Groupon in trouble?

Sheldon_Cooper

Groupon seem to be having some difficulties.

miduck

Groupon UK is an entirely separate entity. It is registered under the name "MyCityDeal Ltd".

Sheldon_Cooper

miduck wrote: »

Groupon UK is an entirely separate entity. It is registered under the name "MyCityDeal Ltd".

It's still interesting because it shows that the whole concept appears to be failing. I'd guess that both suppliers and shoppers are beginning to see the weaknesses in the system.

miduck

Sheldon_Cooper wrote: »

It's still interesting because it shows that the whole concept appears to be failing. I'd guess that both suppliers and shoppers are beginning to see the weaknesses in the system.

You might as well be comparing apples and pears! Retailers the world over are failing, does that mean they are all going under?

Sheldon_Cooper

miduck wrote: »

You might as well be comparing apples and pears! Retailers the world over are failing, does that mean they are all going under?

I don't think you understand the point I'm making. The Groupon idea has been getting a lot of bad press of late for both disasters for suppliers and very bad deals for customers. It's interesting to see that people who started it all seem to be having difficulties. By the way, I very much doubt that the UK Groupon does not have any involvement by the people who own and run the US version.

miduck

Sheldon_Cooper wrote: »

I don't think you understand the point I'm making. The Groupon idea has been getting a lot of bad press of late for both disasters for suppliers and very bad deals for customers. It's interesting to see that people who started it all seem to be having difficulties. By the way, I very much doubt that the UK Groupon does not have any involvement by the people who own and run the US version.

I completely understand the point you are making, but it is fundamentally flawed. You cannot suggest that Groupon UK has problems simply because an entirely separate business is having problems, all because they run on the same principles.

By your logic do you agree that PC World are in trouble, simply because Comet are? Same business model, same bad press ...

paddyrg

Well, I don't think you can really claim Groupon as a parent company and the UK branch are entirely separate - if nothing else if the corporate arm goes down, it'll poison the brand here.

And Groupon UK are hardly angels - see the following undertakings signed by the individual directors of the company

http://www.oft.gov.uk/shared_oft/consumer-enforcement/Signed_undertakings.pdf

miduck

paddyrg wrote: »

Well, I don't think you can really claim Groupon as a parent company and the UK branch are entirely separate - if nothing else if the corporate arm goes down, it'll poison the brand here.

And Groupon UK are hardly angels - see the following undertakings signed by the individual directors of the company

http://www.oft.gov.uk/shared_oft/consumer-enforcement/Signed_undertakings.pdf

They are separate legal entities, that is a fact. Of course they are linked, but in terms of their accounts and liabilities they are wholly unrelated.

I also agree that Groupon have a bad name - personally I would never use them. Nonetheless, the fact that the share price of Groupon US has fallen does not mean that Groupon UK are in trouble. Anyone that relates the two clearly does not comprehend the basics of company formations.

Sheldon_Cooper

Anyone that relates the two clearly does not comprehend the basics of company formations.

I think you may be the one who is having difficulty with the concept of business practice. Can you not understand that if one company is finding its business model failing then an subsidiary set up with the same business model may well have similar problems? It's not a difficult idea.

techspec

Sheldon_Cooper wrote: »

I think you may be the one who is having difficulty with the concept of business practice. Can you not understand that if one company is finding its business model failing then an subsidiary set up with the same business model may well have similar problems? It's not a difficult idea.

Seems perfect sense to me.

The problem with these sites is that the 'daily deal' became about 10 deals a day. I cannot be bothered sorting through them - so don't even look any more.

Over 50% of my Groupons have been refused by the companies too - and i never got my money back from Ospa.