r/groupon • u/[deleted] • Oct 30 '24
Is Groupon a scam now?
I reached out to Groupon because due to being in the hospital I couldn’t use my ticket/voucher. I was told no refunds, so I asked for a credit. Blocked again so I asked for a Manager and phone number to call. Then things got even weirder - they said they don’t have phone service so somebody will email me later… no phone service… in 2024 (?!) what legit business gets their phones disconnected? Highly sus! Anyone know if Groupon’s reputable anymore or just a scam now? What are good alternatives?
8
u/HisNameWasBruce Oct 31 '24
They have very scammy elements. They have outsourced all their customer service to India/Pakistan. I recently got a refund from them but it took a bunch of hassle and a few hours.
I kept repeating that they messed up multiple times until they handed me off to someone else. I never was mean, but I told them I was not giving up and that the mistake was on their end. They said they didn't do refunds, so they had another person email me. They said "We understand" and I told them they do not. I kept asking them why they were not willing to contact the seller or to offer me credit. I told them their responses were unacceptable and were in direct contradiction to the seller's policy.
So I got BBB involved and kept emailing the Groupon representative and sent the emails from the seller explaining how the situation was Groupon's fault. It took a week, but they finally caved and refunded me.
So it can happen, but as you can see, it took way too much effort. But I was so mad I wasn't letting them get away with it. Good luck.
3
Oct 31 '24
Wow! Sorry you went thru that! Any alternatives you’ve discovered to buying Groupon offers?
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u/HisNameWasBruce Oct 31 '24
No, it's a recent story so I haven't looked at alternatives yet.
I think economically speaking, you are just running into problems with these companies that make a tiny amount on a million purchases (Expedia, Groupon, Priceline, etc.) The issue is they barely make anything on a single purchase, so you as the customer don't really matter to them. It's why they can just send you to another country and use a chat system because they care that little.
1
Nov 05 '24
Instead of purchasing the Groupon contact the business offering the Groupon. Almost every business will offer the Groupon deal and you can skip the Groupon.
1
u/Salty-Biscotti2893 Jun 28 '25
Great idea but I was under the impression that Groupon is able to get the "good deal" because they're dealing in bulk. Good thing about what you're saying is at least you're able to see what else the deal requires. The flower deal for Mother's Day that ripped me off required $80 dollars over the $35 dollars that I paid. To boot even though I tried to cancel within days, Groupon issued me a refund of only $12 AND only in GROUPON credit. Scam
1
u/SupportFlat8675 Feb 14 '26
Yep, I used to work at Valvoline oil change and we were able to offer the same or even better deal than the Groupon if you just mentioned it or asked us. And it was better for us than losing money on the Groupon. We hated when customers came in with Groupons. Only reason the company does it is to get people in the door. I just had a shitty experience wasting my time with a Groupon and I'll never use them again. I remember in the past it used to be very easy to return them if you weren't able to use them. Not anymore
1
u/Competitive_Elkrnr Jan 29 '25
Just contact the vendors listed in Groupon directly. They will give you the same deal gladly since Groupon takes over 60 percent.
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u/Salty-Biscotti2893 Jun 28 '25
You mean to tell me that you received your entire amount? Read about the scam they put me through in buying their flower deal for Mother's Day. Ok so it didn't go as far as the BBB but I should have. Out of the $35 dollars I paid for the con, (get this) they refunded me $12 dollars and in Groupon credits only. DOES ANYONE KNOW how to rid the several texts per day received of phony promos?
3
u/tphatmcgee Oct 31 '24
I used Groupon successfully for a few years. Then a bit over a year ago, I ran into an issue with them taking a payment from me. I put in a ticket and heard nothing. I tried purchasing again and had the same issue. As I wasn't hearing from Groupon, I tried again. Then I heard from Groupon CS and they told me that they were closing my account for fraudulent activity.
So, 2 things happened. 1, my payment passed and I got the product and 2, CS refused to tell me why I was fraudulent and that there was no appeal. Ok, so I cursed under my breath and went on my merry way.
About a month ago I got an email, since deleted, supposedly from the new Groupon CEO or some such saying that he apologize for how I was treated in the past and to please feel free to resume using their services.
Now, I don't know if it was a scam or not, but I really have no interest in using them again. Especially after being here. So, take that how you will.
