I received a call on Friday from a nice gal from Buytopia. While we chatted, she informed me that it was not a scam (I asked point blank) that Marlone and the Butcher’s had been members of the Yonge & Lawrence community for years and that in no way had they intended this to blow up the way it has. Which when you think about it makes sense. Even if he needed the money to open the fish store, why would he have jeopardized his reputation?
She said they had run a successful coupon with the Butcher’s earlier in the year and it went off with a hitch. She also noted that the Butcher’s ran multiple offers at one time on various sites, which upon hindsight, was not a good idea. While that was a mistake – shit happens.
Someone however, actually punched one of the staff members in a fit of “meat-rage”. Seriously someone hit a staff member because they couldn’t use their voucher to buy meat. Probably the sort of person who should eat more vegetables, and cut down on the steroids intake.
The gal from Buytopia also said they were happy to return my money given the difficulties that I and many other have experienced and that she hoped I would give the Butcher’s another chance since this just a case of marketing gone awry.
This morning I received an email from Dev at Buytopia that my refund had been issued and to look for it in a few days on my credit card. All in all I suppose I cannot complain too loudly. The Butcher’s wasted my time and effort, but it was a mistake and mistakes happen. Buytopia has treated me fairly and refunded my money when I asked so…I guess my take away is… Shit, I don’t really have one. I did everything right. I checked the businesses out, followed the instructions and still got a little burnt.
Oh well, c’est la vie.
Good to know you’ve received a refund from Buytopia. I’ve asked for one as well. I guess they’ve been backlogged with complaints and it’s taking them time to sort this out.
Through research they have also inflated the prices and changed suppliers and are not providing Organic meat.
What research? Can you share?
Thanks for your thoughts.
I spoke with Dev this afternoon (after sending an ignored email last week, calling a few days ago and being told to wait for their call this afternoon – when I called THEM this afternoon, they said they had no record of my earlier call or their instructions to me to wait for their call today).
Dev refused to give me a refund, despite my numerous unsuccessful attempts to redeem my coupon and my concern that it will never be redeemed. After reciting various rebuttals to pretty much every issue that has been raised on the forums – most of which I didn’t mention – he enetertained the idea of being the middleman to get my order. I suspect that won’t work and it will just lead to more frustration.
So, how did you manage to get your refund? Do I need to start a blog about Buytopia? 😉
Yes in short. I haven’t actually gotten the refund yet just an email stating it had been processed. I am still waiting for it to show up on my credit card.
Any time I am negotiating for a refund, I try to make it as easy as possible for the person on the other end of the line. I have all the details ready in case they need them. Most often they are not responsible for the mess nor in a position to move heaven and earth for me so I try to make sure my request is reasonable. By being polite but firm, and having a solid argument I tend to get my way.
The other thing is make sure they understand you will not let this go. I blog about it, I tweet about it, and I will tell others about it good or bad. I will also contact the BBB and I will sue. I have been to small claims court before and no one gets to steal from me. ever.
I will never do business with Buytopia. Until they provide a full refund they are just as guilty as the Butchers. Who knows they may be in on this scam as well. Webpiggy has done a refund though.
I will keep pursuing these people until I get a full refund, they have violated all of the terms on the voucher. It is disgusting.
So, it’s been two weeks since I received the email stating I have been given a refund and still nothing. I send them one last email and after that I am filing with the BBB.
I just received this.
(Please do not respond to this email; this account is not monitored)
Dear Dave,
A refund has been processed to your credit card in the amount of $99 for the Butchers deal you purchased. Please allow up to 10 business days for this credit to show on your card statement.
Cheers,
Buytopia Refunds
(For all support related inquiries, please email support@buytopia.ca)
Everyone check the butcher shop site…They are closing for renovations. They are going bust no doubt. What a scam
Glad to hear about your Buytopia refund. Let us know if it makes it to your credit card. They could have and should have handled this way better. The guy on the phone said that if they don’t pay the invoice buytopia is taking legal action
These guys don’t deserve to be in business.
Everyone check the butcher shop site…They are closing for renovations. They are going bust no doubt.
Glad to hear about your Buytopia refund. Let us know if it makes it to your credit card. They could have and should have handled this way better. The guy on the phone said that if they don’t pay the invoice buytopia is taking legal action
These guys don’t deserve to be in business.
Yay my refund actually came through. Awesome!
Buytopia isn’t refunding most people’s The Butchers vouchers. Like 99.9% of them aren’t being refunded. I refuse to ever buy a voucher from them based on this and will also stop shopping at Webpiggy for the same reason (they also have recently stopped refunding people’s vouchers for The Butchers although they were for a while).
