GrouponReviews 5,287

I bought a consealed weapon course for my husband as a gift in October of 2012. My husband attempted to schedule a course with the vendor for several months to no avail as the vendor had no availability and no new courses were scheduled. When I contacted groupon's customer service, I've been told to... wait for it... give it as a gift to someone else!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!? Or wait until it expires so I could apply the same dollar credit to another course WITH THE SAME VENDOR! 'Cuz you know... apparently that's what the "fine print" states. Thieves! Please please please stay away. Groupon is a fraud!

I have ordered from Ideeli numerous times, and after reading the complaints here cannot imagine that we are talking about the same website. This site has been a pleasure to order from: Ordering is easy, I find many things I like (at good prices), and they are very clear about whether something can or can not be returned (and all relevant policies) at the point of sale. The *one* time I had to return something beyond their 14-day limit, I believe I'd recleived the package while we were out of state on vacation for two weeks. I explained the situation, and that I did not like the purchase, and got a response authorizing a return. I was pleasantly surprised that they made this exception when they clearly did not have to. Also, I enjoy getting the free VIP shipping that they reward frequent buyers with. Having to accept credit on returns is no problem, as I know I will be buying from them again and again.

I have used Groupons for purchasing items and have had no problems.
Where I have had issues are when purchasing services (spa services, etc.)
The problem is that they OVERSELL these services and the vendors get overwhelmed. It takes forever to get an appointment scheduled and the vendor also gets slammed with all the negative press when the customer can't get an appointment at the time they want or within a reasonable timeframe? Not good for business because most people will take the time to write a negative review about the place. There needs to be a LIMIT on the number they sell on groupon.

Let me tell you a little bit about my experience with groupon so far. I bought a deal from them for $34 on one day. Four days later my card was charged again for another $34. Their excuse was that i had purchased two deals from each of my accounts. I explained to them that i had tried to make a purchase from one account and was unable to complete the checkout process so i switched to another - and in any case, since i unsuccessfully attempted the purchase on one account and actually purchased the deal on another account on the same day, within minutes of one another, how did my card end up charged twice on different dates? Let me also note how hard it is to get in touch with these people. Send them an email and a robot responds saying they'll reply in 72 hours. Trust me, they won't unless you keep contacting them nonstop or threaten to dispute the charges. Their phone service is just as insipid and dense as the robot! When i requested a refund, they said they'd have one to me within 10 business days. Day 10 came and went and no refund was showing on my account. When i contacted them for the 1000th time i was told there was no way the charge could have even showed up on my bank statement. When i offered to send them a copy of my bank statement they relented and switched back to their original song and dance and said the refund had been released by their company and was being held up by my financial institution. Upon contacting my bank, they said there was nothing that could be seen on their end as far as a refund went and decided it was in my best interests to go ahead and dispute the charges and said groupon's actions have thus far constituted as fraud since they charged my card a second time on a different date without my authorization and requested i file a police report - which i am considering doing. Just a word to the wise... don't use them for anything. They're quite literally thieves in my book and that's all i have to say about them. I'm still considering contacting the BBB regarding them.

I love Groupon. We got a premium suite at a hotel including several extra services and items included, for the same price as the plain room rate with less tickets (a lodge and water park)-literally half price. Of course you don't get something for nothing- there were date restrictions, an expiration date, and no exchanges for types of rooms not in the deal- but if you took all those into account on planning time to use it, it worked great. That said, I am sure some people grabbed it, didn't pay attention they couldn't use it on the peak weekends they wanted or the one night they tried to use it got full, so they are screaming what a rip off it is. Just read carefully ahead of time and it can be great for saving money!

I purchased a Groupon, went to the store to use it, and the store said the Groupon was not valid. Apparently Groupon had some sort of "system problem" which was indicating that the Groupon had already been used. It had definitely not been used. I made my purchase at the store anyway, fully expecting Groupon to give me back the value of the Groupon. Wrong. Groupon Customer Service did not resolve my issue. I ended up having to file a complaint with the Better Business Bureau/BBB. Groupon then agreed in their response to the BBB complaint to issue me a refund. Weeks later, I still do not have the refund. I called Groupon about the refund and was promised that someone will return my call in 2 days. A week later I am still waiting for that return phone call. I had to file another complaint with the BBB just to get the refund that Groupon promised to give me in their written response to my first complaint! Considering all the time I am spending I certainly am not saving any money using their "service". When everything goes well, Groupon is not a bad deal. When something goes wrong, good luck. Any company can provide great customer service when things are going well. A true customer focused organization should be able to make a customer feel good even when things are not going as planned. Groupon certainly fails in this respect.

As a merchant I've dealt with Dealfind, Teambuy, Living Social, Kijiji, and Groupon, and Groupon is far and away the best. Customer service has been excellent and prompt with any questions or concerns I've had.
To track my sales they sent me an I-phone 4 that allows me to scan my customers coupons or their smartphones for the UPC code (saves paper tree huggers) and updates my sales database immediately. I can tell exactly how many people are using them and when as well as frequency of their visits for things like multiple day pass deals.
Ask for more than 50/50. After running deals with Dealfind that sold over 1250 vouchers I had enough clout to ask them for 75/25 split. Once Groupon contacted me I asked for the same and got 72/28 but they cover all the credit card fees that Dealfind doesn't ( don't worry Dealfind you guys are still my second favorite) so it was pretty even.
If you are a business owner don't overextend yourself. I read about people going under and losing money and boo hoo hoo poor Me. Read the agreement like I did. If you are a service based business make sure what you get at least covers your costs and think of the rest as great advertising. If you are goods based same deal but don't give too much. I have no sympathy for people that whine about losses after they got to look at the deal and sign off on it. Remember that redemption is rarely more than 50% but be aware it could go higher and be prepared for that. It's been nothing but good for me.
Just a quick add on regarding payment and hidden fees. Haven't had any problems and payment was always prompt. Since we were a top selling deal we were featured in some other offers for new and V. I. P. Members and ended up getting a couple more cheques in the months following our deal.

I've had some pretty good deals with Groupon, but then I bought a remote controlled helicopter as a Christmas present for my nephew. The thing didn't work when he took it out of the box, and since I bought it more than 15 days before Christmas, they won't take it back--not even willing to discuss it. What other reputable site has a 15 day return policy-- absurd! One horrible experience more than offsets 5 really good experiences.

I have been an avid supporter o Groupon until I had to make a return. They make their returns impossible and horribly word their two conflicting policies. The emails they send you for deals in your area are a huge ripoff and impossible to get money back on. I requested a return and did not receive a response until 4 days later. I was then too close to the event to even try to resell the tickets. Their employees are condescending, don't fully address your requests, and unwilling to admit when they made an error. I am never using this site again and would strongly recommend you avoid, or only but items you are COMPLETELY sure of.

Wish we read read the reviews before trying Groupon. We purchased bowling passes with no blackout days or times listed. When we arrived on a Saturday night, we found a mostly empty bowling alley that would only redeem the voucher M-F, during the day. We were a large party that would have easily spent several hundred on beer alone! Not smart for the bowling alley, which we will never go to again. Groupon refused to refund the money and we will never use them again either.