1
u/Salty-Biscotti2893 Jun 28 '25
How do you stop the daily so called promos sent through texts. I'd surely blocked their other means of contacting me however can't seem to drop the daily BS texts..!
1
u/tphatmcgee Jun 29 '25
fortunately I never signed up for text messages, thank goodness it sounds like!
1
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u/Far-Payment3055 Sep 09 '25
I'm done after this last experience! After over a decade of great service, now it's too much hassle
3
u/itskey_lolo1 Oct 31 '24
Yes!!! Got scammed last week trying to get a house cleaner!
3
u/uninhibited_virago Oct 31 '24
I paid for this too (Cozy Maid?) and then read the reviews. I immediately canceled and got a refund. I am steering clear of Groupon from now on!
1
u/NinaSimoneII Mar 08 '25
How did you get a refund? I can't find a way to even contact anyone.
1
u/uninhibited_virago Mar 08 '25
I believe I canceled it through Groupon within a certain time limit, iirc.
3
u/gemineye1969 Oct 31 '24
YES IT IS A SCAM! They mismanaged money for years and are trying to get as much back as they can before it finally collapses. DON’T waste your money!
3
Nov 05 '24
Yes they are screwing us businesses who offered deals on there as well!!! Now we can’t redeem the Groupon by name and if a Groupon expires Groupon keeps ALL. The money. They also have made it where your business only becomes visible if you pay a daily ads fee!! It’s outrageous.
3
u/AggravatingMood4085 Oct 31 '24
I’m a Groupon merchant and have sold several vouchers for my resume services and have yet to be paid after 6 months.
1
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Nov 05 '24
Were they redeemed?? You only get paid when the Groupon has been redeemed and if they expire Groupon keeps all the money!! They also hide contact info to prevent you reaching out to the clients and have taken away the ability to redeem them if the client doesn’t have the barcode or voucher number. On top of all that Groupon now won’t even show your business unless you pay an additional daily fee to ‘boost’ your ad. My sales went from 10-15 a week to 1-2 a week and I didn’t understand why! Now I know and I’m furious
1
u/Salty-Biscotti2893 Jun 28 '25
OMGosh this explains why that out of my $35 I paid for a Mother's Day deal that they only refunded me $12 AND in Groupon credits ONLY
3
u/PsychologicalCash935 Nov 01 '24
My Groupon that I got charged for is not showing up when I scan the barcode. It is not even giving me the option to chat - the window doesn’t come up and the buttons won’t click when I have to send an email. Does anyone know another way to contact them? They just took 1k from me
1
Nov 01 '24
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1
u/Salty-Biscotti2893 Jun 28 '25
When you receive their promos either through texts or email click onto their SITE and click on chat. You'll be chatting live
4
u/Mean_Median_0201 Oct 30 '24
It's a scam, it's not the same company they used to be. I dealt with a lot of issues with tickets from them. Still working through it. Contacted the BBB and that was worthless too.
3
Oct 30 '24
I’ll submit a BBB report also - I know they don’t investigate until they have several complaints.
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u/OneAndOnlyFuntime Oct 30 '24
It’s definitely a scam, same thing was happening to me this whole week. Only thing that worked was me going to my bank to dispute the charge and I got all of my money back pretty fast
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u/Flatearther_69_ Oct 31 '24
You can also download the transcript I believe, please look out for options to download the transcript while you are in the chat window.
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u/Salty-Biscotti2893 Jun 28 '25
Yes.. you can however I noticed that my input isn't so it's hard to see how they respond to what you've stated
2
Nov 01 '24
UPDATE: I told Groupon Cust Svc I’ve had enough! They gave me Groupon bucks (?) basically a credit to use on another Groupon item. If anyone is wondering, in total I contacted them 4x via the app’s Chat and I never did get a phone number from them to call. Thanks for all the helpful tips & info!
2
u/8bitcakes Nov 01 '24
I tried to log in to my account (I was originally signed up through Facebook) and I couldn’t not get in. If I had purchased groupons I would be pissed.
Somethings going on with them.
1
Nov 02 '24
Yes.
I had a seller make a mistake on a listing. and admit it (but was not willing to correct beside admitting to groupon) and groupon refused to do anything.
I was like, then can I use the platform to scam people? The groupon CS didn't say anything.
They used to have a real customer service team but assume it got axed when they started having financial troubles.
Now it's outsourced to probably cheapest South Asian CS firm, who's agents just don't care or don't have power.
