Livingsocial/Shutterfly deal expiration date fiasco

I bought a Livingsocial deal for two Shutterfly Canvas prints a couple of months ago.  With my typical procrastination, I didn’t get around to selecting the photos that I wanted to make into canvas until yesterday, the listed expiration date on the offer.

I logged in at Shutterfly and entered my voucher number and the website promptly returned that the voucher was no longer valid.  I tried several times thinking I had entered it incorrectly and then called Livingsocial.  The agent told me that Shutterfly interpreted the expiration date differently than other vendors and expired them March 23, meaning the last valid day was March 22.  The agent told me that I could call Shutterfly and they might honor it or that Livingsocial could refund the $100 in Livingsocial bucks.  The agent said that it should have been valid on the 23rd and that they were working with vendors to understand that.  I decided that I didn’t want to bother with dealing with Shutterfly as customer and I told the agent that I wasn’t happy receiving $100 Livingsocial bucks.  The agent said she would try to refund my credit card and was able to do so.

A few lessons here: Don’t procrastinate.  Expiration dates aren’t always what they seem.  Don’t settle for in store credit if they’re wrong.