Another Dealfind Failure - Pink Lime

[darklord700]

After a recent massive dealfind failure that is Yamato Sushi (http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/15/19191...aurant-Calgary), today I got burnt buy yet another dealfind disaster that is Pink Lime. The deal was $49 for 1 hour of massage plus an hour of manicure and pedicure.

When I called Pink Lime to make a reservation, I was told there's a waiting list for making reservation (WTF)? Pink lime said they received 900 calls for reservations and I'm like the 1000th caller. To make matters worse, Pink Lime only has 1, and I repeat, only 1 massage therapist and they sold about 2000 vouchers.

The vouchers expire in one year and how many massages the 1 therapist has to give to redeem the 2000 vouchers out there in one year? You do the math.

How long can such a small salon survival on making $49X50%=$24.50 minus credit card fee for providing two hour of services? The Pink Lime owners are better off working for MickeyDs?

This Groupon and clone craze is got to end, they are destroying small business left right and centre. They have to be responsible and explain the economics to the owners before signing them up.

I'm asking for refunds from dealfind for these Pink Lime vouchers. Some people might be lucky enough to use them but I don't want to look at the owners face when they realize what kind sour deal dealfind got them into.

[MrMastodonFarm]

lol@user name "darklord" not getting a good price on his mani-pedi.

[burn_this_city]

I'll be glad when this internet coupon fad is over.

[Machiavelli]

I only participate in these types of deals from places that I've used/heard about before.

[REDVAN]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_Darwinism

[ken0042]

I looked at that deal; it's close to my work and $49 is pretty good for a 1 hour massage. (I missed the part about the manicure.)

Then I saw over 1000 sold and realized there was no way they could handle that kind of traffic.

[Hi-Psi]

I've never had a problem with any of the deals I've bought, although I don't usually try to use my deal right away either so maybe that's why?

[Bring_Back_Shantz]

Originally Posted by burn_this_city

I'll be glad when this internet coupon fad is over.

Why? What does it matter to you?
Some businesses are getting great exposure, some people are getting good deals on things. Why does it bother you so much?

[username]

Ya I've pretty much decided that if it's not a popular place, which it almost never is, then I don't touch those internet coupon sites.

You can't expect some mom and pop car wash or massage type business to honour 5000 vouchers. It's just not realistic.

Edit: That's not to say I don't think they should, they just don't have the resources to do so.

[burn_this_city]

Originally Posted by Bring_Back_Shantz

Why? What does it matter to you?
Some businesses are getting great exposure, some people are getting good deals on things. Why does it bother you so much?

Probably has something to do with numerous overselling stories, with people and businesses getting hosed. I don't buy this great exposure thing either. I think the businesses get sold on that, but most of these customers are interested in getting a deal, not becoming frequent customers. They'll just move on to the next great deal, and the business will struggle to break even on giving away goods and services for next to nothing. 2000 massage coupons? Come on. These sites take 50% cut for nothing, in my eyes they're just ripping off naive small businesses.

[bizaro86]

Originally Posted by burn_this_city

Probably has something to do with numerous overselling stories, with people and businesses getting hosed. I don't buy this great exposure thing either. I think the businesses get sold on that, but most of these customers are interested in getting a deal, not becoming frequent customers. They'll just move on to the next great deal, and the business will struggle to break even on giving away goods and services for next to nothing. 2000 massage coupons? Come on. These sites take 50% cut for nothing, in my eyes they're just ripping off naive small businesses.

Especially with these service type businesses. There's a different massage deal on these sites once a month. People don't buy one, then keep going back over and over at regular price. They buy one, then next month they buy the discounted one from the next place, and so on. It's basically commoditizing a business, which means the prices will go steadily lower.

[Huntingwhale]

Do you get happy ending??

[Northendzone]

Originally Posted by Huntingwhale

Do you get happy ending??

based on the math - the ending will not happen until sometime in August 2012

[GoFlamesGo]

I have forwarded this thread to the contacts that I have over at DealFind. Should you have any issues with DealFind or any of the group-buying sites out there, it's best you contact them directly and let them know about the issue otherwise they won't know about it or be able to assist you. The great thing about these group-buying sites is it's pretty easy to get a refund on any unused vouchers if you're not satisfied.

I have brought this issue up to DealFind a couple weeks ago and they are aware of the issue. They have been booming like crazy and are going through some growing pains. They are already one of Canada's most popular websites and have steadily been outselling Groupon in a couple Canadian markets (Calgary being one of them).

DealFind has told me that they are going to better pre-qualify the merchants, will create side deals to prevent deals from getting out of hand and have hired more C/S agents who will work with the sales team to ensure that when a deal is on, more than 1 C/S agent is there to speak to customers and correspond with the merchant themselves to help maintain the volume of business properly.

The Yamato Sushi issue was quickly taken care of when DealFind found out about it. The owners of Yamato was not allowed to set a cap on the amount of vouchers they could accept per day and have removed this silly rule.

Off the top of my head, Pink Lime is one of only 2 companies that have been featured on just about every group-buying site. I roll my eyes whenever I see Pink Lime. I just checked my blog and Pink Lime has been featured on DealFind twice, LivingSocial, TeamBuy, DealTicker and Dealathons.

[DownhillGoat]

Originally Posted by darklord700

The vouchers expire in one year and how many massages the 1 therapist has to give to redeem the 2000 vouchers out there in one year? You do the math.

Ok.

[(2000 vouchers)(1 massage/voucher)] / [(5 massages/day)(5 days/week)(50 weeks/year)]

Little better than a year and a half. Assuming the 1 massage therapist there does no other massages than vouchers, she doesn't work overtime, doesn't take stats off, and they don't hire anybody in the mean time.

[bizaro86]

Originally Posted by kunkstyle

Ok.

[(2000 vouchers)(1 massage/voucher)] / [(5 massages/day)(5 days/week)(50 weeks/year)]

Little better than a year and a half. Assuming the 1 massage therapist there does no other massages than vouchers, she doesn't work overtime, and they don't hire anybody in the mean time.

If they're considering hiring someone just to work on the customers from the vouchers they're selling, they're pooched. $49*0.5 (dealfinds estimated cut) = $24.50/2 hours of services = 12.25/hour

No way they can employ estheticians or massage therapists at 12.25 per hour including payroll deductions (employer portion of EI/CPP). That doesn't leave any money for overhead like utilities, taxes, rent, supplies, or the owner/receptionists time.

My guess would be this business is floundering, and they need the cash injection from the vouchers to stay afloat. It'll be interesting to see what happens if Pink Lime (or any Dealfind merchant) goes out off business more than 30 days after they sell the vouchers. Dealfind will only refund unused vouchers for 30 days (they probably pay the merchant then), so buyers would be SOL. That's especially crappy when there's no way everyone could get an appointment within the 30 days.

[Shazam]

At least with Groupon, the merchant has to pay up front to Groupon. I suspect the others work the same way.

[burn_this_city]

Pretty sure its the other way around, Groupon sells the vouchers and gives the merchant the money up front.

[DownhillGoat]

Originally Posted by bizaro86

$49*0.5 (dealfinds estimated cut)

50%? Holy fata.

[sec304]

that's why I stay clear of any deal that's the *hot seller* of the day, you know you're going to have trouble redeeming