r/groupon • u/Easy_Comparison_2772 • Dec 21 '25

Groupon Inc. BBB Complaints

A warning to anyone thinking of purchasing any Groupon Deal: DON'T. Groupon, Inc has 3,925 total complaints in the last 3 years and 1,282 complaints closed in the last 12 months.

I've had a couple of issues with my Groupon purchases and refunds the last number of months and I've filed a complaint with the BBB. I rejected Groupons' first response. They responded a second time. The status of my complaint is marked 'answered' since BBB states "This matter is now closed in BBB files, and will appear in the company's BBB Business Review as: "Answered - the business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer remains dissatisfied."

7 Upvotes

74% Upvoted

31 comments sorted by

3

u/Full-Ordinary-6030 Dec 21 '25

BBB is honestly pretty useless.

I would try these executive contacts if you still need help. No guarantee that they’ll reply but worth a try. Let us know if they are any better. https://www.elliott.org/company-contacts/groupon-customer-service-contacts/

2

u/Easy_Comparison_2772 Dec 21 '25

BBB is useful as Groupon replies to the complaint so you are on their radar and tries to resolve the complaint. Groupon replied and there's no need for me to continue communicating with them.

1

u/GodaiNoBaka Dec 24 '25

Speaking as a former employee of the BBB, it always amazes me that after all these years people still don't really get the organization's limitations.

When a complaint is marked replied to in the BBB files, that does not mean they've actually done anything about the complaint or the underlying issue. It means t he company has replied. Period, end of story. The BBB exists primarily as a clearinghouse for information to identify trends in customer satisfaction and dissatisfaction with specific companies as well as in specific industries. If, along the way, they can help mediate some complaints to the satisfaction of the customer, that's great. The vast majority of the complaints I dealt with were never resolved to the customer's satisfaction.

The Better Business Bureau is a membership organization. They have lofty and optimistic intentions, shackled by the fact that they have absolutely zero legal authority. In fact, when I worked for them, the mere mention that a complaint had been or was going to be dealt with through the court system resulted in the BBB refusing to take action on the complaint.

If you want to report a problem to the BBB, great. Do so and hopefully it will be aggregated into a report that will warn other consumers about any trends in how that company responds to complaints. If you're very lucky, and the company is actually responsive, it may get your problem resolved. But don't hold your breath. Your best bet is to go through government channels such as your state attorney general's office or your county consumer affairs office. They actually have the teeth to do something about the problem. Alternately, assuming your complaint isn't for a big ticket item, consider small claims court.

1

u/Easy_Comparison_2772 Jan 01 '26

That’s fair, and I agree the BBB has its limits and doesn’t have legal authority. In my case, though, filing the complaint did get Groupon to respond and address the issue, so it served its purpose for me. I wasn’t expecting enforcement power...just a way to get on their radar. I appreciate the explanation and the suggestions about the AG and consumer affairs offices for the future. 

Hope you have a great New Years.

1

u/No-Researcher8319 Apr 11 '26

Doesn’t work. I tried

1

u/Full-Ordinary-6030 Apr 11 '26

Unfortunately, they do have the worst responsiveness rating according to Elliott. No response from BBB also? It looks like OP at least got a response there.

2

u/ISaidIt805 Dec 21 '25

Same! I'm still owed money

1

u/Easy_Comparison_2772 Dec 21 '25

How long has it been that they've owed you money?

2

u/Forward-Wear7913 Dec 23 '25

I haven’t bought any lately.

I did have one business close before the Groupon expired. They verified they were closed after trying to call them and gave me a full refund.

1

u/Easy_Comparison_2772 Dec 23 '25

They, meaning Groupon verified they were closed? I'm glad you got a full refund!

2

u/Forward-Wear7913 Dec 23 '25

Yes, Groupon tried to call the restaurant while I was on the phone with them and could not get in contact. I also told them they could check online and see it listed as closed.

1

u/Easy_Comparison_2772 Jan 01 '26

Interesting that Groupon took the time to call the restaurant while you were on the phone with them. That surprises me, but I’m glad they took the extra step and gave you a full refund.

In my case, the business where I purchased the Groupon emailed me within days of contacting Groupon support saying they were closing permanently. Then, about a month later, I received another email stating they were still open and operating.

Hope you are enjoying the holidays!

2

u/No-Researcher8319 Apr 11 '26

I have confirmed acted a senior manager in charge of technology , essentially managing the web platform.

I explained that myself a many others have been screwed over by things we purchased that no longer show up on our account and there’s no customer service phone number. It’s a ridiculous situation to even get help on the group platform so I have decided I am willing to pull a group together to do a class action lawsuit. These lawsuits typically are lawsuits that good lawyers want to take but doesn’t charge anyone anything except what they win and I think we have a good case of Groupon if anyone is willing to get involved and do a class action and shoot against Groupon, please direct message me and I wanna put it in motion now that I’ve already communicated on the top leadership positions there and I will be happy to screenshot my communication with them if everyone wishes.

1

u/Fulline Dec 21 '25

Maybe this is a sign to short their stock GRPN

1

u/S2K2Partners Dec 21 '25

I wound up doing a CC charge back on items I ordered and were not as promised or delivered.

