Groupon AU

I purchased a product through Groupon for the very first time on 11 December. When the product hadn't arrived by the end of December I rang the company to enquire where my order was. I was advised because of the Xmas period my order would not arrive until about 8 January. When it didn't arrive I rang again and was advised delivery would now be between 16 January and 26 January. Each time I rang the delivery date kept being pushed back with no real excuse why it was taking so long. The third phone call was on 19 January and when I complained and asked where my item was, was it coming, if not I wanted my money back, I was advised my complaint would have to be put through to their Resolutions team and I would be advised of what was happening in 7 to 10 business days. When I said this was too long and asked to speak to a supervisor I was told the supervisor was very busy with other phone calls and she would tell me the same response anyway. So, they have my money but they give absolutely NO customer service. I do not know where the product is nor do I know if they will give me my money back. When you complain they don't really care. The people who answer the phone are told what to say and that's as far as it goes. This is the first and only time I will use Groupon. I would never ever trust them!

Be careful when purchasing a deal from Groupon - we bought one for 'Beyond Resort' Krabi and the description said the rooms had quote "Sea and Pool views"... The type of room they were flogging a 'Cottage room' actually had NO views at all - was right at the back of the resort with a view of a concrete wall.
That's ok - we were upgraded to a room with views because I took a screen capture and emailed it to them... but what Groupon did (when they finally accepted they got it wrong) was to go in and CHANGE the listing info for a deal that had already closed. They removed the references to views, mini bar and several other features which were no doubt selling points for all those who purchased the deal. Changing it retrospectively means all the other people who bought this deal will not have a leg to stand on when they get to the resort and find themselves 'viewless'. Groupon will just send them a link to the listing and say "see - no mention of views". So very dishonest - if I ever purchase a Groupon voucher again I'll take screen captures of the listing as I did with this one. Shame on them!

CONSUMERS BE AWARE!
I have purchased many Groupon voucher before. But unfortunately being a valued customer means nothing to Groupon. I had recently purchased a voucher for a three day getaway to smuggles on the beach in NSW for my parents xmas present. Once my mother had contacted Smuggles to book the dates they told her that it was there block out period and she was unable to book on these dates even though this was not stated on the voucher! Smuggles continued to tell her that the block out dates had been written incorrectly by Groupon and that the matter remained with them. Once I contacted Groupon after it has taken several weeks of back to back emails and phone calls do I get the reply sorry we can not refund your money as you have missed the 7 day refund period but here is the money in Groupon credit! Groupon will not take responsibility for there mistake and then after want you to spend your $300+ with them again after you have had such a horrible experience! Thanks Groupon for making my parents little christmas present such a terrible experience!

My 1st purchase through Groupon.com.au. There will not be a 2nd.
Alex, a supervisor at Groupon Australia was very rude & unhelpful when I finally got through to him after being on hold for 54 mins! He told me it's a user error, I will not get a refund and if I ask again he'll end the call. He then hung up the phone. Great way for a supervisor to run a business-well done Alex!
Whilst on hold I repeatedly heard that "If there is an issue with your voucher we'll do everything we can to make the customer happy"... Lie!
I purchased a massage voucher and spent days trying to redeem it. The merchant's website is very confusing ( even the groupon staff could not navigate the site), the mechant will not answer phone calls & you can't leave a message.
So I sent an SMS to the merchant/advertiser (Homespa-massage.com) as they do not have a landline telephone. The reply I got 2 days later was to "Book through the website". Did they even read the SMS I sent? That's when I called Groupon Australia and requested a refund as above.
I would NOT recommend Groupon Australia to anybody. It's not worth the frustration & disappointment. There are many other bargain/deal sites out there which are fantastic to deal with. Give your business to them instead.

Another one bites the dust!
I purchased a GROUPON voucher for my 6 grandkids to visit a waterpark in Southport QLD and did so online. I paid my $198 for the vouchers and received the email immediately showing the activity, amount paid and the date of purchase. I couldn't book a specific date and was advised that I could do so online. NO REFERENCE WHATSOEVER was made to an expiry date on the confirmation page but a tab to make the booking was available. As this was a gift, I sent the voucher to my daughters to coordinate. I purchased this on 16/4/23. By the time my daughters got onto this after the school holiday, a week or so later, they discovered that the activity had expired on 23/4/23. This expiry information was embedded in the text only once the booking had been opened beyond the confirmation page.

I contacted Groupon and received their standard "so sorry but we can't help you page" and have since re-contested this.

