Discount company Loclly bombarded with complaints

It's pretty normal now to open your email to see a great discount offer on services like haircuts or photography classes.

There are many names in the game but there is a new, local group offering local deals. It's called Loclly, and the I-Team says be careful before you drop your dollars on their deals. It's not much of a deal if you can't get what you paid for.

Loclly may seem like a catchy name, but the reviews are that if you trying to get that discounted massage or pedicure you paid for, you might find the whole thing very stressful.

A customer service representative for Loclly says they are answering questions from their customers. It's an online site that offers deals to local salons, teeth whitening, travel, and other things. You pay Loclly upfront for the special deal and they are supposed to send you a voucher.  

The upstart company is fending off complaints that the deals are duds.

"Everything is being resolved, is being answered in a timely manner," says a customer service man for Loclly.

One regular Loclly customer judges "timely" differently. Dee Hurley says she was ignored.

Hurley says she bought a manicure/pedicure service through Loclly but had trouble collecting the voucher she'd need to take to the salon.  She said she called and wrote Loclly.

"I think I even wrote a letter, sent it snail mail," said Hurley.

She says the company never responded. So she was forced to report the company.

"The first time I contacted the BBB and the Governor's Office for Consumer Affairs was based on a March 11 purchase," said Hurley.

She says it was June when she finally got that voucher.  But, it happened again and again -- four times she claims she has had trouble getting Loclly to follow through on deals she's bought.

"A lot of Internet-based companies don't really provide the back-up service and this is one of those companies that it appears from the complaints that we're receiving," said Fred Elsberry of the Better Business Bureau.

There were so many complaints the Atlanta Better Business Bureau yanked the company's accreditation.  The I-Team spoke on the phone with company spokeswoman Ainslee Marsden.

She said Loclly did have trouble with one company not following through on its deal.  She called it an "isolated incident."  But she also called Dee Hurley's four problems with the company "isolated."  And about that business of losing BBB accreditation, she said not to worry, it would be fixed soon if it wasn't already.

According to the BBB, that is false.

Hurley is a deal hunter. She wants Loclly to work, but she needs them to work a little harder for her.

"It shouldn't take four months for vouchers for which you paid," explained Hurley.

Marsden and one of the Loclly owners, Michael Ferguson, have another business called Sky Wash. It's a car detailing business. Their grade with the BBB is a D-.

Read the company response to the report - click here!

We have a clarification to our original report above about Loclly.  We said that spokesperson Ainslee Marsden and "one of the Loclly owners, Michael Ferguson, have another business called Skywash.  It's a car-detailing business."  Ms. Marsden advises us that she is not an employee of Skywash, but admits that she has done some customer service work for Skywash and is the voice on the answering machine that welcomes customers.  She says she's employed by Mr. Ferguson.  According to the Better Business Bureau, it lists Ms. Marsden as the customer contact for Skywash and rates it a D-.