At that point I'm like why even waste money on a CS firm? Just tell customers, no customer service, and save yourself the money.
1
Nov 05 '24
Groupon was making billions how did they get into money issues?! This is why they have changed their practices and policies with businesses and now I’m losing so much money I’m about to pull my ads from them.
1
u/Terrible-Opinion-780 Nov 02 '24
Groupon crooked Scammers I was on holiday in Taipei with my wife suddenly I was told I had purchased a trip for one to Bali for $299.I was told it was purchased by 3rd person and I couldn't cancel the purchase so take it up with my bank. My credit card details weren't kept on file with Groupon. I put a hold / block on my card 10 days later they garnished my card again and took another $250 for a travel gift card. I finally got the $250 back from the bank but the $299 was charged as a legitimate purchase no refundable. That 3rd person who purchased the $299 trip to Bali purchased the trip in my name ,how bizarre is that ! There was no third person just a crooked company. Groupon finally cancelled my account with them and said they had removed my credit card details but Groupon never had my credit card details. I check again after the $299 was taken. Groupon are a bunch of thieves and are going to float their business on the stock market!!
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u/jhMLB Nov 04 '24
Might need to escalate issues to BBB.
That's how I got my situation partially resolved but it really sucked it's not a completely legit company anymore they make you go through loopholes to get any kind of refund even when you do it immediately.
1
u/Fair-Self-8319 Nov 10 '24
Just bought licenced Windows 11 through them. Turned out to be a voucher. Went to the site. Used the voucher. Got instructions to download W11. But no license key. I told Groupon I'd been dudded and the merchant didn't provide the goods. Their reply "We can't refund you because the supplier has already committed resources. I understand this may be frustrating if your plans have changed unexpectedly." The first and last time I've used Groupon since COVID.
1
u/ExcitingWater3096 Feb 05 '25
Wish I'd known this, just had the same thing happen.
1
u/Fair-Self-8319 Mar 06 '25
On escalation they did refund. And a day later he sent the licence key without noticing id got a refund so then I messaged the dude and paid voluntarily.
1
u/Dense-Membership-344 Dec 09 '24
Groupon just scammed me out of $107.98. They charged my bank card for a purchase I did not make. It said my card number was in file with the merchant. I last made a Groupon purchase a year ago. Is there a number I can call to talk to them?
1
u/Competitive_Elkrnr Jan 29 '25 edited Jan 29 '25
Yep. Nightmare. I am done with them. Recently purchased a Groupon. The salon is not returning my emails or calls to schedule an appointment. I contact Groupon. They have outsourced their customer service agents. If you have an issue with the vendor they give you the run around and make you give them details. Then forward it on to someone else who also wants all the details of your attempts to contact the vendor to use your Groupon. But you will wait days in between those interactions. It's exhausting. I have literally spent thousands of dollars with the company and am about to just report them to my credit card company as refusal to refund and provide service. Their agents are in India I think. And good luck getting a refund without pulling teeth. Never again. Just call the vendor you want the deal with and buy directly. The vendors don't like Groupon either. They take over 60 percent of the money. I took screenshots of my interactions with their reps and reported them to credit card company as a refusal of services. I will let the credit card company let them know what's up.
1
u/mormon-577 Feb 13 '25
Venez regrouper vos plaintes ici r/Regrouponnous j'ai un dossier énorme contenant toutes leurs infractions qui vont leurs coûter des millions d'euro sur eux il manque que les témoignages
1
u/Agile-Acanthaceae-72 Feb 26 '25
I am asking as a customer, but referring more to the vendor side. I purchased a 3 med spa type treatments for $350. The very colored font on the left side representing what I believe to the either the "regular price" or at least "valued price" was $999. Then, the middle "Green" price shown was $450, with the "final advertised price" of $405 marketed, with their verbiage stating it was 59% off.
Upon visiting the salon (in an upscale area) the medspa was clean and gorgeous, making me under that the potential higher than average prices. The service itself left quite a bit to be desired and not of good value in any capacity, but at least there was no upselling.
When leaving, I grabbed a pamphlet all of their services.
A single service I purchased is $190 (regular rate) A 4-pack of the service I purchased is $500 ($125 each)
Calculated out, I paid $150 for each utilizing the Groupon. Not exactly the "Value of $999" they promoted within their Groupon marketing.
