Problem with Groupon - Who issues the refund ?

JimsAlterEgo · 25-11-2011 11:15am #1

Reading the mattress thread got me thinking about these rights regarding purchases with Groupon. To me the mattress one is cut and dry, you can return it when you receive it, albeight I think you would bear the return cost.

How would it work for vouchers or services? e.g. you get a voucher for a carpet cleaning service? Could the voucher be considered what you purchased and as such you can return it?

It poses an interesting point about this model of business and I would assume they have covered themselves.

iMax · 28-11-2011 4:09pm

Guys,

Quick question on refunds from Groupon.

I bought an offer from them on the 20th October, the coupon activated on the 24th & I placed my order with the supplier on the 25th (paying a small additional delivery charge).

Upon paying the delivery charge, the order went from "placed" to "confirmed". It's sat there ever since. The product was to be a birthday gift for the start of December & I've lost faith in it arriving. I tried contacting the supplier last week & found they don't publish a phone number so I emailed them & received no response.

I found on their facebook page that they have hundreds of unfulfilled orders waiting to go out (apparently they're drop shipping them). I've no problem with this manner of business, however there was no mention of this in any of the communication.

I've had to buy a replacement gift & called Groupon to arrange a refund & they maintain that it's up to the supplier to issue the refund as they've already paid them. I maintain that the contract is with the seller (groupon).

Anyone know who's right & if possible point me to the relevant documentation to point this out ?

jor el · 28-11-2011 5:51pm

iMax wrote: »

called Groupon to arrange a refund & they maintain that it's up to the supplier to issue the refund as they've already paid them.

That's highly unlikely to be true. As far as I know, the coupon companies don't pay the retailer immediately, but only after the retailer has sold the goods to the buyer and the retailer then invoices Groupon for the sale.

Your initial contract was with Groupon, for which you bought a voucher. They did supply the voucher, so technically they're not required to give a refund. The voucher is fine, it's the company that's selling the product that are giving problems.

You should probably contact the National Consumer Agency and get clarification on exactly where the responsibilities lie with this kind of deal. It's not something that will have any legislation for it specifically, but may be covered in some roundabout way.

In general though, vouchers have no consumer protection around them. When you buy any voucher you have no comeback if the voucher expires or can't be redeemed. The NCA have stated this on previous occasions, as have consumer advocates like Conor Pope, etc.

ScouseMouse · 28-11-2011 8:00pm

I have a similar issue. Bought a hotel voucher last weekend and when I hit pay, a big popup appeared.

I closed it down and buy was still on the screen so I hit it again. Now I have two deals.

I emailed them straight away, a week later no reply.

I rang them two days after it happened and the guy on the phone said he couldnt find the order and hung up.

I emailed again yesterday, still no answer.

What kind of ejits are they? It says to cancel you have to write to them. I dont see any address to send a letter. Two emails later and now its gone over a week.

Getting annoyed now.

Any ideas folks?

BrianD · 28-11-2011 9:15pm

From what I have read Groupon et al don't pay the company for vouchers that are not redeemed so I doubt that the retailer sees any cash up front.

ScouseMouse · 29-11-2011 10:28am

Tuesday morning.

11 minutes on hold and no one answering. Thank god its a free phone number.

Anyone there?

AngryLips · 29-11-2011 11:18am

What if the voucher cannot be redeemed? In situations like this or where the associated business has gone bust.

ScouseMouse · 29-11-2011 12:04pm

Got an answer after 16 minutes on hold. The lady apologised as there was a large backlog that they were working through.

They cancelled my extra deal, refund to appear on my card within 5 days and email to that affect arrived five minutes later.

So, think I am sorted.

StarShiner · 30-11-2011 12:49am

I have been trying to get a canvas purchased through a groupon deal from UK Canvas/Balmer Media. Ordered/Redeemed voucher on Sept 1st and exchanged loads of emails from mid Oct with replies saying it will be with you at the end of the week.... I learned today from the Balmer website they've gone into administration.. Have emailed Groupon/CityDeal for a refund.. fingers crossed..

hotchpotch · 30-11-2011 3:57pm

I'm having the same issue, although UK canvas never even gave me a delivery date. I initially had to mail them due to problems with their website not accepting my order, although they assured me it had been accepted and provided me the order reference. When I went to check up on it again after about a month, it still wasn't on their website so then I started to mail them asking when I could expect delivery.
Finally after three unanswered mails on the delivery query, I recieved an automated email response saying that the company had gone into liquidation.
I also had paid the extra costs for p&p that were not included in the Citydeal voucher, but I think I can kiss goodbye to that £10 Sterling.
I've also sent an email to Citydeal this week to ask how they intend to resolve the situation - will update when they respond.
Fingers crossed.

Zab · 30-11-2011 4:04pm

jor el wrote: »

That's highly unlikely to be true. As far as I know, the coupon companies don't pay the retailer immediately, but only after the retailer has sold the goods to the buyer and the retailer then invoices Groupon for the sale.

In this case I'd say the company would be able to get the money from Groupon when OP handed over the security code on his voucher, even if they've agreed not to do this until they shipped the goods.

We could really do with some legislation on these issues. I found it particularly notable with that electricdeals.ie site where they were advertising electronics but selling you a voucher that you then immediately redeemed with them. If this could legally be viewed as them fulfilling their initial contract to supply a voucher and then there being no law saying they have to redeem the voucher this puts the buyer into a terrible position.

