The Cleverbuy / Clevertravel Issue

By K31
Philippines
June 10, 2012 9:22pm CST
I'm sure most Filipinos have heard of this already. Those who are fond of checking and purchasing online deals probably knows of this company and possibly have heard of this issue. Unfortunately, I'm one of the hundreds of people who purchased a travel deal and can't even get hold of the said company :( My friend and I went there on May 28th to have our Bohol voucher booked. It was moved to August in which my friend and I agreed on. We were able to give our preferred schedules and the staff told us that they will call us once the bookings are confirmed. They even gave us their contact number so imagine our surprise when TV Patrol aired the "scam investigation" news 2 or 3 days after. We then tried calling the company. No answer. Then just last Friday, I learned that my office mate purchased a 30K worth of Palawan travel voucher from them. I was able to purchase several SPA vouchers from the said site and I was able to use them so I'm kind of confident that this site is not a "scam" site. A friend of mine was also able to go to Boracay by purchasing a travel voucher from them. I sent a cancellation request to Metrobank (credit card that I used to purchase the deal) and I hope I can get a refund back and cancel the purchase :( Any Filipino myLotters here experienced the same thing?
2 people like this
6 responses
allen0187
@allen0187 (58582)
• Philippines
14 Jun 12
hi keihimekawa. i got a chance to watch the tail end of that news about online shopping/travel sites turning into a scam. didn't really realize it was cleverbuy/clevertravel. i actually started a discussion about online shopping sites here in mylot (link posted here, http://www.mylot.com/w/discussions/2657147.aspx). i consider myself a newbie in this area. anyway, i haven't bought anything from cleverbuy/cleverdeal. no wonder their site isn't accessible these days. it always prompt to a 'site under maintenance' page. i think this is an isolated case. my first coupon purchase was a good one. good a nice deal on kinder zoo passes. i have two more, one for a set of snore plugs for my folks. lol! the other one is for a set of shirts. still waiting for the snore plugs to be delivered and still waiting for the deal on the shirts be completed. kinda sad and bummed to hear something like this. hopefully, this pans out well since the savings made on these deals are really good for value hunters such as myself. oh by the way, great blog you got there. nice topics, good variety. kinda pressed for time but managed to get through the until your posts on mylot. cheers and happy mylotting!!!
1 person likes this
K31
@keihimekawa (2009)
• Philippines
22 Jun 12
I'm a frequent buyer of these online sites and I actually bought several items from Cleverbuy and unfortunately, this purchase went nowhere :( I think I got my Zoobic voucher from the said site and I was able to use it. Good thing that I was able to file a dispute for this transaction to the bank and they're currently processing it. Thanks a lot for the compliment :D As much as possible I try to update my blog with items that I find interesting :) Please do feel free to browse and add my blog (if you want to). I would appreciate it if I accept comments. Lolz!
laniekins
@laniekins (4579)
• Philippines
13 Jun 12
It also applies to a deal, I bought a deal for a warts removal, I found it out when I call the clinic to arrange an appointment, the reception told me that they temporarily cancelled any transaction from Cleverbuy cause they are not yet paying. A few months ago, Cleverbuy held a party here in the Philippines to promote the site and there are foreign representative so I thought the site is in good hands. Oh my, so is it really a scam?
laniekins
@laniekins (4579)
• Philippines
22 Jun 12
I think Cleverbuy needs to iron out their issues before they sue others. They make a big mess on their clients, I hate it that I can't use my voucher to treat my warts.
K31
@keihimekawa (2009)
• Philippines
22 Jun 12
Clevertravel is an international online shopping site. Their CEO is from Germany and I think this one in Philippines is like a "branch" of their business. I think Groupon also works the same way. But then, when they interviewed their CEO, he said that he doesn't even know what happened to Clevertravel/Cleverbuy PH. It came to the point that the head of Cleverbuy PH will sue the CEO because of this issue. I read it here: http://www.unsugarcoatedreviews.com/2012/06/latest-updates-about-cleverbuy.html Not a referral site.
