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

jamboron

I`m registered with both Groupon & Living Social and have not been disappointed with any purchase I`ve made with either of these sites.

My_perfect_cousin

My first (and possibly last) experience with Groupon

I bought a zorbing deal from Groupon. I received a purchase confirmation email from Groupon stating 'After the deal "Zorbing Experience XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX " has been successfully closed we'll send you the voucher and all relevant information in a separate email.'

I didn't receive the the voucher from Groupon.

I have now accessed Groupon's 'contact us' part of the site in order to complain - whilst on the page I noticed that the page says that vouchers can be accessed by following an embedded link. I was not made aware of this - and stumbled on it by mistake

The lack of the voucher means that I have missed the closing date for booking the activity.

I have emailed Groupon to complain- I will update when I receive a response.

deab

I bought a hair colour and cut but when I phoned to book the hairdresses were full for weeks as they had sold 324. I was not impressed and rang Groupon for a refund which they did give.

pattyb_2

I purchased a Groupon deal for Red Star outdoor cleaning 3 months ago and despite numerous phone calls to Red Star with promises to call me back with an appointment I am still waiting. I emailed Groupon yesterday asking them to refund my credit card and am now awaiting a reply. I have found another company who are actually cheaper than the Groupon deal so wasnt a good price any way. Will keep you updated on Groupons reply.

I_luv_cats

I haven't come across 'Groupon' with a view of taking up their services/offers but after appearing on BBC Watchdog I'd probably not trade with them..

'Kelkoo Select' are marvelous - they are very accommodating if you want to amend a booking or are unclear about redemption, as they respond almost immediately. A list of participating customers was timely in position with a merchant, so it was a hassle free voucher redemption. Also tickets are trouble free in being collected from box offices.
They don't charge any booking fees or payment card fees so that is a bonus.

petunia100

I have bought a few Groupon deals which worked out o.k. but recently I purchased a hairdresser deal £12 for a cut worth £32. As I was looking for a new hairdresser anyway I thought I would give it a go.
However the manager let slip that the cut I got would normally cost £15 as it was a junior stylist. The stylist was rubbish and she took one and a half hours to do it twice the time it normally takes. Was not pleased with the end result and had to ask her to do more to it to get a reasonable result. I felt cheated that really I had only saved £3 rather than the £20 advertised. needless to say I won't be returning.

Jeanette26

Sybersal wrote: »

I purchased a laser hair removal deal last November with Groupon, it was about £120 for 7 sessions of a large, medium and a small area.
I was lucky I have just had my last treatment - however this deal sold over 1500 in the few hours it was available - it was one shop in West London.
The staff basically have had to stop doing all the other treatments to fulfill this - then another deal went out with the same salon a couple of months later!!! I did not dare cancel or change my appointment as I couldn't.
There was a high turn over of staff, and to be honest I don't think they did a particularly good job, I always felt I was being rushed.

I think the concept is good - I just do agree definately with Martin the companies need to be able to fulfill the deal in a reasonable amount of time, and to a high standard. Surely the idea is to get the company publicity as well - I would never go back to that salon!
My sister has had a similar problem with a deal for the same thing with a different salon!

I also felt the staff were being compromised - they never wore safety glasses - (apart from my last treatment when I had a 'new girl' who also told me from my records that the machine had been on a really low setting for all my previous treatments!).

I definately am skeptical now when I see these deals.
There is also a similar concept with shopping and buying items - you register and they have 'deals' but in my experience after you have paid and they have your money you get told expected dispatch dates (about 2-3 weeks ahead) then you get an email saying they have problems fulfilling the order......

That's exactly what I felt, with regards to this article as well - too many deals bought, too much rush, inexperienced stuff.... If you're going to go on with your laser hair removal - there are questions on this thread worth asking before you commit yourself. Although... if you've bought a deal, would they give you a refund, if you're not happy with the answers and decide that it won't be worth it...

meher

that's a clever strategy thank you

meher

As a start, offer from Groupon and similar sites are misleading, that is something you realise if you are actually tuned with the market price of the goods and services. The holiday offers are outrageous, that is, if you've actually travelled a lot and know the costs and offers appropriate to the season, you'd realise that both groupon and the holiday makers are taking you for a ride. As for fashion, they offer the half price sale, there's absolutely nothing more to it.

Finally, there's a reason why groupon kind of sites leave these offers for just couple of hours - they target impulse buyers, people who can't be bothered to do their homework and check out if this is indeed an attractive offer, if the rates/price they purport it to be is actually the original price or if there's any savings at all.

Winter_Jasmine

I've bought 3 deals from Groupon so far:

1. Night at a comedy club plus a drink each for two people - had no problems booking in, they guy I spoke to at the club understood the Groupon offer completely and was very clear with me about what I'd get and what I needed to do. Unfortunately, I didn't get to enjoy this one as, on the night, Merseyrail had to cancel all trains on the Chester line due to a fire...oh well!
2. Champagne afternoon tea for two at Leaf in Liverpool - I took my friend for her birthday and we had the loveliest afternoon. No problems at all with this one
3. Airkix indoor skydiving - as someone else has said, these expired by the end of January so it would have been cutting it very fine for Christmas presents for a lot of people. I bought vouchers for my husband, brother and sis-in-law for Christmas, plus one for me. The dates worked fine for me because my birthday's in January so I booked into Airkix for the date I wanted as soon as the vouchers came through and just told everyone to keep the date free for my b'day night out. I had to ring Groupon on this as I was confused about the vouchers and the guy I spoke to couldn't have been more helpful.

I think I've been pretty lucky with my purchases but I am very choosy about what I buy and always read the small print and check the 'real' prices before booking