Groupon Getaway Rome/Venice Issue

chapelcottage

Morning!
I was watching a Groupon Getaway over the Black Friday weekend - 6 nights to Rome & Venice from Stansted at £139. It's a birthday gift for my partner and by the time I'd settled on what I wanted to buy, he'd got up and I'd lost the element of secrecy. We also had guests for the weekend, so although I didn't buy until Cyber Monday (there were too many people about!), I kept checking the deal and eventually bought it on Cyber Monday.
I received a confirmation email of 6 nights from Stansted. HOWEVER, the Groupon in my account is for 4 nights from Manchester - a 4-hour drive from home! Tour Center (the travel company) won't honour 6 nights from Stansted and have referred me back to Groupon, which seems fair enough to me as it's Groupon's site which had the erooro.
I've contacted Groupon many times. Initially they confirmed again that I had bought 6 nights from Stansted, although they didn't explain how I was going to claim that, under the circumstances. I've quoted the Consumer Rights Act at them (namely, Consumer Rights Act 2015, Part 1, Chapter 2, Section 11) and all they have offered is a refund plus £20 to spend on something else. I don't want something else - I want what I bought!
Tour Center have been cc'd on emails as they want to know what's happening - the CS advisor dealing with it has suggested thiss... I Spoke with my refunds department regarding this and the best option for you is to get a Refund from Group On. And use that Money to go to a different Destination.
Does anyone have any advice? Can I hold Groupon to the deal I bought and that Groupon confirmed to me twice in emails? Or should I just accept what's on offer? 6 nights from Stansted is £369 - I don't have another £230 each. I was delighted to find this "deal," as I'm a cancer patient working part time on a very low income. The deal mentions that some nights away might only be partial, so I assumed the price was down to rubbish flight times. I also thought it might be a Black Friday price, which is why I kept checking it throughout the weekend, hoping it would still be there when I got some peace and privacy to push a booking through - I was delighted when it was! Now I'm devastated

richardw

Hello and welcome to MSE, hope your treatment is going well.

The flight times would have been rubbish with extra costs and the hotel too, ask for your money back and the £20 and count your blessings that you're not going on a rubbish holiday.

Ryanair do trips holidays.ryanair.com have a browse for a 2/3 night trip and look forward to that.

Where in the UK are you ?

and when do you want to go?

k3lvc

I too second the 'lucky escape' (but to be fair without knowing your aspirations/circumstances)


£139pp for 3 flights (or how else were you getting from Rome-Venice) + 6(?) hotel nights may be bargain basement pricing but it's unnecessarily low for those locations which suggests the level/location of accommodation and the flight timings.


I'd be expecting last flight out of STN on Day 1/first flight home on day 6 together with accommodation of a very low level on the outskirts of the cities with poor/no public transport (and no transfers)

chapelcottage

Thanks - the transfer between Rome & Venice is by train (making 4 nights not really worth it) and I checked the hotel reviews and was happy with two of the options available - I assumed it was Black Friday and rubbish times, so a great deal, especially as it showed on their site for 4 days straight.
I live in South Norfolk and was going to travel in April. It represented the only holiday we were going to get for a couple of years, as we've just bought a wreck of a house at auction.
I was hoping for replies regarding the legalities of what they're trying to do (especially as they confirmed not once but TWICE that I'd bought 6 nights from Stansted), rather than regarding the quality of the trip, but it's been going on for weeks now and I guess I'll just cave and let them get away with it. I'm bloody angry. The £20 extra is nothing - not even 10% of what I've paid.
Thanks for bothering to reply

richardw

This 'deal' probably included a Ryanair flight, which would have been booked by a third party.
Ryanair doesn't permit third party bookings and can cancel such bookings without refund.
2 nights in Rome or Venice is not enough and pointless.

It's been a lucky escape, no point fighting for this rubbish holiday.

There are more catches with Groupon, Black Friday and Cyber Monday than there are in Ikea's furniture spares department.

Btw Ryanair has good fares in April from STN to

Bergamo
Castellon (Valencia)
Mallorca