Groupon Refunded My Voucher Which I Had Booked for Tomorrow

Lfutureminime on 18/07/2019 - 18:41

The Background

I purchased a voucher for 2 people and last week end to book it for the final day available (tomorrow Friday 19th).

The online booking system showed I could book up until the 19th but all future days were blocked out (as expected) but it would not process a booking for Friday. I did not want to test booking earlier this week as I did not want to book a date I couldn't attend. I contacted Groupon though online chat, who just said to book another day and couldn't explain why it wasn't working. I asked if I could just contact the merchant and see if they were happy for me to book Friday and was told I could and this was my best course of action. I asked the issue to be raised to find out why I couldn't book.

Contacted merchant, they were happy, booked for Friday.

THE SITUATION

This morning I get an email back saying 'thanks for waiting for the investigation, we can offer you a refund as Groupon credit valid for 30 days'. I emailed back saying I didn't want a credit, I wanted to find out why I couldn't book and that I had booked for Friday through the merchant. I did also make a note that a 30 day credit would be stupid, that in NSW the monetary value is valid for 3 years.

I just got an email from Groupon saying my voucher has been refunded through the original payment method. Now the tricky bits:

My voucher is marked as used as agreed with the merchant, they used it today so I could get the experience tomorrow. I want to make sure they get paid however
I ordered the Groupon with a 10% off voucher and do genuinely want to use it.

THE QUESTIONS

Anyone had an experience with people refunding things when not asked? Any useful tips for when I try to get this sorted tomorrow? I'll be making an ACCC complaint because I think the offer for credit is quite a dodgy move, and it appears to be just the default message.

Entertainment

Related Stores

Groupon Australia

Marketplace

Comments

crentist on 18/07/2019 - 20:24

+2

So, you got what you wanted, plus a refund?
qwerty on 18/07/2019 - 20:27

You asked an overseas groupon rep to escalate an issue on why a groupon thats ending tomorrow and probably hasn't been sold for over a month wasn't working ?

What did you expect ? A credit takes seconds , the overseas calls and checking out why the booking system didnt work would take way longer.
- futureminime on 19/07/2019 - 08:55
  
  Groupon voucher is still for sale. I guess I naively thought that fixing a broken system would need to be done anyway and that I would just be looped in on the reason/when it was fixed so I didn't run into the issue in the future.
  
  Pretty much the same reason I posted here actually. I was hoping someone knew if it was a common issue or what the best solution/work around was.
MilkDrinker on 18/07/2019 - 21:49

+1

Well as long as the merchant agrees to charge you 10% less go with it.

As qwerty says, groupon is a huge(big?) company and generally tries slightly shifty things like 30 day credit to stop you from getting your money back. Its like the situation a while ago where an ozbargainer had trouble returning a brand new samsung tv from the goodguys that wasn't working properly cause the manager kept insisting that you have to go through samsungs warranty department.

Just a pain in the ass when it happens and hopefully enough complaints gets heaped on that groupon get a $100,000+ fine and amend their australian policies.

Useful tips? You could mention that per Australian law you are entitled to a full refund if you don't get your goods etc. If that doesn't work then send your complaint in if you have the time and motivation. Also you can probably get a chargeback with your credit card bank regardless of what groupon say.
- futureminime on 19/07/2019 - 09:10
  
  +1
  
  Thanks for the tips Gagiman,
  
  I guess I'm overly committed on a relatively small issue. I just got my back up about it because Groupon is big enough that things should work as described and that they just use their size to ignore issues. I figure 90% of the driver of ACCC complaints is quantity and then they'd look into what the issues are, so I'm happy to add to the pile if I think a big company isn't pulling its weight.
whooah1979 on 18/07/2019 - 22:01

+1

I'll be making an ACCC complaint

The ACCC can't help resolve this dispute.
- futureminime on 19/07/2019 - 08:55
  
  Thanks for the heads up. I am aware, but maybe didn't spell it out well enough. The complaint will be that they offered the 30 day credit. I know it won't help my dispute but not everyone browses OzBargain and are aware you don't need to take a 30 day credit when their system is broken.
Smulder on 18/07/2019 - 23:38

+3

Never accept Groupon credit as the resolution for a complaint. Always say no thank you, that you would like a refund to your credit card.

I have had this on 3 occasions in the past, they always try to offer you credit, making it sound like a great deal, but then they always give a refund when you decline the credit offer.
- futureminime on 19/07/2019 - 08:58
  
  Thanks Smulder,
  
  Seemed like it was standard policy, like the emails may even be automated and if it reads 'yes' they will credit and if it reads 'no' it will refund to your card. I guess as qwerty said its all about timing and they will do whatever is fastest and move on.
- Yola on 20/07/2019 - 14:48
  
  Yes the same thing has happened to me several times. They just try it out and I am sure some do not argue and so it works for Groupon.
SydneySwan on 19/07/2019 - 08:09

+2

I bought a restaurant offer from Groupon last December that we used in January. A couple of weeks later Groupon refunded (yes refunded not credit!) the offer as they said the merchant could no longer fulfill the offer. I just let it go ……. made up for the times when Groupon had been really awkward about refunding problem offers.
Love a bargain on 19/07/2019 - 16:17

Why don't you be open about this with the merchant and offer to pay them the same price instead? Surely they'd be happy to get more money from the transaction than what they could have received from Groupon. Should probably contact them today so that they don't cancel your booking for tomorrow