Hi Impact Media sent an e-mail recently to patrons of the one-year-old deal site saying it will implement a new system to improve customer service.
Under the past manager, who has since left YourCityDeals, "we found there were a lot of unanswered complaints," said Weggon Allen, a co-founder of Hi Impact and part of the team now running YourCityDeals.
"We realized things weren't efficient ... so what we decided was we were going to take over the company and run things more efficiently."
The plan is to integrate YourCityDeals with the services offered by Hi Impact, which is a brand management site with over 800 customers in its database. Hi Impact assists companies with marketing at places such as trade shows and on websites.
Company officials are culling the list of merchants on YourCityDeals to focus on well-established, reputable companies that have been around for a while. Hi Impact will also court its own clients to appear on the site.
Previously, Mr. Allen had been sitting on the domain name YourCityDeals.com since 2006, and decided last year to approach Ottawa Kiosk – a well-known local advertising site – to see if the other party was interested in getting involved.
YourCityDeals launched in 2011 under third-party management, with Hi Impact Media and OttawaKiosk as shareholders. As of this week, OttawaKiosk is remaining as a shareholder, while Hi Impact will take on the day-to-day management.
Business so far on the coupons site has been "stagnant", especially because right now Hi Impact is focusing on giving customers refunds when necessary.
But under the new vision, the company sees YourCityDeals growing in revenues very soon.
"We're excited about the new direction we're going in," Mr. Allen said. "With this new concept that we're relaunching, I think it’s going to separate us from any deal site out there and give a better deal to customers."
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