chinese buffet place voucher from WagJag, went to use it a month later, and learned they’d been evicted the day before! I was expecting a confrontation with WagJag, but they sent a lovely reply to my email apologizing for the inconvenience and refunded my money within 24 hours. No problem at all.
And yes, I mostly limit myself to things I’d probably buy anyways (oil change, hair cut, favorite restaurants vouchers) so the savings there are great! I’ve also bought a few vouchers to restaurants I’ve never tried before (assuming the online reviews were good), which is a great way to try out new places without a big financial commitment.
Basically, I just keep a list on my computer of all the vouchers I’ve purchase (& from which site) so that I don’t lose track of them.
I too have used several different coupons and had great success. Only one time did I have a problem with redemption. I had bought a coupon from Steal the Deal for a restaurant. There was no expiry on the coupon so I though I was good for awhile. Not so – apparently the expiry is on the fine print on the website – not the coupon – so I was out of luck when I went to use it. I don’t know why they wouldn’t put in on the coupon – but my mistake for not being sure.
When something seems to good to be true, if almost always IS too good to be true.
The discounts often look good on these deal sites, but if you look carefully at the listed retail price, it’s often way more than you would normally pay for the product or service. As more of these deal sites pop up, the pressure will be on for companies to compete for business, so they will have to raise their “retail” prices to offer “deal” prices, which will end up being similar to what we would pay without these deals.
I also find myself purchasing stuff I don’t really need, thinking surely I’ll use this down the road, but then end up having to go out of my way to use the coupon before it expires. I’m trying to wean myself from the Groupon frenzy.
I’ve only used Dealfind so far and the voucher was for a massage and manicure & pedicure at Vaccarro Spa, I called the spa numerous times and never got through, so I left voicemails, emailed them, and still could not get in touch with anyone to book an appointment. I told Dealfind about it, and they offered a full refund. Luckily I told them about it within 30 days of my purchase and didn’t wait a couple months to try and book my appointment to redeem my coupon or I would’ve received no money back. 398 other people also purchased this deal, so I wonder how many people actually did receive the services they were supposed to get from Vaccaro Spa or how many people requested refunds. Since my first experience was bad it has turned me off of trying to buy another one.
I have bought and used many of the deals from Groupon, WagJag, Dealicious.ca, buytopia.ca, LivingSocial, and I have had NO problems.
Each morning the first I do is check my inbox to see what the Deal of the day is and if it doesn’t interested me, I simply delete it.
These sites and deals are just like any other kind of shopping, if you’re not gonna use it, don’t buy it!
I’ve tried groupon a few times (body shop, gap, something else I think). I had no problem with them so far. I think they (groupon) is my favorite out of all the sites I’ve tried. The deals they offer are usually pretty good. for example, Body shop, Gap. big retailers.
I’ve also tried wagjag, team buy a few times. No problems there.
I’ve tried captain save when they had the deal for Lick’s. (Ah! Lick’s nature burger… yummy!) After I purchased the coupon from captainsave, I read a review from this site (probably another reader from this site) writing that captainsave was shaky or something. At this point, I was really nevous. After all, I had already paid!!
Thankfully, the redemption went smoothly!!
I’ve really have to be more careful about the deals since I think I am spending more money on things that wouldn’t normally spend on!
Anyways, in the meantime, I am have fun searching for deals!! 🙂
Groupon is the best. it has an iphone app as welll so your purchased coupons are always with you ready to be redeemed 🙂
livingsocial, groupon, swarmjam, goodnews
Livingsocial will eMail you, reminding you to use your deal – I like that!
Mostly have used these deals for restaurants, pubs, magazine subscritions, oil changes.
I have a friend that bought a couple of groupons when she went to Honolulu, and she had no problems at all, so look for these when you go vactioning!
WARNING about the “app” that has your coupon on the phone.
I was at a restaurant who used Groupon and they would not accept just showing your phone with the voucher. They wanted the hard-copy voucher…and from what I overheard (it wasn’t us) the fine print says as much…something along the lines of verifying with each vendor to ensure they accept an e-voucher vs a paper voucher.
I love these sites. I’ve used Groupon, Dealfind, Wagjag, LivingSocial and recently bought from Teambuy and Goodnews (now closed). I’ve had no problems redeeming vouchers from Groupon, Dealfind and LivingSocial so far – haven’t tried the others. These sites are good in the sense that they save you lots of money IF you do intend to use their vendors, but it also makes you spend more because maybe you never thought of buying so much too!
