'Bought a spa day from Groupon or others? Did you get it?' blog discussion

nixblags

Only recently signed up to Groupon. Great father's day deal with Tie Rack but the code provided didn't work. Replacement code sent quite quickly but too late to get Tie's in time for the day - luckily Dad was away! Deal for cheap car valeting had to book by e-mail but no response at all from the company. Contacted Groupon and while awaiting their investigations a similar deal with another company came up but I didn't get it as I was still waiting to hear outcome. Eventually got fed up of waiting and asked for a refund. Hopefully its on its way. So not a great experience so far but idea is great. Would definitely help to know what the cap is on the offer so can determine demand. I also won a Groupon voucher at my kids school fair for a meal out - will wait and see how that turns out!

flyingflea

I have purchased over 10 Groupons to date but have only used 7 to date so will only comment on those:

1. Cheltenham MOT2U - Top service, car passed MOT and they did everything they said they would (I did check!)
2. Bristol Grosvenor Casino - Again, top notch. Food was brilliant, service was great and I've been back several times since
3. Hotel + Spa Treatment in Torquay - Horrible hotel + restaurant but spa treatment was brilliant!
4. South Cerney WMSki Wakeboarding - Brilliant fun, shame the lady at reception was such a cow to us for being supposedly 10 mins late (we were 20 mins early but were meant to be 30 mins early). I should say they were pretty busy with these Groupon vouchers, 1st w/e we wanted wasn't available.
5. T-Mobile PAYG phone - Great, received no problems although was on phone a while trying to order phone
6. ASOS voucher - Perfect, worked with no problems
7. Directsight.co.uk voucher - Voucher didn't work, when it did eventually work everything had sold out. Wasn't impressed, got a refund in the end.

Mungbeanz

I love the proposed code of conduct for websites like Groupon. So I totally support what Martin advocates.

I bought a £75 voucher for 3 days use of a mini cooper but they didn't have enough availablity to fulfill the voucher even if booking 3 months in advance. So I sought a refund from Groupon as friends have mentioned they have received refunds (even after 7 days after purchase but before the voucher expiry date) and their US website talks about a no questions asked full money back guarantee if at any time you are not happy with your purchase.

At the time of emailing Groupon I also suggested that Groupon should vet their suppliers to make sure they could meet the demand as its misleading to offer a product / service when its not actually available.

They didn't respond to my comment but they did offer a £75 credit valid for 6 months. I accepted this as I have purchased Groupon specials in the past (car club and photobook deals) which were great.

I am personally conscious when I buy these deals as I am skeptical as to the supplier's ability to meet demand - esp when they sell many 100's of the deal. Even I know the small businesses would be unable to cope. so there is an element of consumer beware.

But I know some deals are pretty good. So yeah my advice is - email Groupon customer services to seek a refund if you don't get what u purchased. Obviously the voucher can't have expired when seeking this.

Tino_2

I worked for Groupon last year for a short period as one of the people who gets deals out of local businesses to go on the site. I've also bought and used a number of vouchers since then so have seen it from both sides.

The way the deals worked then (can't say with certainty they still do, but I can't imagine it's changed much) were:

- The deal had to have a minimum 60% discount off the normal price, higher for things like laser hair removal, etc.
- Groupon charged a minimum 50% of the voucher price as their fee (i.e. £100 value, reduced to £40, they took £20) + VAT, so the business got the remainder (in this example £16). The sales team got added bonuses for getting a higher percentage of commission.
- The deal was posted, ran for the alloted time (usually 24 hours as the main deal and the following 24 hours as the side deal), and only at the end of the deal were people then charged, and the money collected by Groupon.
- As customers used their vouchers, the business took down the unique code and claimed it back from Groupon. They did this by filling it the approriate code(s) on a spreadsheet and emailing it to Groupon. The money was then paid straight away, although most business sent the spreadsheet in once a week or once a month and claimed a few at a time.
- If a customer didn't redeem a voucher, Groupon kept 100% of the voucher price.

The advantages for the business were exposure to a high number of local people in a concentrated way which was a good form of advertising, even for those that didn't buy a voucher. And for those that did, it meant a (potentially) new customer in the door at which point it was up to the business to impress them enough to come back again, paying full price. As there was no up front fee, the business only paid for people who had actually entered their premises - unlike any other form of advertising.

As the business didn't have to do anything if someone didn't redeem a voucher, Groupon kept all the money. I've seen this mentioned in a couple of other posts and although when I was there they were happy and quick to pay people claiming legitimate refunds, the were also very open about the fact the unclaimed vouchers made them a lot of money. However I don't really see anything wrong with that, as it's Groupon who have the large base of users, and who are spending a huge amount on advertising (£1m a month on online advertising in the UK when I worked there).

I'm not surprised about the issues of over-subscription though as we were also told to actively discourage any form of limit on number of vouchers from the business - quite often deals wouldn't get approved if they came with a limit. But likewise, the same applied to any limits on use (i.e. not valid sat-sun, etc.) as this limited the appeal to customers.

Overall, I didn't see anything massively wrong with how the operated - there was an element of 'winging' it but I think that's mainly to do with both the fact that the concept is still new, and that Groupon were (and probably still are) expanding at a huge rate. However, I do agree fully that there needs to be tighter controls on the whole industry to prevent people getting scammed, and think Martin's charter is a very good start.

MarieL_2

I have bought a number of Groupon deals. Most have been fine. However, I bought two pairs of Flatmates shoes, but there was next to nothing available on their website, unless I was prepared to 'upgrade' and pay more. They only seemed to have a few things available in only some sizes. I got a refund no problem.