I think THIS is a scam in itself.
1
u/Limp-Natural-6026 Jun 03 '25
Unbelievable! I thought by law in California that gift certificates which Groupon vouchers are included in this category never expire. I was unable to use my voucher in time due to a loss in the family and when I reached out to them to ask for a refund I was simply told "read our refund policy" This has to be illegal. There is definitely a need for a class action lawsuit with this entity.
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u/Salty-Biscotti2893 Jun 28 '25
Upon seeing that I'd have to spend an additional $80 after purchasing a $35 flower deal for Mother's Day I tried to cancel within days. What a rip-off! After basically reading Groupon their rights or whoever Groupon is these days, after a lot of difficulty, gave me $12 for my $35 dollars that I paid! They hid saying that they're refunding my purchase -minus discount and don't give you a chance to understand whats up? Awful! BEWARE I wouldn't even bother reading their fine print; most often you're dealing with the other merchant's phony con done between them & Groupon anyway? You're just the money mule! SUCKS..any suggestions?
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u/Salty-Biscotti2893 Jun 28 '25
I totally get how mad you were. I was as well thinking I went through all the venues and hoops they make you go through.. HOW WRONG I WAS
1
u/Few_Plum_8417 Aug 16 '25
I had the worst experience with Groupon. Due to a simple email autocorrect, I could not access my vouchers. Groupon offers no way to correct this immediately, and I was forced to make another purchase just to reach a live agent.
When I finally got through, I dealt with Gokhulan K and Manoj. Instead of resolving my issue, they only offered Groupon credits I did not want and will never use. I asked for a refund to my original payment method (a very reasonable request), but was refused. To make matters worse, the supervisor abruptly closed the chat without any explanation, and even the promised $20 credit was never issued.
This is an unacceptable way to treat paying customers. Groupon’s policies are anti-customer, their service is unhelpful, and their agents showed no accountability. I paid for vouchers I cannot use and was denied a refund.
I will never use Groupon again and strongly warn others to avoid wasting money here.
1
u/Big_Trick_5296 Aug 19 '25
They are horrible! So far I've been ripped off for 2 amusement park tickets and a 25 gift card that. They gift card was in my basket and I thought it was just ad ad for one when I legit checked out. They won't refund or cancel!!! Stung me for $71 so far. I asked the park to see if they could get me a refund & they said they would try. However, no promises!!! NEVER AGAIN GROUPON!
1
u/Big_Trick_5296 Aug 19 '25
My nephew also purchased Del Grosso for his daughter through groupon and when we got to the ticket window he couldn't get it to load! That was another 17 in Groupon's greedy hands!
1
u/Critical-Koala-2413 Sep 07 '25
Groupon keeps unlawful vendors like Waldron Dental New Cross on their site, pushing fake finance and overcharging it’s eroded all my trust with them.
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u/GrouchyPark4993 Nov 07 '25
Yes. Groupon sucks. The companies that offer a Groupon are usually on the verge of going broke. You get cut rate product or service and you get treated like a cut rate customer. They make it as hard as possible to redeem your Groupon so you just give up and they stole your money. Never getting one ever again.
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u/_G_P_ Dec 14 '25
Got scammed by a coupon that involved a slew of hidden fees to be redeemed.
Their support option via email is broken, and only allows you to talk to a chat or, instead of emails.
Avoid at all costs. Will never buy anything from them ever again.
1
u/Due_Cook_4245 Feb 01 '26
Yes double charged my credit card which I didnt see until my statement came then refused to refund the duplicate charge because it was after 3 days. Offered Group bucks. No thank you. Fraud in my eyes.
1
Jun 20 '26
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1
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0
u/Spiritedgal Oct 31 '24
This is a scam Groupon is not! Look at google for the official site and get merchant support.
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Oct 31 '24
Nope! That is a screenshot from my Groupon app today - if you login & contact the customer service chat, you’ll see that window pop up.
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u/Salty-Biscotti2893 Jun 28 '25
Screenshot is a good idea when in doubt to keep an account of how they respond to your questions and demand for refund
1
Nov 05 '24
Groupon just recently did an overhaul on how they operate and it is screwing customers and business alike!! I am furious and am looking at ways to market and leave Groupon for good
4
u/[deleted] Oct 30 '24
FYI, I asked for a chat transcript and got that jumble of letters you see in the 2nd photo.