Does the above name or logo appear familiar in your email or some pop-up site? The famous tag-line for them is you pay SGD$1.00 to enjoy benefits such as cinema tickets, cab rides etc worth SGD$35.00.
Not one to shop online (not because I am too atas or what, but because I really am a technology-idiot and paranoid-freak when it comes to all things online, especially when it involves sensitive personal information) - I had given each new site a try to see if they are real or scams. Some companies like StreetDeals have a very tiny check-box upon payment transaction that allows you to "accidentally" opt into the membership subscription. At least this one allows you to request for a refund (according to sources).
For Save the Deals, when you sign up and make your SGD$1.00 payment, you need to understand that you also need to subscribe to a SGD$34.90 monthly membership before they would refund you anything at all.
So, every month you pay SGD35.18 in total for membership, plus whatever amount you need to pay to enjoy your discounts or cab rides etc. How you get a refund is if you scan a copy of your receipt to receipts@savethedeal.sg within thirty (30) days' of purchase.
So I paid, and happily scanned my receipt over to them, hoping to beat the system and get back a refund via my Paypal account before they deducted another month's of membership. No such luck - I emailed them thrice at the above email address, filled up online forms at their website and called their customer service hotline.
Till now, I have yet to receive a single email reply - not even one to inform me that they have received my receipt and are currently processing my refund, thanking me for the support etc. What a good first impression! As for their hotline - half the time no one picks up, and when someone does, they give misinformation ,such as how the refund would be made within 7 days (website states 30 days).
Then light dawned on me and I was able to grasp their rather clever method.
In order to be able to view any deals or promotions at all, you MUST be a member to access their VIP Members area. Meaning to say, regardless of whether you like what you see or not, you have to pay SGD$35.00 in order to know what deals they have ongoing currently.
If you purchase a deal, you scan the receipt over within 30 days and it takes another 30 days for them to process your payout (if they do at all), by then which another month's subscription fees of SGD$35.18 would've been debited from your bank account. Membership is auto-renewed unless you write in to cancel.
Meaning to say, you've effectively paid SGD70.00 to enjoy a half-price refund.
The process repeats on every month, and you need to stay a VIP member in order to receive the refund - meaning, even after you scanned the receipt and paypal address, as long as you terminate your membership they will NOT pay you a single cent back.
Read their Terms and Conditions and FAQs herein:
https://www.savethedeals.com/pp/privacy-policy/savethedeals.com/
https://www.savethedeals.sg/fq/frequently-asked-questions/
The best thing is, either they are still new, or they don't bother to secure better deals - the weekly promotions are limited and not attractive at all. Remember that you paid SDG$35.00 to view this though, so some people would rather make a purchase to utilize their VIP membership rights fully.
So it rolls on - the monthly membership fees, the purchase, the waiting for refund period. If you really monitor, you would realize that you're essentially paying everything by yourself plus one month's extra of SGD35.18. There's no benefits or perks at all.
It's been three (3 ) weeks leaning towards four (4) but I ain't hearing shyt from them. Observations concluded, theory discovered - time to unsubscribe from this Rip-off company that has cleverly made its scheme look legitimate.
Let's see how long they can hold out.
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