Be careful with the LivingSocial app – I don’t know how but my iPhone somehow bought a deal while pocket dialing maybe and I ended up buying a $600 escape deal. Good thing I caught it in time and canceled it without any hassle.
I have used Groupon and Kijiji Daily Deals.
I have only bought from Merchants that we frequent anyway. Gap, One Tooth Yoga, Running Room, Wok Box, and Chapters.
I avoid all the salons and personal training offers since I never know any of the featured businesses. I have used all but one of my coupons so far and they have all been great!
I’ve used Groupon, Living Social, and How She Goin’ (local to the Maritimes). I subscribe to cities in the US that I visit, and Groupon only comes as close as Halifax, so a lot of the deals end up being irrelevant. I usually scour them for online deals and have successfully used them from Bath & Body Works and Amazon.com. I do agree that there are too many now and it’s hard to keep up. The aggregate websites sound like a good idea. It probably does cause me to purchase more than normal though. I can’t stand the thought of missing a deal when I know I will make a purchase in the near future.
I think there are way too many – but I have had decent experiences with all the various companies I bought group deals from, at least so far.
I do wish that SC would group the cities by province on the Daily Deals page though!
My head is exploding just reading all these new websites, apps, and all those other sites that combine these deals. ACK! 😉
I have purchased and redeemed a lot from the different websites deals and haven’t had any problem at all. Just last weekend, my husband and I spent 2 nights at Niagara Falls, Super 8 Motel, standard room with continental breakfast for $49. I was prepared for the worse at that price but I was surprised that it was really not bad. A lot of deals I’ve bought I wouldn’t have tried if they were regularly priced!
Gnorman, it’s cheap advertising for businesses, they are taking a “cut” in return for an excellent innovative way of advertising.
I subscribe to quite a few, but a lot of the deals are not in my neighborhood thus are kind of useless. I find Living Social the best fit for my family. I bought 5 vouches to 3 places and used 4 successfully so far! One restaurant did put crazy rules on, you had to phone in, give you voucher number, name, make reservation… But no problems with redeeming coupons.
I’ve bought several Groupons and only ever had trouble with two. It was for a site where you could order chocolate online and then have it shipped to you. I didn’t check the shipping fees before buying the Groupon, and they turned out to be higher than the $20 the Groupon was actually worth. Needless to say, I didn’t end up buying any chocolate! I didn’t bother contacting Groupon about it since I only spent $10 on the voucher.
The other one that I had trouble with was for a local sushi restaurant. I forgot to read the fine print, which said the Groupon was only valid Mon-Thurs, and went on a Friday night so ended up having to pay full price. Oops!
The moral of the story is: always read the fine print carefully and check shipping prices if it’s for something online before buying!
I love Groupon and WagJag!
Every deal I’ve bought was from referral credit. So far for free I have gotten these deals…
2 Teeth whitening kits
1 Pizza
2 Spa 1 hour massages (for Vegas)
2 Spa Pedicures (for Vegas)
1 Haircuts for the hubby and kids
1 Spa cut/colour
1 Spa $70 credit
1 Dinner out
1 Wine making kit
1 High Tea
1 Laser hair removal (6 visits)
2 $30-$40 food & drink credit (for Vegas)
1 Library card
1 Barnes & Noble credit
This is what I can remember.
I made one purchase from Groupon in which I got a refund months later because the service offered didn’t work for me. I had no problem with the refund.
I use WagJag all the time and absolutely love it there service is awesome deals are amazing and noe that there is a phone # for customer service it is super fast to have a concern dealt with I LOVE wagjag.
Seems I’m late to the party..
Either way, thanks for the mention Stephanie and thanks to the numerous posters who showed us love!
This post is getting some serious attention Stephanie, seems this site is indeed full of Smart Canucks. 😉
Also, we will be live in Vancouver and Montreal very shortly, so be ready for some serious freebies when we launch. It’s what we do!
Only stick with reputable group buying deal sites (Groupon, Dealfind, Living Social, Koopon ,etc.) as I heard there are some fishier ones out there that have been deemed potential personal info collecting scams such as Deal 55 where they require 10,000 buys before the deal for the gift cards tip. I’ve only purchased fitness-related and hair salon/spa deal of the days so far!
