Now This Seriously Puts Me Off Group Deals

A few days ago, I purchased 3 Groupon deals, one of them being the 2hr 20min Balinese Back Massage + Hot Stone Therapy + Ear Candling at Perfection Face & Body Wellness. There is a choice between 1 visit for RM38 or 3 visits for RM98. I threw caution to the wind and took the RM98 deal. No where in the deal (I read every fine print very carefully) did it state that the 3 visits had to be by 3 different people. You know sometimes they have deals for 1 person or 2 persons and if you purchased the one for 2 persons, the Groupon has to be redeemed at the same time? Well, that’s not the case here so naturally I assumed (and rightly so, I believe) that the 3 visits could be completed by me, myself and I.

So I happily strolled in for my appointment and the manager asked me for the rest of the vouchers. What rest of the vouchers, I squeaked. My voucher clearly stated “3 VISITS” on the top. Then she said that I was only entitled to one visit and the other 2 visits had to be completed by 2 different persons. Huh? That term and condition was not part of the deal at all otherwise I’d only have purchased the deal for 1 visit.

The manager informed me that others who had purchased the deal had called them prior to their purchase and those customers had been duly informed that the 3 visits deal had to be completed by 3 different persons. What could I do? Admit defeat and accept the 1 visit condition? No siree bob! This Juniper won’t go out with her tail tucked between her legs.

I did what any sane person in my position would do. Called Groupon’s service line and spoke to someone who was of no help whatsoever even though the call cost me a few minutes of my life. She asked for the Security Code and said she’d send me an email after I’d painstakingly informed her what my email address was a few times since she appeared to be hard of hearing.

After the call, the manager tried to reach a compromise and said she’d allow me 2 visits. I rejected the offer because it was 3 visits or nothing at all. I am rather recalcitrant that way. Then I dialled Groupon again and spoke to someone else, had to repeat the Security Code again but before I could finish, the manager signalled to me that she’d honour the 3 visits.

You know what adds salt to the wound? They still have that “may buy and use many” term on their voucher. I almost couldn’t use my one voucher, never mind “may buy and use many”! Hellooooo, does any of this make even the most remote sense? Because of that term, my friend purchased a few vouchers once to use at a bakery and of course she was informed by the bakery that she could only redeem one voucher. She has never purchased a Groupon voucher since that incident.

The treatment was supposed to be this:-

• 30-min infrared sauna
• 60-min Balinese back massage with aroma oil
• 30-min hot stone therapy
• 20-min ear candling

but again there has to be something not right otherwise my day wouldn’t be complete. I really wanted to use that in(famous) Bruce Willis line “Yippie-ki-yay @#^%”! The sauna was tolerable, so was the ear candling. The therapist informed me that I would be receiving half an hour hot stone therapy and half an hour Balinese back massage. What? The deal was for 60 minutes back massage, I clearly recalled. I’m not quite at Alzheimer’s stage yet, yo!!

The manager repeated the same thing when I asked for clarification. She mentioned that it was her marketing manager who dealt with Groupon and somehow maybe something was lost in translation? I gave up remonstrating with her since I wasn’t going to get my way with the 1 hour back massage. I have to accept defeat sometimes. I accept that 3 visits by 1 person and 60 minutes back massage was not her intention and actually she is a nice lady but what I’m more pissed off about is that Groupon could have clarified the 3 visits issue immediately when I called the first time. What’s the deal with the “we’ll send you an email” which by the way, I never received (I checked my spam folder in case you are wondering). Just to fob me off, I guess.

I sent Groupon an email informing them about the 3 visits by 3 different persons ruling and that I only had a half hour back massage and of course, the auto reply is “we will attend to your enquiry in 2 working days” sort which means I will only receive a reply next week if I am lucky (frankly I know what will happen if I do receive a reply, it’ll probably be along the lines of “we will investigate the matter and get back to you”). Pretty standard fare for most companies.

So what do I have left to say to Groupon? In the soon-to-be immortal words of country music ingenue, Taylor Swift, “We are never ever getting back together”. I can’t wait to redeem the rest of my Groupons.

I received a reply from Groupon after I posted this and it goes like this:-

“Please be informed that we have escalated this matter to the relevant department to investigate from their end. As soon as we get a resolution we will update you accordingly. In the meanwhile your patience towards this matter is highly appreciated.

Thank you for your kind understanding and looking forward to serve you better in the near future”.

Updated 5th August 2013 – Groupon replied today and this is the excerpt:-

“Thank you for the feedback that you have shared with us. I have informed the sales person in charge regarding the experience you had when you tried to redeem your voucher and we sincerely apologize for the misunderstanding in the terms and conditions.

To be clear, 3 visits is for 1 person and not supposed to be redeemed by different individuals. This has been clarified to the merchant. We had also informed them of the 30 minutes back massage that you had and they have assured that you can obtain the additional 30 minutes from the merchant in your next visit. Please inform them of this arrangement as this is what they have agreed with us in Groupon in reference to your particular case”.

Now this is what I call a satisfactory conclusion.