Groupon.com

My husband and I did not buy each other Christmas gifts this year, in part because he was laid off from work. When I saw this deal on Groupon, I told my husband about it. We both enjoy watching the games and thought this would be a great time away and get our minds off the job situation, of course we thought the deal was a great price with the dinner and open bar that was included, and figured even though the seats were not going to be the greatest it was going to be exciting to be among the fans. So I was saddened when I received the email and had to tell my husband about the cancellation. After reading the above statements, the only positive thing I can pull from this situation is that we were fortunate enough to have received a cancellation notice well in advance of our game night.

We went to the "event" last night (Jan 2) and only got a sign in the window of Galleria Marchetti that the event had been cancelled. No answers from anyone at the time (Groupon, National Event Partners, Blackhawks). We bailed and caught dinner at The Twisted Spoke then went home to find an email from Groupon at 4:17pm saying the event was cancelled "due to unforseen circumstances".

Well, the email arrived 15 minutes after we were on the road. At least we're getting the $220 back, the wife left a nastygram with Groupon to see if they will comp my fuel costs for a 70 mile trip.

Sounds like National Event Planners and Galleria Marchetti are the weasels in this - if you can't pull together a simple event then don't be in the business!

Same thing happened to me and Groupon blamed the Blackhawks which when I called they said they had nothing to do with it. I think all of you should do the same thing I did and call the Blackhawks and complain to the Group Ticket sales department. They should be sued for what they did. They cost me a day of work and embrassment to my brother in law who flew up to see the game as part of his holiday visit.

funny

I also had a bad experience at the 12/26/11 game, and the entire deal was completely misrepresented. I contacted Groupon's customer service and they accomodated me and I am very satisfied with how Groupon handled it, after the fact. The problem isn't Groupon, it's National Event Partners. It is a company that is not even BBB accredited, yet still managed to get a grade of F by the BBB, and they were the ones on the day of the event who didn't even direct the long line of us waiting inside that we should go ahead in and get some food/drink; that the line was just for tickets; and National Event Partners are the ones who did not even secure real seats for people for the game, instead standing room only was made available. They misrepresented the deal to Groupon as far as I can tell.

Here was the email that I sent to Groupon regarding the same deal for the 12/26/11 game.

Hi,

I recently purchased two Groupons for the Chicago Blackhawks event on December 26th. The service that I received when I redeemed these groupons was extremely unsatisfactory and not worth the $110 per ticket that I paid. I would like a refund based on the horrible service that we received.

Let me explain:

The dinner at Galleria Marchetti was not nearly of the quality that described in the Groupon details. Groupon listed the details as:
Starting 90 minutes before the game, guests can imbibe premium liquors and select craft brews at an open bar and graze on a buffet that typically includes items such as sliders, salads, pasta, and prime rib carved in the shape of a sieve. A band gets fans in the mood to cheer with a rousing live set, and high-end shuttles will whisk fans to the United Center before the puck drops.

There was no salad, no prime rib. Instead we were offered sliders that were undercooked. The restaurant was running out of food before everyone had a chance to eat. There was not enough seating at the restaurant, so over half of the people had to stand while eating. There was no live band, just a DJ with inadequate sound equipment. We were met by long lines of unhappy people.
The "high-end shuttles" were nothing more than chartered buses, where the bus driver tried to cram us in like cattle. Our bus driver stated that we weren't leaving until the bus was full, and that included the aisle, so many people had to stand for the entire bus ride.
The most disappointing thing about the event was that most people were given standing room only tickets for the Blackhawks game. The Groupon said the tickets were for 300-level seats, however, that's not what most people received.

It is extremely unsatisfactory that I paid $220 for what was supposed to be a fun night, but it turned out to be a night from hell.

My email to Groupon support; I cced National Event Partners:

Hi Nicholas,

Thanks for your prompt reply. I appreciate that Groupon is processing a refund. I do have a few more questions regarding the incident Monday night that can help Groupon shed some light on what was a fairly traumatic experience. This was, as you know, not just a $10 deal for burgers; it was a $110 deal, and I purchased 5 for my family, the day after Christmas. It was a gift for my siblings and my parents, and being yelled at and told we would not be getting the tickets we had purchased was quite unsettling. I would appreciate some guidance on the following questions. Thanks.

