Groupon not playing ball!!!!!!

bartman100

My wife purchased me a supercar experience day for my birthday via Groupon for £129. For this I was to drive an Aston Martin, Porsche & Ferrari. I originally wanted to go to a local track so we can do the experience in a day but they had no dates available so we travelled to Leicestershire from Essex on Saturday. When we arrived at the airfield it was a total mess!! the Aston Martin was not there and replaced with a 3 tonne Bentley! The experience was to take 1 hour max after 45 minutes I still had not driven a car! in place of the Aston i had my name down to drive a Lotus but the cue was huge. After 1 hour i decided to take my name off the Lotus and drive the Bentley. I did 4 laps in it. Then I never drove another car 5:30pm came and due to a noise curfew and brakes going on the Porsche they decided to close and we all had to fill in forms to say which cars we had not driven.

After getting back on Sunday afternoon, I called Groupon on Monday morning explained my situation after a long conversation they offered me a partial £70 refund. They only offered me this because i can not make another race day due to family health problems. I asked why i was not being offered a full refund and their response because I had used the voucher!!. I travelled an extra 90 minutes to get to the other venue thinking i was helping them out!!

I have contacted my credit card and I am going to try and make a claim under section 75.

Can any one give me some advice on whether credit card route is best or badger the granny out of Groupon until they give in or do they have a point?

brettcta

you wouldn't be entitled to a full refund, after all, you did attend and you did drive a car. granted, it wasn't the lotus or the aston, but you still got some enjoyment from it.

with regards to the fact you travelled to a different track, groupon never asked you to, so i'm not entirely sure you've got a case to be aggrieved on that. it's not ideal, but you made the decision to go to that particular track

System

I am not sure the credit card company is the route to go down as they are happy to offer you what you paid for (a race day), however its your personal health problems that mean you can't take that offer up. I think you can only go down the credit card route if they refuse to provide the service.

Personally if I was you I would go back to Groupon, say the deal was to drive 3 cars for £129 and yet you only drove 1 car. Therefore you want 2/3rds of the price refunded which would be about £85. Make sure they give you a cash refund and not a "Groupon Credit"

ntl1245

I want to share my last weeks experience in chinese restaurant Oriental city in Leeds. I bought a voucher for 8 pounds (to order food for 20 pounds). First time I came - waitress told me it is not 5.30 pm yet (in voucher is stated "valid from 5.30"), but nobody offered to wait 15-20 minutes although restaurant was almost empty. OK. Next time I came on my own, agreed to meet with a friend inside restaurant. I told Im going to use voucher and after I ate (friend of mine was late) I ve decided not to wait him, I thought I ll meet him outside and we ll go somewhere to have a dessert. But I was stoppedby restaurant staff and been told to pay full amount, when I asked "what about my voucher?" - they explained as I ve been on my own and no friend came(!!!) - I must pay full amount. In voucher stated it is valid for two people, but all this situation looked as restaurant tried to make their most to force people to pay cash but not voucher. Such a poor method to increase selling. I am very dissappointed. WILL NEVER EVER GO TO ORIENTAL CITY CHINESE RESTAURANT IN LEEDS.

brettcta

so basically you wont use them ever again because they wouldn't bend their T&C's for you?

marywooyeah

see for me I would read "valid for 2 people" as valid for 1 or 2 people but no more, I wouldnt see it as 2 people must eat. I think its a bit ambigous.

wealdroam

Well, if I had a voucher which said "valid for two people", I would check on arrival exactly what that meant...
Two people must eat, or
Only two people can eat, or
Up to two people can eat.

I agree it is ambiguous, but clearly it is best to clarify these issues before they become a problem.

marywooyeah

wealdroam wrote: »

I agree it is ambiguous, but clearly it is best to clarify these issues before they become a problem.

yes that is true, I guess they could have worded it better but the user should have checked too.

System

i would have refused to pay, you told them when you went in that you had a voucher (and they said that was fine) even though you said you were meeting someone they saw you were sat on your own and never said when you ordered you couldn't use the voucher so frankly I would have just handed the voucher over, paid for the drinks and then walked out. I doubt they would call the police and if they did any reasonable person would be on your side.

ntl1245

Absolutely agree that the best is to clarify everything before buing/using voucher. Just curious : what would happen If I come with my husband and small child (who wouldnt eat) - they would tell me "sorry there are three of us, and voucher is not valid"??? cha cha On the other hand, if restaurant staff would be polite and understanding I would go there and recommend to others. But I wont do it now.

geordieracer

ntl1245 wrote: »

Absolutely agree that the best is to clarify everything before buing/using voucher. Just curious : what would happen If I come with my husband and small child (who wouldnt eat) - they would tell me "sorry there are three of us, and voucher is not valid"??? cha cha On the other hand, if restaurant staff would be polite and understanding I would go there and recommend to others. But I wont do it now.

Which is why previous posters in this thread in reply to you have stated it would be best to ask the restaurant concerned. As no one owns the place on here how can anyone possibly know?