I’ve only had good experiences with them. Groupon is excellent. I bought a few groupons for my vacation down south. I did get an email from Groupon after I used my voucher for down south that the business went under. Groupon offered to refund me the money if I hadn’t used it. Just hate that if you are away on vacation and you don’t want to check your email that you will come home to tons. Like the directory websites that list the deals from all the sites daily much better.
people addiction to cheap stuff is killing the way of doing business. Look what has happened to everything buy in our life, like cars, tvs, computers, clothes. We wanted cheap, so they made it cheap so it doesn’t last as long or we buy it and never use any of it.
Same will happen in the service industry we are degrading the quality of service and ourselves at the same time.
People jumping after these groupon or other deals are like people in 3rd world countries lining up for aid supply. Sorry if I offended anyone but thats what it is.
Could someone tell me if they received WINNER’s gift card from Deal55?
Currently they have SDM gift card worth $100 for $45. Since the gift card comes in mail (as in post) I am bit skeptical about buying it.
Already 5994 deals were bought for SDM….
Any advice?
I love WagJag. have purchased several deals without any problems.
I subscribe to them all but have only made purchases with Wagjag, Groupon and Fabfind. No complaints. I made on error with Wagjag where they didn’t honor my Facebook discount but they were quick to reply and corrected my billing.
I have used Wagjag several times and I have had absolutely NO problems. I got some amazing deals.
I purchased a manicure/pedicure deal from livingsocial.com; 5 tickets to see the nutcracker 1/2 off on pricedodger.com and a restaurant voucher, it was 30 dollars worth of food for 15 dollars, and it worked out great.
You get the voucher in your e-mail automatically after purchase. Book the appointment and show the voucher when you walk in or buy whatever you need. All the online purchasing is handled by the deal website.
To avoid getting tons of e-mails I subscribed myself to Onespout.com which sends me 1 e-mail of all the current deals for the day for at least 10 or more websites.
I just read through all the other comments and discovered even MORE options for group buying. Thanks for this post!
Deal55 IS a scam! lots of proof: http://trueler.com/2011/03/10/deal55-com-legit-scam-beware-phishing/
Wagjag and Groupon I’ve used before with no problem at all 🙂 Both I found to be great.
Jaz – not offended but curious why you are on this website – which is all about locating deals if you think it is a bad idea to seek out cheap stuff…???
I have used WagJag and GroupOn. With Wagjag I went to redeem a voucher and was refused saying it didnt start for 3 more days. I went home re-read the instructions with no indication of the delay.
I contacted WagJag and was refunded my money – no question!
try going onto: onespout.com or dealradar.com
they have most of the “deals” on one site rather than 50 kajillion
Enjoy! =)
I purchased vouchers for a local bakery from one of these deal sites (can’t remember which) and it went out of business within a couple months! I’ve since noticed more deals for local restaurants that are going out of business or already closed down. Make sure you buy from the reputable deal sites!
Wagjag & TeamBuy are homegrown sites started and based right here in Canada for what it’s worth!
Well that was a good read.
OK – I’m late to the party on this one, but I have to say that I love them (kinda)….I first check SmartCanucks (duh!!) and then onespout dot com for a comprehensive listing of the offers in my area. I’ve bought and used vouchers from spas, bakeries, restaurants. I usually check Yelp to check out the business before hand and most coupons pages have a q/a that I check out before hand just to make sure that I know what I’m getting into…..but it’s a double-edged sword…..often they offer items that, under normal circumstances, you’d never spend your money on…..buyer beware, be smart with your money, and have fun!!
You can add another to the list… http://www.madeofdeals.com
I don’t think there’s a problem with so many of them out there – imagine a coupon book like the Entertainment Coupon book – it’s just a wide selection of coupons. You can choose whatever deals you want to buy, so I don’t think it’s really that bad that there are so many Toronto Daily Deal Sites
Another for your list is EarlyBirdDeals.ca they have had some great deals. I haven’t had any problems with them so I’ve never had to contact them for any reason. You can print the voucher right away this way you don’t forget what you have purchased. So hard to keep track sometimes. I think these sites are great, I hate paying full price.
I’ve used buytopia, dealfind, groupon, wagjag, teambuy, dealticker and many others, all seem legit. I always have trouble keeping track with all the deal alerts I get via emails, until I found http://www.dealsnapshot.com which has all the deals in one location, now I only need to check 1 thing every morning =)