Ouffer

Only 2stars at the moment for me unless someone from OUFFER australia responds to my emails and tweets about the following deal.

http://www.ouffer.com/ouffer/3149/r/uu*******

Both OUFFER and the VENDOR are not responding

I purchased 5 vouchers in July for surfing lessons that I intended to use while my family was visiting Sydney for a few weeks last November. I emailed the vendor multiple times to schedule the lessons but not only were they very slow to respond, I later learned that they were also only available for lessons on Saturdays. I actually spoke to the vendor over the phone not wanting to waste the experience and he advised that he could do a lesson on a Sunday given there were 5 of us doing it but, when emailed again, he told me only Saturdays were preferred!

By the time this back-and-forth communication was over, my family had come and gone and I was stuck with 5 surfing vouchers that I would not have purchased otherwise. When I contacted Ouffer to advise them I wanted a refund, they initially said they do not provide refunds EVER which was absolutely contrary to their terms and conditions. I noticed later that they actually had to CHANGE their terms and conditions/refund policy (most probably to accommodate for their lack of customer care). After emailing again with slightly more insistence, they quoted my email that I had sent the vendor (which really annoyed me) emphasising the fact that I did not mention wanting to book any classes. Unfortunately, the vendor FAILED to mention our phone conversation in which he specifically said that he could organise a Sunday class.

It all left a bad taste in my mouth and left me $100 poorer so I did not want to think of it during the holidays. I am trying to sort things out with the vendor to see if I can still redeem the vouchers even though they have expired 9 days ago.

In the back of my mind, I compare this site with other similar sites who, unlike Ouffer, can provide refunds NO QUESTIONS ASKED. If you are offering a service on a vendor's behalf, be prepared to answer for ANY bad experiences suffered by the customer instead of shrugging of all responsibility once you receive payment. Between non-responsive and inflexible vendors and what is likely to be the WORST customer service policy in the history of community-based websites, I would not go near this website again with metaphoric ten-foot pole.

See comments to social media manager Amanda below...;

Complete Scam possibly located in downtown Lagos...