We were told by representatives for National Event Partners that "Groupon did not pay us, so we do not have your tickets." Is this true? Because if it is, I have entirely lost faith in Groupon and will be sure to spread news of this utter failure to any current and future customers. Also, if this is the case, Groupon held on to and further invested my $550 for six weeks (I purchased on 11/14/11). Groupon is a publicly traded company, not the federal government; I expect, at a minimum, to be paid interest on the $550 that Groupon borrowed for that period.
The other scenario is this: National Event Partners lied to us. In this case, they are making off like bandits with Groupon's money, and need to be prosecuted, fined, and have their business shut down.
As I mentioned, if this were a less expensive Groupon, with less money and time invested, I would be completely satisfied with a full refund. But this isn't the case. And I'm sure that the Blackhawks fans that traveled many miles from far-flung suburbs, paid for gas and parking and hotels, and also received the kind of offensive, unfair, and insulting treatment at the hands of Groupon and National Event Partners, would agree with me. Further discussion of this embarrassing "deal" can be found here.

I appreciate your answers and look forward to hearing from you.

I bought my 2 tickets (a Christmas present) when only 70 were sold (6 weeks ago) and it ending up selling out at 240. I received an email from National Event Partners exactly 26 hours and 40 minutes before the event telling me that Groupon hadn't filled their obligation. When I called Groupon, they said that National Event had oversold the event. I did everything I was instructed to do by National Event Partners and have a confirmation email stating that I had confirmed reservations. Now they want me to "believe" that 240 seats at the United Center aren't going to be filled and the Galleria Marchetti bought food for 240 people that won't be showing up because Groupon "didn't fill their obligation"? My favorite part of this whole fiasco is that National Event Partners suggested in their email that I book directly with them in the future! Fat chance.

This is a summary of my experience:
I had a similar experience for the game on 12/21/11. I had sent in my reservation more than the 48 hours required, however 20 hrs before game time I had received an email from National Event Partners (Groupon Ticket Partner) that I had no tickets and I could choose a game in March. Well after speaking to a customer service, they stated they would look into it and call me back. Guess what, no call back so I called back, and was to they didn’t have an answer and that once again they would call me back. After no call back for a third time, I called them. Now they stated they had tickets and I should go the pre game party. Well I showed up, and guess what, no tickets for me. The people handing out the tickets and checking people in were quite rude and told me “ The Groupon reps were Idiots” for telling me to come up here, as they (Groupon) only provided a platform for National Event Partners to sell their tickets and had nothing to do with tickets. Well after my experience I will never deal with Groupon or National Event Partners, as Groupon can’t be trusted to verify that their business partners are legit. I hope many find this to be useful and stay away from business from National Event Partners and Groupon

I think they overbook and hope people to reserve, and when all the people reserved well they were left scrambling. Simple if you sell tickets make sure you have them. HORRIBLE BUSINESS PRATICE AND UNETHICAL!

I bought a ticket for a restraunt with groupon. ordered a table for 6pm when we got there the restraunt was closed! Groupon wouldnt award us any compensation only a refund, they are greedy and dont care unless they get their money.

Did you buy your air ticket from Groupon?

As a former merchant on Groupon, I can tell you they are a horrible company and not only do they screw over customers, but merchants as well. You are required to sign a non disclosure agreement, you must offer your deal at 50%-90% off what's on your website only to receive less than 1/2 of THAT, if customers don't read the fine print and request a refund for their voucher, the merchant is penalized and even shut down, they give no explanations or have any merchant support, you must wait weeks to get any answers (if you even get any), and they hang up on you if they get frustrated. Horrible company that rapes it's merchants and doesn't provide any customer service to them.

Having bought a travel voucher for accommodation in Bali, when I tried to redeem it with 3months notice, there was no availability within this time. On ringing groupon I was told that in the fine print they could not gaurantee availability and there was no refund. I have taken the matter to ACC and department of commerce which I would urge anyone with bad experiences to do. I am currently out of pocket $2285! I also discovered with another voucher that 3 items had been ordered yet I had only booked 2... Again I was informed too bad so sad!

