Groupola iPhone offer - absolute scam, disgusting ethics

fozmcfc

Not sure if they can deal with web advertising, but I would imagine there will be complaints to the ASA about this.

You see complaints about companies on the ASA site, who advertise items at a reduced/sale price and then it is questioned by consumers that the company actually had anywhere near sufficient stock to meet demand.

In many cases the stores can produce evidence that they have and that's it.

In this case, it is obvious if true that 200 is nowhere near sufficient to meet the demand that this would so obviously generate.

In this case I think the company should have advertised just how many were available. If it had been a few thousand maybe not, but 200 is a joke.

DaisyMoo

jamespir wrote: »

it did say in some of the adverts there were a limted number anyway

Quite right - Limited number + Lots of interest = Expectation that the offer would be snapped up quickly...

however Twitter & FB updates claim that customers were successfully purchasing the deal up to 11.00. Had the system been working correctly, I would have expected stocks to have been sold out within 4-5 minutes.

I think in general customers are upset at how technical problems may have prevented them from purchasing this deal. If you are too late, then you are too late, but to miss out on a deal that is supposed to be "First come, first served" due to the Company's issues, then it tends to leave a bitter taste.

jimbms

If they did have them albiet a limited number I actually see this as a very good advertising method, just think how many people who went to the site to check on this offer in the last few day also looked around the site and got another deal, that company does do some good deals. This was a very clever idea and I bet for every phone that was sold they made the money back ten fold. Hats off to them.

spora

Has anyone managed to get one? I was lucky enough to get one, ive got a confirmation email from them and have been speaking to someone about talking to a journalist. Im just a little wary still as ive not seen one other person on any of the forums ive read about this say that they have got one

edit: ive just had an email from them asking for a delivery address, so its looking hopeful. Will let you guys know what happens

trumpton

I think this was just a publicity stunt with very, very limited availability. Was the phone call at standard rates? If the call actually costs you and you are kept waiting, they will have made money hand over fist as people tried to order.

Personally, I have a lot of reservations about Groupola/My City deals - they seem to be rife with problems and often are not the bargain they claim. I am also uneasy about the way they are promoted on MSE and I now feel MSE and Hot Deals should not be posted on the sites. I understand that MSE makes money every time someone clicks through to My City/Groupola to purchase, but if people want to see the Groupola deals they can go look themselves.

vikingaero

Pretty grim deals. Most of them seem to be photo makeovers or events with loads of spare capacity because basically they are shi ite.

NeverInDebt

How about stop asking for people to join your pyramid scheme its against the rules

femdaves wrote: »

to be honest I was not impressed. They were not picking up thier phones either. You could can get an iphone 4 free from some website. but im not allowed to post links up here as i am a new user. It is quite tasking as you have to refer other people first before you get it. well if it free you might as well work for it. it is not a scam as it worked for my friend so im trying to get mine now.
message me for [EMAIL="moron@hotmail.com"]moron@hotmail.com[/EMAIL]

corbyboy

The first thought that sprung into my mind was how on earth Groupola got their hands on 200 iPhones.

They say they use group buying power to get a discount on what they buy. These phones are rare as hens' teeth at the moment and the thought of Apple selling them 200, and at a discount no less, is frankly laughable.

dealer_wins

Hi I am Your Royal Prince Unbona Triona and I have plenty Iphones for free. Just send me your name, address, bank details ans passport info and I will explain how you can get your free Iphone. Please email this information to imadirtyscammer@419.com.

Many thanks and god bless you

Bannik

I've used other offers on Groupola successfully.

I've seen other legit websites have the same problem with crazy offers like this. One of those that I thought was dodgy as I clicked a link the second it appeared to see a "sold out" message and felt the same as the posts here. However, on the next offer I just happened to look as a link for a XBox360 came live, clicked it and got it.

Yes, it probably was a stunt to get more registered users but they actually have a good reputation so I doubt they would risk it by pulling a scam. They could easily have sold out in mere seconds, there are thousands of registered members on Groupola, I read somewhere there are over 8500 members in Manchester alone. The number of phones on offer was relatively tiny compared to the number of users. Groupola have a good reputation and have had loads of good press (I checked before I joined them), I certainly wouldn't miss out on their offers over one bad experience on an offer that was bound to be ridiculously over-subscribed.

As an idea of overloaded bandwidth - twice today it's taken me two attempts to make a post on this forum as the site as timed out on me!