Groupon Expiry dates

kirky666

My wife and I use Groupon and other daily deal sites a lot and to be honest have very few complaints; however today we noticed a restaurant voucher had expired and wondered if we had any rights to recover the money spent.

On Groupon.com I found the following:-

"Groupon is a service provider for the Merchant identified on the voucher and the Merchant is the sole issuer of the voucher. Vouchers have two separate values: (a) the “amount paid” and (b) the promotional value. The “promotional value” is the additional value beyond the amount paid. Together, the amount paid and the promotional value equals the “full offer value” of the voucher. For example, if you pay $20 for a voucher that gets you $50 of goods or services from a Merchant, the full offer value is $50, the amount paid is $20 (this amount does not expire until it is used or is refunded), and the promotional value is $30 (this amount expires on the date stated on the voucher unless expiration of the promotional value is prohibited by law)"

which means that in the US you have to at least get back what you paid for the voucher even if you don't get the original discount.

In the UK however Groupon terms state "5.11 Expiry: The Voucher (including, but not limited to, any discounts provided by the Voucher) expires on the date specified on the Voucher."

This means that in the UK you are not entitled to any refund.

Has anyone had any similar issues with expiry dates? and does anyone know why the UK and US policies are so vastly different?

mattyprice4004

No idea, but it's hardly Groupon's fault if you buy a voucher and forget to use it.

I'd chalk it down to experience and remember to use them on time next time.

kirky666

mattyprice4004 wrote: »

No idea, but it's hardly Groupon's fault if you buy a voucher and forget to use it.

I'd chalk it down to experience and remember to use them on time next time.

I'm surprised by your response. I realise it was our fault, but I presume that the US terms are in place because the law there forbids Groupon from treating the original amount paid as anything other than a gift card which can legally can have no expiry date (actually I think it's 5 years minimum there). This means that US consumers are protected by a consumer right which we in Britain don't have. I imagine Groupon are making millions from missed expiry dates and offering no service in return which doesn't seem right to me. To be honest it wouldn't be quite so bad if the companies themselves received the money as they're the ones offering the actual service; however I'm pretty sure this is not the case and Groupon receive all the voucher money.

pinreme

Why don't you contact the restaurant, pander to them a bit and see if they are willing to honour the groupon anyway? You know, say you realise that you missed the expiry, but you were really looking forward to trying their establishment as you have heard good things about them,etc. All they can do is say no, and you will be no worse off then you are now. But on the other hand, they might just say yes as a matter of customer service, not to mention the money they will make on your drinks and any other extras.

System

It's an interesting subject this issue. Personally I think you don't have a chance as I dont think the restaurant gets paid until you redeem the voucher. Therefore you have to pursade both the restaurant and groupon to honour it (which I would think is unlikely). However certain posters on this site (for instance azari) believe expiration dates are themselves illegal and suggest with a visit to court you can force them to honour this deal. It depends how far you are prepared to take it.

kirky666

pinreme wrote: »

Why don't you contact the restaurant, pander to them a bit and see if they are willing to honour the groupon anyway? You know, say you realise that you missed the expiry, but you were really looking forward to trying their establishment as you have heard good things about them,etc. All they can do is say no, and you will be no worse off then you are now. But on the other hand, they might just say yes as a matter of customer service, not to mention the money they will make on your drinks and any other extras.

Thanks for the replies. I think my wife did email Groupon and we're not that bothered with the loss whatever their response; however I posted in the Consumer Rights part of the forum because this kind of thing didn't exist in the past as vouchers were generally only paid for at the time of using the service, so if you did miss out you hadn't actually lost any money. I think a change in the law is required to bring us in line with US and to keep abreast of this type of service which no previous consumer law properly applies to.

juno

I've emailed Groupon about this before and have received a refund in Groupon credits

mildred1978

kirky666 wrote: »

Thanks for the replies. I think my wife did email Groupon and we're not that bothered with the loss whatever their response; however I posted in the Consumer Rights part of the forum because this kind of thing didn't exist in the past as vouchers were generally only paid for at the time of using the service, so if you did miss out you hadn't actually lost any money. I think a change in the law is required to bring us in line with US and to keep abreast of this type of service which no previous consumer law properly applies to.

The US has no NHS or welfare system like we have here. Do you want to lose those so we can be like the US?

Hintza

kirky666 wrote: »

My wife and I use Groupon and other daily deal sites a lot ...

Save yourself some money and stop buying "groupon deals" on a whim.