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

maidinheaven

We bought 2 spa voucher for royal-day spa from lastminute.com. We booked before it run out but couldn't get in until 3rd Oct 2011, which as its only a few days away I thought I better confirm it. I phoned them and the line was dead so I went to the website and saw that they have ceased trading as of July 11. I then went to Lastminute website to see what I can do and it looks like they won't take responsibility for it as they are only agents. This all seems a con but I will call Lastminute .com tomorrow (freephone number so may as well) to see what there response is! Thankfully it was a cheap deal £10 pp so We may have to chalk it up to experience.

ztkr

A friend of mine paid for a Groupon voucher that the retailer refused to accept; she was to told by the retailer to request a refund from Groupon. And guess what? Groupon said that she needed to talk to the retailer. After a formal complaint, Groupon stalled for ages before advising her she would need to claim the money from Paypal (through whom the payment was made). However, by the time they told her this more than 45 days had passed and no claim could be made. Groupon have stopped responding to correspondence from my friend, and she has given up, accepting the loss of £30 or so.

There should be a legal requirement that the refund should come from the agent (Groupon) and not the third party (retailer or whoever). It should then be the Groupon's responsibility to chase the retailer to sort out of the problem; after all, it is Groupon who has developed a sales relationship with the retailer.

With so little protection available to the consumer, I'd be reluctant to pay for any expensive voucher, or one where there is a risk that the product or service might not be delivered, eg. a cheap offer from a small retailer.

lizevans55

Groupon and KGB have always been fair about refunding when I have been unable to make a booking for a deal - usually with credit on their site. However living Social will not do this. They took 5 days to respond to my e mail - despite an automatic response saying within 48 hours - and just continually responded that it was between me and the merchant - I had been unable to make an afternoon tea booking before the deal expired in spite of ringing several times, they were always full. They finally put me on a waiting list for the last day of the deal, but I wasn't contacted so I guess no one cancelled. I contacted the merchant as instructed by Living Social, who informed me that he had had a number of people ringing to say that they had not been able to make a booking and he was referring them to Living social. He said that as he had not had any payment for my voucher he would not be able to make a refund.Someone has my money! lf its not the merchant then its Li!ving social - surely they are breaking some law if they are taking money from people who do not receive anything in return?

nbatch

I think a lot of the deals for physical items are deliberately overprices to sound as if you are having a bargain but in fact the sale price on Groupon seems to be around the average selling price elsewhere or even more expensive.

Take todays deal for a half drum barbeque aparently costing £175 but groupon are offering it for £69. A quick search on google shopping brings up the exact barbeque for £69.99 at

http://www.gardencentreonline.co.uk/Outdoor-Living-Barbecues-BBQ-Half-Drum-Charcoal-BBQ/1845-PD/default.html

The pictures are identical yet Groupon are trying to con people into thinking that this would normally cost over a £100 more than they are offering it for. Surely they can't just up the price of goods on a website a day or two before just to make it look like you are saving money when in fact your probably only getting it for the same price.

I do admit that the restaurant deals are a good idea as you know exactly how much the items are especially if you visit the restaurant regularly anyway.

adeysolaris

I booked ten Tango classes at the Factory for myself and a gift for my partner. I then was traumatised in a car accident and asked for a refund or credit.
At the same time I had a separate Groupon offer refunded no problem, whereas LivingSocial promised to look into it on 3 separate occasions and kept me waiting for a reply for 2 months. Eventually the vouchers expired and they refused to refund them. Really shameful profiteering.
I would NOT recommend them

Lazycow99

I have been an avid fan of buying vouchers and have never had a problem as such...

I recently bought 2 vouchers for a local salon, on using voucher 1 I was mistreated, they were unprofessional and it left the salon crying from humiliation. I was also left swollen and sore for days!

The 2nd voucher I didn't want to use but neither living social or the salon will give me a refund so I have to lose the money :-(

superflygal

Hi folks

I phoned Serenity Spa in Solihull to make my booking.

I was asked "is it groupon deal?" I said yes. I was then told a heart rending tal of how the owner had been taken ill before Christmas (precisely when the deal appeared on Groupon).

She had apparently been feeling poorly for some time with headaches (luckily well enough to broker the Groupon deal). So is "closing" the business at the end of the week.

Oddly I had called into the hotel personally this morning and was told the girl was busy upstairs with a client.

I was told to contact Groupon for a refund.

Thier website stil running with no mention of closing.

Will see what transpires.

SFG x

Website for Serenity Spa still up and running with no mention