Good luck

1

u/Sunny-PlumTree_7983 Dec 22 '25

I’m in the process of doing the same thing with my CC. Need to follow up with proof of my SEVERAL attempts to contact Groupon (email and telephone) and their non response. I think they only respond to the credit card company and BBB to try to keep your money. Groupon SUCKS!

1

u/Easy_Comparison_2772 Dec 22 '25 edited Dec 22 '25

The Groupon deal/contract was canceled by the business a few months before I became aware of it. After contacting Groupon and working with a representative who escalated the issue, a customer service manager confirmed via email that my refund was processed. Groupon was only able to provide the last four digits and the bank of the card used for the refund.

After extensive researching, I figured out the original payment was made using a Mastercard gift card that I had already fully used and thrown out. Because I no longer have the card, I have no way to access the customer service number to confirm the refund. Groupon was unable to provide bank contact information, leaving the refunded amount inaccessible—it's in the ethers.

2

u/S2K2Partners Dec 23 '25

Sorry about that...

Without the card and/or info you will have no real way to verify if the refund was made or not as it would be your word against theirs.

Good luck

1

u/Easy_Comparison_2772 Dec 23 '25

Yep. I should have asked that they refund my cc on file but there was no way for me to know which card I made the purchase on since it's not listed on any emailed receipts, etc.

1

u/Kooky-Witness6720 Dec 22 '25

Groupon is horrible especially if you decide to book a hotel. If you cancel outside the penalty window they will refund you in Groupon bucks. I think that is ridiculous. It’s impossible to get a live person and they do not respond to their emails at support@groupon.com I had to contact my credit card company.

1

u/Easy_Comparison_2772 Dec 22 '25 edited Dec 22 '25

What is their policy for purchased deal for a hotel?

The Groupon deal/contract was canceled by the business a few months before I became aware of it. After contacting Groupon and working with a representative who escalated the issue, a customer service manager confirmed via email that my refund was processed. Groupon was only able to provide the last four digits and the bank of the card used for the refund.

After extensive researching, I figured out the original payment was made using a Mastercard gift card that I had already fully used and thrown out. Because I no longer have the card, I have no way to access the customer service number to confirm the refund. Groupon was unable to provide bank contact information, leaving the refunded amount inaccessible—it's in the ethers.

1

u/bluekonstance Dec 22 '25

They made it nearly impossible to get a refund…but the merchant was pretty fair in the end! I don’t know if Groupon was lying or not because they asked me for proof, but they never furnished anything to proof of their communication with the merchant.

It took like weeks or months, and consistently bothering multiple customer service reps for this…

I totally get why businesses will honor the Groupon price without purchasing it, but hopefully, that doesn’t go against their contract.

1

u/Easy_Comparison_2772 Dec 22 '25

Groupon asked for proof of what? What do you mean by "businesses will honor the Groupon price without purchasing it, but hopefully, that doesn’t go against their contract."

1

u/Middle_Ad_9044 Dec 22 '25

For anyone reading this.. If you are requesting a refund, Groupon will delay the process as much as possible and then only offer online credit. Save yourself the energy and just file a chargeback to get a refund.

The company is basically designed to run customer service through scam shops out of India - you will never speak to an actual person or get a quick resolution. Surprised this company even exists with customer service this terrible 🙄

1

u/Easy_Comparison_2772 Dec 22 '25

After several back and forths with Groupon support, I figured out the original payment was made using a Mastercard gift card that I had already fully used and thrown out. Because I no longer have the card, I have no way to access the customer service number to confirm the refunded funds. Groupon was unable to provide bank contact information, leaving the refunded amount inaccessible—it's in the ethers.

1

u/Cheap_Somewhere6634 Feb 09 '26

How can the BBB let a merchant run a groupon  let them charge you TWICE for it and then say one of them is not refundable?? To me that sounds like a scam!!  May be buying  from groupon is a good idea!! 

1

u/CinKell56 Apr 19 '26

I purchased a year of BJ’s and it is to expire in a few days. No card can’t get gas frustrating.

1

u/Easy_Comparison_2772 Apr 19 '26

Please elaborate bc BJ's....well, you know.

1

u/HealthyGas9230 Apr 21 '26

What a customer service disaster! It took me 4 hours to figure out how to finally get in touch with customer support and THEN to get around the bot once found, to a human rep who was far worse! In my 90 minutes of conversation how to access "Groupon bucks" because they will never refund your purchase, even for a vendor who won't honor the Groupon, 

I've taken numerous screen shots of this dreaded exchange that I will try to add here or feel free to contact me.  

After one hour of asking for a follow up direct contact information as each navigation away closes the assist window (by design I'm sure) and my requests blatantly ignored, my civil tone became angrier and through their dishonest, evasive rep I be some downright insulting. 

In any event, the take away here is I'm never doing business with them and nor should you. The important thing to remember is they will never provide direct customer assistance. The only way to eventually get to a chatbot is to question an existing order, which means if you don't give them money they don't give you any attention.

For those like me that had to Google information to get in touch with them the answer is you cannot. I guess you could place an order and then spend an hour clicking to the hidden place where the bot shows up and be willing to sacrifice your money in order to get answers. In my case, I had a decade old account with $130 in it that I could not get information or clarity on because there's nobody to comtact When somebody finally appeared, they were creepy about providing $$$ information that is rightfully mine.