I have been hooked up to this website since day one. Now several years later I can honestly say it is a complete and utter rip off and a waste of time. If any consumer does their homework you will find that most of the deals they offer are no deals at all. You don't save money at all. By the time you jump through all the stupid conditions to using a groupon or figuring out too late there is an upgrade or some other stupid "CATCH" you just give up on using it. I have not purchased a thing in over 1.5 years but still look at their "DEALS" to laugh.

Here is an example...I just got an email about a nice hotel stay in the country, one nite for $79.00. The catch? You can only stay Sunday to Thursday. No other amenities offered. Where is the deal? This would be a deal if it were a weekend but nobody wants to go to the middle of nowhere during the week! Hotels can't give these rooms away for free! The funny thing is I have been to the town where this deal is offered. THE ENTIRE TOWN is closed Monday and Tuesday and most stores on Wednesday too. Seriously! You would be staying in a ghost town.

Consumers, do your homework before you decide to buy. Figure out what you are really getting because very few businesses can stay in business if they were offering too good to be true deals.

I am a small business owner and had the misfortune of advertising with GROUPON. I was scamed/conned by many buyers and the refund policy of GROPON only helps them accomplish it. They actuallyh told me that their refund policy is a LOOP HOLE that helps them to ensure that they are not held liable for any unpleasant user experiences. As a business owner, I would stay away from this site. They admit that I was scammed by two people and then I caught a third attempting to do the same. They do not care. They even screwed me with their refund policy and sided with the person who scammed my business. Now that person is going all over review sites and is falsely reporting what happened to make my business look bad.

Groupon only works when everything goes right and the business company or person selling the vouchers are honest, which is obviously not always the case! In fact, Groupon offers a perfect avenue for bogus offers, since customers pay upfront. And just try to get your money back! Near on impossible, considering they strike you off their system and your emails requesting the refund bounce back. Totally flawed and predatory business model! No customer protection whatsoever. I regret being so naïve as to believe that I was getting good deals. Never mind paying upfront and getting a below standard service for your money (which also happened to me), but the worst is to never get the service and realized that it would have been much cheaper, convenient and hassle free to pay full price for it.

I have purchased Groupon Now groupons several times, and usually when I buy for salon services, there are NO appointments available that day. Sometimes they even offer them on Mondays when the salon is closed! This last time, they charged me $80, and of course I couldn't get an appointment, so it expired. It has been one week, and they still haven't refunded my credit card. They say they have, but it isn't showing up. My Visa account NEVER takes a week to process a refund. They're just borrowing money from consumers by offering Groupons for services that are NOT available.

For the most part, groupon is a good concept run by greedy people. What does that mean for the business it advertises? Not so good. For instance, what consumers don't know is that groupon group takes 50% of the price of the groupon and gives 50% back to the advertiser. This means, the advertiser gets 25% of the groupon amount. Groupon gets the same amount for simply posting it on their site. Can someone say, unbalanced and unfair? I would recommend groupon to businesses that don't take too much of a hit to advertise with them as it is a very expensive form of advertising.

Groupon does not willing to offer refund on their misleading deal. Obvious "Hotel Collection" is a brand name, and the Andiamo is not equal to "Hotel Collection". I cannot believe they still want to argue that.

Here is the respond I got from Groupon: I am sorry for the confusion. To clarify, "Hotel Collection" is a marketing term for an upscale brand. Andiamo is the name of this business's Hotel Collection line and is the upscale brand featured in this company's Hotel Collection. Many companies offer an upscale Hotel Collection, and I apologize for the misunderstanding.

It's terrible experience with this site, will never use them again! groupon should choose reliable partner not some rubbish company such like Laser Spa！over 2month now i still not received my order, no body answer the phone and you are not allow to leave message! send a few email to groupon, still not sort out the problem! will tell everyone not to use this web anymore!

My realtor referred me to this site to get a great deal from a local painter. I completed the application and paid the $210.00.

Then I tried to call the vendor but the telephone number was "not in use". The vendor never contacted me. I had to make mulitple complaints to Groupon to get my money back. Here is the rep's condescending last e-mail:

Hi Eric,

Thank you for providing me with this additional information. I'm able to go ahead and make a one-time exception in this case. I've just issued you a full refund and removed this Groupon from your account. Please allow up to 10 business days for this to be reflected on your statement. In the future, please keep in mind that we are only able to issue refunds if there is an unresolvable problem with the Groupon, or if you feel that the experience using your Groupon has let you down.