K31
@keihimekawa (2009)
• Philippines
11 Oct 12
I apologize for the very delayed response but I can totally lament with you on this. They're facing their own cases and they are planning to sue others? That's a tad problematic. Lol! But then, on my part, at least my credit card company was able to fix the payment issue since I proved and provided them enough evidences that I should get my deal cancelled and my payment refunded :D
chiyochan
@chiyosan (30183)
• Philippines
11 Jun 12
It is the first time i have heard about the Cleverbuy. I have tried and bought online deals actually but from a different site that we know and have transacted in the past already. i am not familiar with this site... I wish you would be able to get your purchases back or cancelled soon. Its really sad though if you won't be able to do so... next time please do take extra care before doing this now.. ever since we heard the news of some sites being a scam about a month ago, we have stopped purchasing from online sites that gives promo...
K31
@keihimekawa (2009)
• Philippines
22 Jun 12
What you said is just true. People should be vigilant and careful before purchasing anything from an online site/market. Sad thing is, I was able to purchase around 2-3 deals on the said site and I haven't encountered any issues with them that's why I got too complacent and confident that our trip won't have any problems in it. Actually I already filed a complaint and dispute against my transaction to the bank where my credit card is from. I really am glad that they actually processed my dispute report and they're investigating the matter. I provided them links and proofs to check so hopefully the investigation will be quick but as per their anti-fraud team, they will credit my card for the purchased amount.
rsa101
@rsa101 (38166)
• Philippines
11 Jun 12
It put a bad mark on the industry of online buying sites. This is pretty new industry in our country and is marred by these one. I am also reading that ensogo has some issues with the buyers as well and I am reading some blogs reporting this as well. I think we should slow down on this one and better check with the resorts or the traders before buying if the promo really exist.
K31
@keihimekawa (2009)
• Philippines
22 Jun 12
This is just so true. I'm a frequent purchaser of various online sites. I also bought some vouchers from Ensogo before and I never really had any problems with it. I just hope they would do something about it. From what I've read, they already included Cleverybuy's CEO who's situated in Germany. He said that he doesn't have any idea how that happened.
rane247
@rane247 (78)
• Philippines
11 Jun 12
I haven't tried buying with cleverbuy. Thank God! And haven't tried buying travel deals with other group buying sites as well because I heard that some encountered awful experiences with it. But with regards to restaurants and other recreational activities thankfully I successfully used them. I think that with regards to travel deals, we make sure that aside from the company is legit we also tried contacting the travel agent they collaborate with because sometimes its not the group buying sites have faulty but the travel agents itself. Since they collaborate with a bad travel agent then they're business will also be affected.
K31
@keihimekawa (2009)
• Philippines
22 Jun 12
I usually purchase SPA and restaurant vouchers from these sites too :D My friend was able to purchase 2-3 vouchers of different trips from Clevertravel before and they were able to avail and use their voucher without any issues. Unfortunately, the last one they bought also got into this problem. I think it was 30 thousand pesos worth of trip. It just sucks that they chose a bad travel agency for their travel offers.
chuyins123
@chuyins123 (2112)
• Philippines
11 Jun 12
This news really posed a negative impact on online buying sites. Not just on cleverbuy. It's a legit business, they're all papered. They have all the documents to show they're legit, only thing is, there was a mismanagement. I am just fortunate that I bought my vouchers for Boracay this June 23 with Metrodeal and not on cleverbuy. They have the same offer as to the features of the package but I preferred metrodeal as it offered a lesser price. Sorry for those who were scammed by this site. too bad.
K31
@keihimekawa (2009)
• Philippines
11 Jun 12
I'm a frequent purchaser at Metrobuy and yeah. Their offers are cheaper. Yeah... I just hope I can at least get a refund back. Since I got some positive response on Cleverbuy (from friends) I thought our trip to Bohol was a steal. It was a steal all right... Our money's gone. Lolz!