Rights with Groupon

gavinchappell

So around a year ago, I used Groupon to buy a voucher. I checked with the retailer who had no stock of what I wanted, but didn't tell me they weren't getting more stock. So I held onto the voucher for a month, until it became apparent that stock wasn't arriving and the deal was expiring. Groupon refunded me in Groupon credit, time-limited, which I accepting as it was outside of the DSR "cooling off" period and I thought it would probably get used.

This credit expires in a couple of days, I've been subscribed for the last year and found nothing I want to use it on. So I've been in touch with Groupon to ask that they either refund it as cash, or remove the expiry date so that I'm able to use it further into the future. So far they haven't done either.

I'm not particularly happy about this and won't be using them again in future, but the fact remains that I've paid £60 and received nothing; what are your rights with things like this? Am I pretty much resigned to ordering whatever tat pops up over the next couple of days just so that I've got something that I can then give away/sell, or is there more I can do to just recover the money? Because they're certainly not keeping it for themselves!

gavinchappell

Bump. Expires tomorrow and I haven't had an answer to whether they'll extend the deadline or not yet (I'm guessing not). So looks like I've lost £60.

Any grounds for credit card chargeback? Could this be considered not receiving what I ordered? Or am I pretty much out of luck and should just avoid in future?

jacques_chirac

Did you buy a voucher for an amount or a specific item? If the former you have no right to a refund, the credit was a feature of goodwill. If the latter and they were unable to supply the item, you would be entitled to a refund by the original method of purchase.

gavinchappell

It was for a specific item, then when the retailer was unable to supply, Groupon only offered to convert it to credit. So I suppose it's both; right now it's a voucher for an amount, but that's not actually what I purchased.

jacques_chirac

gavinchappell wrote: »

It was for a specific item, then when the retailer was unable to supply, Groupon only offered to convert it to credit. So I suppose it's both; right now it's a voucher for an amount, but that's not actually what I purchased.

In that case I would be pushing for a refund, even after this time. This is not a DSR issue, but a matter of contract - they failed to supply the goods as agreed.

gavinchappell

What's the best way to approach it, do you think? I've already been told by Groupon via their support system that they won't refund it, which is when I asked a second time for them to remove the expiry date (which they haven't responded to). So I'm not sure what option is left other than contact Barclaycard to raise it with them?

jacques_chirac

I would be explaining that they are in breach of contract, possibly even mentioning small claims if you still hit a brick wall. Also worth posting on their Facebook wall, in the past they have responded more quickly to complaints made in public. Do you have something from the retailer to confirm their could not fulfil your order?

I think with Groupon it is a case of pot luck as to who you speak to. I contacted them recently to cancel a voucher and got a prompt response offering a refund - I was only entitled to a credit!

gavinchappell

This is the thing. I'm aware that I wasn't really entitled to a refund; due to not getting information from the retailer straight away it was outside of the 7 days of DSR. So initially I was happy with credit and assumed that it'd get used somehow. But there's been nothing of interest, and it's only now that I've realised the expiry date is looming and realised that in actual fact I've paid £60 for literally nothing...which doesn't really sit well with me on principle!

ValHaller

gavinchappell wrote: »

This is the thing. I'm aware that I wasn't really entitled to a refund; due to not getting information from the retailer straight away it was outside of the 7 days of DSR. So initially I was happy with credit and assumed that it'd get used somehow. But there's been nothing of interest, and it's only now that I've realised the expiry date is looming and realised that in actual fact I've paid £60 for literally nothing...which doesn't really sit well with me on principle!

Sorry to say, I think you have been mentally mugged here. Your rights on the original voucher were for the goods specified and if they were not supplied, then you should have had a refund. DSR's don't feature in your rights over the original voucher AFAICS until and unless you received goods which you decided to reject - which does not feature in this instance.

By accepting the credit, you have muddies the waters over your original rights.

gavinchappell

Indeed, I'm not totally sure whether DSR applies in this case, hence the question on here. But surely I'm entitled to the product I bought, a refund, or a suitable alternative. I wouldn't say that artificially time-limited credit is in itself a suitable alternative (compared to a refund to my card), and I don't recall seeing an offer for the same goods again at all during the past year despite being subscribed to their daily emails so I couldn't have got the same thing that I wanted at a later date using this credit.

Unfortunately in the original case, I held on as long as possible but had to get Groupon to accept the return on the day the original voucher expired (otherwise again, being faced with an unusable voucher and wasted cash because I would have been trying to use it outside of their terms and conditions).

superflygal

Gavin did Groupon respond?

SFG x