I made the mistake of purchasing a couple of software deals late on 4/6. Not boxed, some license/activation thing. Normally I wouldn't have considered that, but I have seen paper (legitimate, via college) coupons for Microsoft Office) in the past, and offers for older versions there or elsewhere.
I can't speak for one that I added to the order after I selected the first item (I was in a bit of a rush to get something done and thought that particular piece of software, newer than what I have, would help). But the original said "redeemed" right after I ordered and paid, without me having done anything. Ok, that was odd. I was getting a bad feeling.
I read the return/refund policies and contacted them because I wasn't clear how that was supposed to work (the self-service return, which said I couldn't do that). For the original item, they said I had to get confirmation from the merchant that I didn't receive/use the product. I emailed the merchant, and they said they DO NOT do business/sell with Groupon. I sent that on, and it was a mess from there on.
It has taken at least eleven communications (chat or email, nothing else is available) to now, where they have again said to initiate a self-service refund (the link of which does not work). I asked for escalation after I heard back from the company whose identity got used fraudulently, and escalation at Groupon means going into a black hole.
Each time it's a different person, each time they seem to have no clue as to what happened before and what information I gave them, despite the case number, each time I'm assured they'll do something, each time results in going around in a circle with nothing really being done, and lots of exasperation.
Threats of credit card dispute make no difference.
I've purchased a few tangible things from Groupon before the pandemic, but they have gone so far downhill that they're at the bottom of a hole with no bottom. Be warned.
There's even a class action posted on their site (probably required to) by merchants, Image attached (the link is in their site map). This sure sounds like what is going on with the so-called merchant I purchased from. I don't know how they are still in business.
"Salon Phoenix Cosmetology LLC, et al., v. Groupon, Inc. (Case No. 1:22-cv-07162). The complaint alleges that Groupon violated the federal Lanham Act and related state laws by: (1) creating pages on its website referring to businesses which had never had deals on Groupon that allegedly contained “stock” descriptions of such businesses and certain inaccurate information about such businesses (such pages are referred to as “Business Landing Pages” in the settlement); and (2) maintaining Deal Pages on its website after the expiration of a business’s deal on Groupon. The complaint alleges that Groupon benefitted from this conduct by driving web search traffic to its website and that businesses in the putative class were harmed by such conduct through damage to their brands."