CHICAGO — Elizabeth Klodd of Uptown found a deal she liked this summer on Living Social: $80 for four tickets to a walking tour of Chicago.
She tried to book a time through the tour company, BestTours.com, but couldn't find any available dates. When she finally booked a date, the tour was canceled without explanation.
Klodd is one of dozens of people who've publicly aired grievances about Best Tours, which calls itself the "world's best tour company" despite less than stellar online reviews. Complaints of repeated tour cancelations and unreachable customer service were common.
And now Living Social, a daily deal site that has promoted the company on its Chicago website, is offering refunds.
"I would suggest whomever is in charge of ordering the food, they give more than one chicken nugget!" one reviewer wrote about a Best Tours "Chicago Riverwalk Food Tour."
"If I could give zero stars, I would," wrote another.
"Best Tours? More like no tours!" another unsatisfied customer said.
And that's just on Yelp.
Klodd, who never went on that walking tour, received "deal bucks" credit from Living Social after reaching out to the daily deal site.
"But I hope they take the ad down soon so other people don't get stuck with this!" she said via e-mail.
The ordeal shows the perils of online shopping, especially when using daily deal sites that partner with hordes of companies that might never be vetted.
New York-based Best Tours, a subsidiary of London-based Void Travel Co., has an "F" rating from the Better Business Bureau, and has been the subject of 19 official complaints since August 2015.
Living Social "should be checking to see what kind of rating this company has," said Katherine Hutt, a Better Business Bureau spokeswoman. "Since they are marketing that company's services, they need to be concerned about these complaints as well."
Living Social absolves itself from any liability associated with its partners, saying on its website that customers "agree that [they] are solely responsible for interactions with third-party merchants," including "any action or inaction."
But Nick Halliwell, a spokesman for the company, said in a statement Thursday that "anyone who isn't able to successfully redeem their voucher" with Best Tours can exchange it for a credit or full refund. Living Social was acquired by onetime rival Groupon earlier this year.
"We always want our customers to have an amazing experience every time they purchase something through us or we’ll work with them to make it right," Halliwell said in an e-mail.
He didn't say whether Living Social would re-evaluate its relationship with Best Tours. Living Social customers can call 202-400-2100 to ask for a refund.
Best Tours representatives didn't return messages seeking comment.
Chicago-based Groupon moved to buy Living Social in October after years of lagging growth and slipping share prices. Groupon hired a new chief executive last year, and its share price — $3.89 as of Thursday — is up nearly 30 percent from this time last year despite the company posting a net loss in the third quarter of 2016.
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