Groupon voucher for New York

paulinechiv

Hi guys.
I'm hoping someone will be able to help with this.
We purchased a Groupon deal for my son who was supposed to be travelling to New York at the end of April. Obviously this has now been cancelled due to the current situation. The Groupon was called the New York explorer pass which entitled him to have 7 activities from a list in the city.
Like many of the deals on Groupon is was non refundable / non transferable in the terms and conditions.
Now he is not going and the holiday is cancelled we contacted Groupon who said they can only refund if the merchant says they will refund as the voucher had been redeemed (but 100% not used)
We then contacted the merchant (ceetiz.com) who replied
Dear customer,

Thank you for your message,

Unfortunately, your Explorer Pass has been purchased from our partner Groupon, at preferential rates, and under strict cancellation conditions "Non-cancellable, Non-Modifiable" once the reservation has been confirmed, as defined and specified by Groupon.
This is a non-cancellable non-refundable activity.

We are obliged to apply these conditions.

However, we inform you that we have negotiated with the service provider and he has agreed to extend the validity of the Explorer pass from one year, to 2 years  after the purchase date, which gives you the possibility to postpone your trip.
You will shortly receive an email from us confirming this extension, and explaining how it works.  

Besides, I remind you that your passes are non-nominative and transferable to a third party. Thank you for your understanding.

We remain available for any further information

We look forward to hearing from you,
So they are basically saying that they won't allow us to cancel the voucher.
Obviously there is lots more things to worry about than money at the moment but we just cant afford to lose it as the voucher will never get used even though they have extended the validity.
Are we entitled to get a refund on the voucher or change for something else in the UK?
Are they bound by UK law (supplying goods and services) and being in breach of contract by not supplying what we purchased?
We would be most grateful for any advice.
Many thanks in advance 😊

Caz3121

paulinechiv said:

Are they bound by UK law (supplying goods and services) and being in breach of contract by not supplying what we purchased?

Maybe I have misinterpreted your post but you purchased a 7 day explorer pass and they provided a 7 day explorer pass.
Many travel companies, excursions etc are providing vouchers rather than refunds and subsequent credit/debit card claims have been declined as voucher given
If he is not going to be able to use it In the next 2 years then, since it has no specific date/name (the pass is only activated from 1st use) then could he maybe sell it on to someone that could use it (after all this over)

Aylesbury_Duck

I think you're stuck.  It's yet another example of the risk of buying through businesses like Groupon and vouchers generally.  As I see it, you bought a voucher from Groupon which has been used to buy the pass from another party.  The other party has provided the pass and actually, have been more accommodating than they need to be by extending it.

In summary, your options are to accept the flexibility of the extension, or write it off.  They have been clear that you can't give it away or sell it on.