Signed up for a trial of Saveology's dining program because it was required to complete a survey. Frankly, I can get THE SAME or BETTER deals through various websites & it wouldn't cost me $60 a year to access those "savings" (especially when it comes to attractions like Six Flags & movie tickets). So, I e-mailed customer service using their online form & explained that I was trying to cancel my membership before my trial was over but was unable to figure out how to do so - I couldn't find any mention of "cancellation" ANYWHERE on the website. Immediately after sending my letter to Cust. Service I received an auto response e-mail that EVERY company sends now-a-days. I glanced at the e-mail, saw the usual "please allow blah-blah time to receive a response..." & deleted it. I went back to my life, expecting a response within 2-3 days, & honestly, didn't really think about it...until I saw a charge for $59.99 come up on my debit card on 7/9.
I called the number listed on my bank statement & spoke to someone AWFUL - I forgot her name. I explained that I tried to cancel my membership before the 7-day trial was up but was unable to figure out how so I e-mailed Customer Service. She said they got the e-mail & they responded to me & I said all I received was an auto-response. She claims that in the 2nd paragraph of the auto-response it says that in order to cancel I needed to call Saveology directly & that since I didn't call within the 7 days she couldn't refund me. I told her that I never saw that part of the e-mail because if I had I OBVIOUSLY would have called to cancel instead of waiting for an e-mail response that I was apparently never going to get. I asked if there was a manager I could speak to about this & she said, "Yes, but he will tell you the same thing I just told you." I told her I'd like to speak with him anyway seeing as if anyone would have the authority to give me a refund it would be him & if a refund really, truly wasn't possible I'd like to hear it directly from management. She then asked "Why do you want to cancel?" & proceeded to give me a rundown of "all the great benefits". I held firm & said that I don't want it & again asked if I could speak to her supervisor. AGAIN, she told me that he will tell me the same thing, "no refund", but then said "...but, what I can do is cancel your membership." I asked if canceling my membership would also give me a refund & she said no. HUH?!?!? I said, "Why would I cancel my membership if I'm still getting charged for it? Why would I allow you to charge me for something that I won't ever be able to use, even if I wanted (which I don't)? Does that make sense to you? Would you want that to happen to you?" She said "No, it doesn't make sense." - (ya, no kidding stupid) - "let me talk with my supervisor". HALLELUJAH, finally MANAGEMENT!
25 min. on hold later (no lie, I have a timer on my phone)...
The SAME CSR comes back on the line, NOT a supervisor. CSR claims supervisor said no refund, she wouldn't put supervisor on the phone, & then I got angry; like, HULK angry! I told her that what was happening was bad business/cust. serv. & to tell her supervisor that I was "going to file a complaint w/ the BBB & THEN see if he wants to give me a refund". Sure enough, after another 10 min. wait on hold she comes back on the line & says a refund will be granted, she's gonna cancel my membership, & her supervisor was gonna process the refund. She said I'd get an e-mail confirmation shortly & she gave me a case #.
5 days later...
No e-mail confirmation was received & no refund was processed so I called again. I gave Nicolette (a diff CSR) my case #, asked why my refund hadn't been processed & told her that I never received the confirmation e-mail. Nicolette informed me that my case notes stated "The request for a refund has been escalated to a supervisor but that doesn't mean a refund was guaranteed". I told her of my previous experience w/ cust. serv & then she put me on hold (here we go again, ugh). She comes back on the line, tells me the refund is going to be processed right now & that I should be receiving a confirmation e-mail momentarily. She's giving me a new case number when I stopped her & said, "You're paid by the hour right? ("Yes.") Good, because you're gonna stay on the phone with me until I get that confirmation e-mail." She wasn't happy about that saying, "But I don't know how long that will take." Ya, well, neither do I & now we're in this together...deal with it. I got the e-mail within 1 minute, jotted down my new case # & then she even gave me a refund confirmation #. So, yes I'm finally getting my refund but OMG, the SAT's weren't even this difficult! Avoid this company AT ALL COSTS! Poor customer service, bad business practices, & I'm convinced their supervisors don't really exist...if they did then either they're frightened of speaking with customers, lazy, or just don't care.
As Taylor Swift says, "Never, ever, ever...like...ever" again! read more