UNLESS THIS MATTER IS RESOLVED, I will be raising this matter with AUSTRALIAN CONSUMER AFFAIRS and will publish the name, phone number and person I speak to at Consumer Affairs as I'm sick and tired of these RIP OFF merchants getting away with this deceptive nonsense.

GROUPON …… WATCH THIS PACE.
Invoice Number: *******

I would advise extreme caution before signing up for any Groupon deals. If you are absolutely certain that you know what you are ordering and are equally certain that you are going to get it, fine. But, in my experience, if anything goes wrong you will be lucky to get a proper response from Groupon and will find it very difficult, perhaps impossible, to obtain a refund.

To me, it seems that Groupon's business model is simple – they take no financial risks (i. E. they have no inventory), they take all payments in advance and then distance themselves from the process to delay making any payment to anyone for as long as possible, if indeed they make any payment at all. I wish I had read the numerous reviews complaining about Groupon Australia's practices before I was daft enough to trust them with my money.

Luckily my financial damage was virtually nil. By threatening Groupon with legal action they gave me a refund. What really annoyed me about my problem was that the restaurant had closed before the deal was sold to me. Fair enough, these things happen, but when I informed them they just sent standard responses, telling me to wait while they sorted things out. We were only in the vicinity of the restaurant for a week (on holiday). Worse still, they continued to advertise the deal when they knew that vouchers could not be redeemed.

I plan to make a complaint about Groupon Australia's activities to both the ADMA and ACCC. I would urge those who have had bad experiences to do the same. I think we owe that to all the people who are going to end up out of pocket in the future if Groupon Australia are not taken to task.

DO NOT USE GROUPON AUSTRALIA! I purchased 2 pairs of UGG boots on the 17th of July for a total transaction value of $278. I contacted Groupon via email when I noticed the money had been taken from my bank account but I had received no receipt... and no reply. I later contacted Groupon using the customer service number provided on their page, I told the lady that I had not received a receipt or product and it has been a couple of weeks since I made the purchase. I was then told that I was not registered with Groupon? How on earth this is possible I have no idea when I receive emails daily and they were so quick to extract my money from my bank account? Yet they couldn't find my email or name in their system? I was then asked to send over a screen shot of my bank statement, which I did. I then received again no other communication. The next day I called, yet again, still no answer and the same response that I was not registered with Groupon, have I got another email address or name? AGAIN. I was starting to really loose my patients. The groupon staff member then asked for my bank account details so she can send it off to another billing department. I then received no further information. The next day comes... so AGAIN I call (this is now the 4th phone call) and the same response... mam I can not find your account details with groupon, what is the tracking code for the product you purchased... By this point I was really starting to loose my mind. As I kept getting the same ridiculous questions and scripted answers every time I call. It is now the 1st of August and no product or refund. I still have no answers and I am due to return to the UK in less than a week and a half. PLEASE NOTE the customer call centre is in the PHILIPPINES and NOT Australia. Which makes it even more frustrating to communicate my issue as the staff speak little English and do not understand everything you are explaining to them, hence why they repeat their scripted answers to you. I will never ever use Groupon again. The discount is just not worth the trouble! It is just another greedy company exploiting people. Spend your money locally.

The worst customer service I ever encountered. I purchased a Brita filter set after Christmas and found some filters broken upon arrival. So happened that I had closed the bank account tied with the Visa Debit card. When the CS informed me they would give me credit or refund. Since I was going to Asia for holiday, I chose to get back refund. Indeed, I didn't mind to get credit perhaps the credit will last for only one month and I must pick something over the period of time.
Then a terrible experience commenced after I chose to get refund. The CS insisted that the refund could make even my account was closed. From the name of CS representatives and ways of their writing, I think they were from overseas call center. They didn't understand the simplest operation of banks. My point was the bank should have returned the refund to Groupon since the account was closed and the transaction couldn't go thru. Then CS said I needed to provide bank letter. I was traveling in Asia. Upon return to Sydney last month, I called ANZ and the bank issued the letter to prove the account was closed. I wrote back with the support. OMG, a CS replied that they still needed proof of account closed on 6 March. Today the CS wrote me again saying he would like to close the case if I don't need any further assistance. I replied right the way that I didn't know how to respond as I had provided a bank letter.
The refund is only $30.6. I keep on following up the refund because firstly this is my money. Secondly I got the poorest services. They kept on changing people to serve me. What they said didn't make sense and just wanted me to stop!