I bought one of these and like many people made several attempts to order meat (online, I wouldn’t set foot in the store), to call to follow up and didn’t hear back. I contacted Webpiggy and they offered a refund or to deliver the meat, fool that I was I gave them one last chance. One month later, still no meat, and I’m still calling and emailing to follow up. Webpiggy is no longer offering refunds so I’ve filed a complaint with the BBB. I was advised to call “a supervisor” at Webpiggy to discuss the matter further but I don’t think they’ll offer me anything but a credit. As if I want anything to do with Webpiggy??!! It’s safe to say I will never ever buy one of these coupons again. Disaster!
We should get together and file a class action suit against Buytopia and The Butcher Shop. I certainly don’t have time to screw around with this as I’m sure most everyone who is in the same boat feels.
I had a bad feeling about this right from the start. I thought Buytopia was a respected ‘business’. Guess not!
C.M.
@C. Matthews – was thinking the same thing. I purchased my voucher from WebPiggy, which disclaims liability in its terms for such claims. I would expect similar language in Buytopia’s terms, but could probably join up the sites’ voucher holders against the Butchers / Marlon’s meats. Frankly I’d be seeking not only a refund but also the promotional value
For a couple of moments, I actually allowed myself to believe my order would finally get filled. I go an e-mail about 3 weeks ago saying it would be available for pick-up December 17…that was stupid of me.
I received an e-mail today stating that they were “unable to fill customer’s orders” and that they would be “looking into refunding vouchers” in 2012. It was addressed to “Dear customers” so I assume they’re re-negging on everyone’s deals…
Buytopia also refused to give a refund even though they assured me months ago that they would provide a refund if the deal fell through.
I’d say a class action sounds like a great idea.
Well, It seems the saga continues. After receiving assurances from webpiggy in October that my order was being processed and would be delivered in 4-6 weeks I only find out today (after emailing webpiggy for an update) that all orders are cancelled and only redeeming the face value of the certificate or ( refund) is permitted. We’ll see how that goes
hmmm…. Sounds like someone is re creating the playbook on how to cheat on your exams.
I am sorry to hear how many people got screwed by all this. I went by the butchers and noticed the revamped store (remember they were closing in the midst of all the hubub) On their website they claim you have until Labor Day 2012 http://www.marlonsmeat.com/faqs to redeem. I did notice the fish store is still not in place. I would love to find out the final numbers because the waters seem very muddy as to what the truth is and what Marlon actually intended.
Well, I guess I have also been scamed. I was told that I could send in my order (which I did via email to buytopia and it woudl be delivered. Boy was I stupid. Nothing has come and Buytopia doesn’t even bother to respond to emails any more. They must have an email address that goes to their junk pile. Well if you want a class action suit against the Butcher I am all for it. Count me in. I want my $100 back.
I went to Marlons Meats yesterday and they told me that they are no longer honouring the vouchers and that I should contact Buytopia for a refund. I called Buytopia today and they said they can’t give refunds because they paid the Butcher Shop up front and don’t have the money. They are seeking legal action against the shop and I should call back in a week. I feel that if the meat store is required to pay Buytopia back, they will simply claim bankruptcy. Buytopia should accept responsibility for bad business decisions and refund its customers who got scammed.
The latest news, as of Friday Jan. 27, is that you can’t even get the face value of your coupon. After a couple of weeks of getting $30 worth of meat at a time (so paying customers could keep up his cash flow!) Marlon told me they’re litigating against the coupon companies and no longer honouring any coupons at all. I’m in the neighbourhood and could become a permanent customer since the product itself is good…but there are other organic Butchers whose honesty and business sense I can respect and those are the ones I’ll buy from.
This whole thing is a scam. Marlon has made millions on this. All the coupon companies have made millions. Remember it does not cost the coupons companies anything. Bottom line. Avoid Marlons. Avoid all these coupons companies. they are scum
Three words: Class Action Lawsuit.
Get on it then. Time is running out. If people are seriously pissed then start contacting each other, get together and begin the lawsuit.
I called Marlon’s last week and they said to get a refund from the company I got my voucher from. I emailed Buytopia and have heard nothing from them. TeamSave gave me a credit right away.
I have been fighting with Buytopia since December with regards to this issue. They refuse to refund my money! (And im not the crazy type to yell, swear or hit ppl lol) I agree with the Admin, in that we need to get together… I refuse to loose $200! I don’t really know how to connect, but i can be found on twitter – @CandiceFaust can anyone having this issue plz msg me so we can literally, storm the Bastille!
I can’t seem to find a phone number for Buytopia on their website. Can you share the number. I have written them numerous emails at “meat@buytopia.com” responding to an email they sent me in October, promising I would have my meat very soon. They have not responded to the dozens of resends of my reply.
If you are all still interested in a lawsuit. I’M IN!!!! I don’t have twitter, but feel free to email me.
summermacdonald@rogers.com
THIS IS RIDICULOUS and something needs to be done.
I bought four of these vouchers and all I got was two chickens a pork tenderloin. These guys are criminals. A law suit, I’m in too!
garibayed@yahoo.com