Please be aware that we will not be able to issue additional refunds of this nature in the future. Of course, if you ever run into difficulty redeeming your Groupon, we are glad to help so don't hesitate to contact us.

I truly appreciate your patience in this matter. If you have any further questions, please let me know.

I have ordered a product through groupon called the Magic Decanter which is a red wine airator thing to apparently make red wine taste better. I ordered it over a month ago now and I still haven't received it. I've contacted the Magic Decanter company and no response. I've emailed Groupon twice and no response, I've phoned numerous times and NO ONE ANSWERS!

Their customer service is APPALLING.

How do i go about getting my money back and reporting these two outrageous, money grabbing companies that need to be shut down?

If anyone can help or has had a similar experience, please let me know.

Bought a voucher on 28 January for oakley sunglasses 23 of April now no glasses have emailed multiple times phoned multiple times been phoned company supplying sunglasses directly. But given one empty promise after another. groupon has now sent emails twice promising a refund first within 10 working days no sign of it complained again then emsol saying refund within 5 working days still nothing. I then I received an email again stating five working days for a refund then 6 minutes later an email saying no refund would be given as voucher redeemed by whom god alone knows as I have no money and no sunglasses 3 months later. Have asked to speak to manager multiple times there is never one available! Phoned visa as online purchases covered by them but no groupon has a great scam going as visa cannot get your money back like they normally could cause in theory they have supplied you with the voucher they cannot go after the company supplying product as payment wasnt made direct to them lovely legal loop hole they have found to scam money out of people AVIOD them at all costs

Bought voucher for Blazema hair and beauty course. Course very badly organised, no structure, no goody bag, no certificate, no kits available, basically no opportunity to try out any of the looks promised in the email. Different emails sent to different people with wrong venue details, so many people did not turn up. My friend and I both complained to Groupon and Blazema, no response from either, not even an acknowledgement, but Groupon have since advertised a nail course with Blazema. Never again!

With an array of daily deal businesses like GROUPON, LIVING SOCIAL entering the industry it is important to launch a platform for customer’s reviews and recommendations on these deals redeemed at local places. Business owners should be aware of how strong a marketing tool is the review and recommendation platform to reach sales and market the brand. Also consumers can bring in more value for the business. At COUPOPLACES http://www.coupoplaces.co.uk a new site allows customers to review their coupons at local places.

I purchased a deal for a torpedo rattan furniture set over 8 weeks ago. The delivery was supposed to be 3 weeks. Groupon have not been in touch with me and I am desperately trying to get my money back but finding it almost impossible. This company needs to be shut down!

absolutely disgusted about the Millbrook Lodge offer - has left a very bad taste in my mouth

Groupon just deleted my account without my knowledge.
I have a Groupon I haven’t used yet.
This is unacceptable!

I was overcharged for 3 items I did no order. Have been trying to cancel since I received the confirmation. And Have not been able to communicate with any one person that will help me.

i bought a voucher from this company,

they will not answer their phone or e mails for an appointment. I have tried for 2 weeks. If you read the comments for them they are all negative, others say the same thing that they will not answer their phones for appointments,

Groupon Deleted my account with no warning and kept my money!

My email is robinsonjoann354@gmail.com.

This problem occurred when I filed a complaint with the better business bureau about my Groupon bucks.

Groupon deleted my account and used my groupon bucks without my consent. I get on my groupon which i've had for years to log in and it says my account doesn't exist but im still getting emails. When i traced back, whoever hacked my account or groupon themselves bought e-gift cards to krispy kreme.

It appears that my account has been wiped out without notification nor consent; I am supposed to have a credit of 94.05 and 35 dollars on my account which do not appear, also the account does not show the Groupons previously used, customer service via live chat not email is not respondent.

you currently have a GROUPON for a Quentz Bilingual Academy, but after I purchased this I reached out to them. They are really rude, and continue to not answer all of my questions. When I asked them to call me to discuss they said they had no time. I then told them I had the GROUPON and they basically told me it was NOT VALID.

Is this for real?

I got voucher from blue ocean restaurant through GROUP ON

But I couldn't find on my group on .

Please advise

I am extrememly disappointed. No photos were ever allowed or asjed to br uploade yo personalize. I have already done all i can through both pinterix and groupon!

Fix my orders!