However, I am having a problem with another one. I bought a car valet (from The Wash) and got the voucher. Shortly afterwards, I got an email from Groupon to say the expiry date had been extended by 3 months, which was obviously a sign that they'd sold too many vouchers. To book, you phone them and get a recorded message saying you have to book on their website. I booked for a date around 10 days later and got an automated acknowledgement email saying they would get back to me to confirm. I never heard any more and on the day tried to contact them again to check whether my booking was in place. Again, I was just directed to their website. I sent an email asking if they could confirm but heard nothing. I stayed in all afternoon but they didn't show. I never heard back from them, so tried to contact them again a week later and sent another message - still nothing. I contacted Groupon by email, who said that I shouldn't worry, as the expiry date had been extended as they had had some problems with this deal. I replied that this wasn't my point - it was that they weren't responding to correspondence so I couldn't actually make a booking - and asked if they could do something to make The Wash get back to me. Groupon just replied again saying that email was the only way to book this deal. To be fair, they did say that I could get a refund - though only in the form of a Groupon credit, which I object to in principle. Around five weeks later, I have still heard nothing from The Wash, so am on the point of giving up. I am not impressed, especially having wasted a day off waiting in for them in vain.

balsingh

My concern is about these type of offers is that you don't actually get the value you expect. My brother signed up for a go karting event through KGB which was a half day track experience reduced from £175 to £60. On the actual track day, it lasted 1.5 hours and the staff were like "What do you expect for sixty quid?". Its plain obvious that he didnt get the same as if he has paid £175 which he shoudl have as thats what he signed up for.

Speedy669

I have bought several offers from Groupon and I'd say either I've been very lucky or I got in early. I bought the Couples Spa for Valentines day and it was good and the main think is that Dawn really enjoyed it. I've bought the Marco Pierre Steak & Ale offer and as I wanted a weekend deal I had wait for 2 1/2 months before we can go, but I'd expect that as there was a large number sold and also the idea is don't wait to book, do it as soon as you've got the voucher.
I've not been let down yet on the quality of the offer, but who knows, Marco Pierre Steak and Ale might be the one.

All the Best on the offers

K_Lawal

I have been using websites such as Groupon and Wahanda for a while with good results but have recently had 3 bad experiences which has now made me go off the whole idea.

The main issue I have at the moment is that I booked to go to Bootcamp Inc for a 5 day residential camp with Groupon and paid an extra £1oo single room supplement directly to Bootcamp Inc.

Groupon cancelled the deal and refunded my money as they said that there had been a number of complaints about Bootcamp Inc. However, I have been trying to get my £100 single room supplement back from Bootcamp Inc since the end of May without any luck. I have been fobbed off with a number of excuses from Bootcamp Inc and their phone is now disconnected so I am unable to contact them. I called Groupon to tell them of my issues and although they were very sympathetic they said they would not be able to help me.

I am very disappointed in Groupon's response as I would never have gone for this deal if it wasn't advertised for them. I trusted them to deals with reputable companies and do their research before offering a product. As a result I am £100 out of pocket and am spending a considerable amount of time trying to get my refund.
I have also lost out on some minor deals due to not being able to get times (weekends or evenings) through both Groupon and Wahanda and as a result my love affair with mob deals is over.
Mob deals aren't a bad idea even after my bad experiences but I would say treat them with caution. I won't be doing them again unless I am 100% confident that it is with a reputable company.

zola10

I am afraid I am a groupie as I have had many of these deals. Some good and some not so good. Had a facial yesterday with Guniot and I swear that the girl hardly used any of these products. Wont be going back there.

A few went well. Though one junior walked out 2 mins before my appointment and had the head girl doing my facial. Booked another just off Oxford Street, W1, and could not find the place. Turned out it was rent a room in a tanning salon. Was double booked and the girl called her boss but he was not interested. Got my money back from Groupon but not travel expenses which I was cross about. Groupon - if this happens again I will seek legal advice on this.

Though these problems are not just limited to Groupon. Have had problems with other companies who offer deals.

I usually get the junior or the newest member of the salon. Dont mind so long as they dont skimp or cut the time which is what happend with the Guniot facial. Just wondering what would Guniot have to say? I now work out cost of the facial/spa and factor in travel costs as sometimes it is cheaper to go local that to these places. Some are way out of the way. E.g. I am signed up to London and I get offered things in Ilford and other parts of Essex!! A lot of these are not near tube/train stations which makes it pointless after relaxing in these salons that you have to walk miles to the nearest tube/train station!

Had a dvd one that went well. Wine deal not so well paid £6 for a voucher (cant remember how much) but had to spend £80 min to get the money back - wasnt worth it.

I think these sites make the money on the basis that (a) you forget about the deal or (b) if there are problems that you will not bother contacting them to get your money back.

I would not purchase a holiday via them due to the amount of money involved and trying to get the holiday dates that you want.

I agree that they should be more regulated. E.g. only offer the first 50 or so the deal so the vendor can cope with it and a guarantee that if things do go wrong that these sites pay the customer back their money.

cheryl_p_2

Not happy about my Groupon deal for Hot stone Massage and Facial as when I turned up for my appointment today the shop was closed, when I finally got someone to open the door they told me 'the beauty part' was closed for a month. Apparently they had called everyone to cancel their appointments. I had no phone call and was thoroughly disappointed and felt I had wasted a morning. Groupon were understanding and are refunding me my money.