Is Groupon a scam?

[KZYPmum]

jongivy:

Bought a TV and a DVD player through Groupon but the fulfilment party is Courts. Also bought some massage packages. Very satisfied with the TV and DVD I have purchased. But the massage package was not something I would buy again. After the massage, the usual stuffs - they \"lock\" you up in a room and hardsell you a package. But I went prepared so after like 30-45 minutes of hardselling with no result, they let me go.. But I must say this is not Groupon's fault.


Not too sure about the holiday vouchers though. Must check the fine prints, never know there may be hidden cost somewhere else.

wow can teach us the methods of withstanding the intense hardsell pressure?

[jongivy]

I knew this was going to happen, so I kinda \"prepped\" myself up. I told them I was a True Spa victim... and so, I no longer believed in signing up for ANY package ANYMORE. Then she went on to tell me they are different, blah blah blah. So I questioned her, \"How different? Can you personally guarantee your company won't close down after you sell me the package?\" She kept quiet and then tried to convince me to buy. I told her \"I don't need the savings, it's fine. If I really want to come again, I will just come and pay whatever rate you are charging. I don't need the discount!\" (hehehe act atas!)


Bottom line is, you need to be prepared.. if they continue to push, just repeat yourself with the True Spa/Subtle Senses saga and ask them for personal guarantee. They will have no choice but to let you go! I have tried it a few times.. and it worked!

[jongivy]

I hope you are not one of those that works in the beauty salons!

[KZYPmum]

haha, no lah! I’m always the victim, sitting there and declining whilst trying to maintain a smile.


on the one hand, I tell myself, just forget about these ‘deals’ and save yourself the ear ache.

on the other hand, if they can offer the deal, then they should be able to take "no" for an answer. I never force them to offer me the trial what. and their charges are so exorbitant, how to expect people to sign up? if their package is 10X the trial price sure I’ll sign up. I think their cost price must be the trial price and everything else is profit.

[Picolo]

BigDevil:

Picolo:

But I still dun dare to buy those holiday vouchers. Seems too good to be true and dun wanna my holidays be spoilt if kenna cheated.

Someone in this forum went on such a trip.

You can read about it in http://www.kiasuparents.com/kiasu/forum/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=20787.

Thanks.

[Picolo]

wongsansan:

bought a travel deal on goupon. it was quite a bad experience. the room that we wanted and have pre-booked was not available and we were very upset and wanted to kick up a fuss. but the staff showed us the fine print that says 'subject to availability' and there was nothing we can do.


we were given 2 options, one is to upgrade and top up an amount which is almost equivalent to the savings that we first though we had. the other was to take the room which is nothing like what we saw on the ad...

in the end we decided to top up and we have told ourself, never to go buy travel deals with highly ambiguous terms...

Thanks for sharing and confirming my suspicions.

[Picolo]

jongivy:

I knew this was going to happen, so I kinda \"prepped\" myself up. I told them I was a True Spa victim... and so, I no longer believed in signing up for ANY package ANYMORE. Then she went on to tell me they are different, blah blah blah. So I questioned her, \"How different? Can you personally guarantee your company won't close down after you sell me the package?\" She kept quiet and then tried to convince me to buy. I told her \"I don't need the savings, it's fine. If I really want to come again, I will just come and pay whatever rate you are charging. I don't need the discount!\" (hehehe act atas!)


Bottom line is, you need to be prepared.. if they continue to push, just repeat yourself with the True Spa/Subtle Senses saga and ask them for personal guarantee. They will have no choice but to let you go! I have tried it a few times.. and it worked!

How short is your shortest 'imprisonment' so far? I'm trying to weigh if it's worth it .... have you tried scheduling an appointment right after the treatment and must rush to attend it?

[Fat Mama]

I have used some F&B groupons eg swensens, gelare ice-cream, steamboat and shabu shabu and used them with no issues.


Just be careful with the fine prints, usually groupons not valid for PH and weekends etc. Also must use before expiry dates.

Groupons are really good value but dun get addicted and buy groupons that u dun need.

[3Boys]

Bought Thriller tickets via Groupon some months back…no problems at all. Holidays and spa I think are at higher risk for some issues during delivery of product, but goods and so forth, I guess should be safer?

[patntee]

I have bought a tummy trim treatment package for 5 sessions. Regret at the first session. These salons or spas just want to lure you to go then hard sell their packages to you which cost $1000 up. She can even tell me the treatment that I bought won’t work for me. Each session supposed to cost more than $100, and what they did is a few minutes massage and then leave you in the tummy wrap for half hour or so. I told her plainly if this is the standard to expect, I wouldn’t part my money for their packages. The worst is her attitude change after being rejected. So I wouldn’t buy anymore such deals for salons or spa. The more people buy the more we should siam because it just means higher risk of a sloppy job.