StarShiner · 01-12-2011 12:06am

Yep I paid that P&P direct too.. I also asked Groupon about that but reckon however slim my chances of a refund for the voucher is I've no hope of ever seeing that! I've not had any feedback from Groupon/CityDeals yet.. Has anyone any experience getting customer feedback from them? Are we looking at 48hrs, a week, longer?! Ideally I want to exhaust that avenue before I'd go to the likes of the NCA...

dirty_leo · 01-12-2011 3:25pm

I'm having a similar problem with the product that I ordered mid-October. I haven't received anything yet. To date the provider has been totally silent. So it doesn't look good. When I contacted Groupon about it, it took them a few days but they got back to me. Currently I'm still communicating with them to understand what is going on.

But what I don't understand (or find it hard to admit) is how come Groupon is not considered responsible for the sale? Well... I guess I understand that they sold me a voucher and not the goods but still... Anyway... if this is really the case, it seems to me that Groupon is the perfect platform for scam.

iMax · 02-12-2011 11:32am

Just after getting a phone call from the MD of the company offering the product offering me a full refund.

Found their facebook page & started asking a lot of questions, had my requests for a refund continually ignored until I started replying to every post they had urging others to contact watchdog (including the link to file a story).

Maybe everyone else could consider a similar strategy. We need something similar to watchdog here, it appears to have put the ****s up them.

Dodge · 02-12-2011 5:07pm

Isn't Joe Duffy similar (and in real terms probably has a broader reach...)

iMax · 02-12-2011 5:22pm

Just got an email off groupon saying they were processing a refund & also one other from the supplier apologising for the situation, telling me that he's refunding me the postage charge & also sending me one of their product anyway gratis.

Happy with that outcome, but would be very skeptical about buying a groupon offer again.

StarShiner · 02-12-2011 8:39pm

iMax wrote: »

Just got an email off groupon saying they were processing a refund

iMax would you mind telling me which email address you used.. I haven't even had an acknowledgment from my tues email to support@citydeal.ie; I'm also sick ringing and no-one answering. Not very impressed with the lack of customer service...:mad:

its reassuring that you've had a refund issued even though you redeemed your voucher.

Whilst I know how annoyed I am about getting stung on my deal and no reply from Groupon about it.. are there many other dissatisfied Groupon customers out there? As a boards newbie do the more established members have a sense of whether the overwhelming majority of CityDeal deals are kosher and we are the .00001% or as I fear not and lots are not fulfilled???

iMax · 02-12-2011 9:38pm

Support@groupon.co.uk

StarShiner · 04-12-2011 11:01am

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2011/dec/02/groupon-investigated-office-fair-trading

I see the UK Office of Fair Trading is investigating Groupon...

dirty_leo · 04-12-2011 1:39pm

Yesterday, I got an e-mail from the customer service of the provider. They are going to send me the product that I bought but still no delivery date.

I wonder if some companies are not stretching themselves too much with Groupon. This whole thing is supposed to be like a marketing campaign for them but if they can't fulfill their promises it has the total opposite effect.

hotchpotch · 05-12-2011 11:47am

I received a response from Citydeal on Saturday. They are going to refund me for the amount I paid to them but have advised that I need to contact the liquidators for the company if I want to claim a refund for the P&P I paid directly to UK Canvas. Not sure how far I'll get with that, but I suppose its worth sending them an email.
This is the second time now that I've had a deal refunded to me by Citydeal as the supplier has gone out of business. It would make you wonder about how they choose suppliers. I can't say that the customer service has been good on either occassion, and the experiences have definitely put me off getting anymore Citydeals.

iMax · 05-12-2011 12:34pm

My product has just arrived by courier. Refund hasn't been processed yet although I have emails to state that it will be. Amazingly after all the complaints etc, they'e on sale again in the nationwide deals today

Mountjoy Mugger · 13-12-2011 3:29pm

There seems to be an increase in the number of complaints about Groupon of late.

Can posters note that you aren't the first to complain and certainly will not be the last, given the history of Groupon.

the firm broke UK advertising regulations 48 times in 11 months

Don't trust them, for goodness sake.

rubadub · 13-12-2011 4:17pm

I can't see the details of the complaints though, just the cake company who had unexpected demand.

He said Groupon should offer a cap on the number of vouchers a business can offer.

I know other similar sites work like this, usually a combined thing, like 1000 vouchers up for grabs, must buy within 48hrs or similar.

Its quite foolish for a business to leave themselves open to this, if it really is true that groupon do not offer a cap.

dudara · 13-12-2011 9:50pm

Thread merged into the general Groupon thread

dudara

prettygurrly · 14-12-2011 10:25am

I have had great experience with groupon but only because i generally buy haircuts etc. although i have bout two canvas too. however sadly my latest purchase from extremefliers through groupon still hasn't arrived and after looking on my extremefliers account on their website it says my order was cancelled on 25th oct (the day i bought the helicopter) although i got an email from customer service (extremefliers) saying that the delivery address was correct on 27th oct.

currently on hold for groupon, 4 mins and waiting. tried emailing extremefliers again but got automated response that they are dispatching this week (same as two weeks ago) so i cant find out why my order says cancelled on the net. so think i'll go for a refund. need to know asap so i can buy something else....

prettygurrly · 14-12-2011 10:37am

groupon answered after 9 mins. they only have an email address for the extremefliers crowd but hopefully they'll reply to groupon as opposed to some random customer.
will be getting groupon credit if it all falls through and hopefully a refund of the post and packing.
Dont mind the credit as i get my hair cut through groupon all the time so it'll be used next year some time but can see that irritating people who bought a groupon as a once off...

Problem with Groupon - Who issues the refund ?

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