I think from the consumer's point of view Groupon is really good.

I contacted Groupon ( not the CH  version ) recently to find how out they operate as I was interested in selling a product through them.

Typically a business would reduce their normal retail fee by at least 50% but usually much more.  Groupon then take around 50% of the new reduced price as their fee.

Essentially we would be selling something probably around 1/6th - 1/8th of it's value but would incur the normal business costs.  After thinking about this I reckon as a business you would only use Groupon if you have something you are struggling to sell.  I don't think that it makes a lot of sense for most businesses as common sense would suggest that people who use Groupon are bargain hunters and do not form a customer base that you could build up.

Anyway, i'm happy with Buyclub on Glocals!

I use groupon in the U.S. constantly... it ranges from national accounts (like ftd.com and gnc.com) to local businesses.  I have never had a problem, and have bought many things with considerable discounts.   I have read once there were complaints about fine print on one offer, and in the end they gave everyone who had bought a credit.  Im on CH but it sends to me in german so ive never purchased.. but I would assume it would work the same as the US version

Well from a costumer point of view it looks a little bit different i woud say :-)

well i'm using croupon.ch and deindeal.ch. i heard some complains about croupon from business side and costumer side about not really keeping the "promise" and they are as well a german company. deindeal.ch is a swiss company and heard less problem.

but i like the offers. and yes, i am a bargain hunter too. why pay CHF500.00 for something when u can get it for CHF150.00 ?

I am a fan, and have been in most of the cases very satisfied with the deals (only few exceptions) and their customer service take things very seriously (I got 2x a reimbursement, once because the company was sold to a new owner, and an other time because I could not book the restaurant because full).

But yes, I understand that the deal is good fur us, end-users, and  Groupon themselves (as they get 50% of what we pay) ... but not really for the service provider , unless they can get that way more customers.

Actually what was a little funny was that Groupon rang up ( same day ) pretending to be a customer saying that they had seen this great deal from a competitor on.... Groupon!

Having never once had someone mention Groupon during many years the pantomime was played out.

Was very off-putting as they seemed to hire chavs for this sort of thing.

Anyway, yes it is great for everyone wanting a bargain!

Yes. Several times. Even groupon.pt when i was in Portugal..used 30 or 40 times.

Here i have used 4 or 5 times but i have a lot to be used.

I have done a boat trip in Stafa, a dinner in King Kurry and Massages.

Also a month membership in Airport Gym (Zurich).

It is quite nice.

I signed up for Switzerland recently, but I was quite unimpressed by their offers until now. (the offers on this website are much better ) 

Another site for mostly electronic equipment that might interest you is (sorry in German only)

http://www.daydeal.ch/

I used Groupon regularly in the states. For the most part, it worked well, with a few bad service providers. On those few occasions, I was refunded when the service provider did not deliver.

In Switzerland, there are two problems: 1) the merchants; 2) Groupon service. Merchants do not seem to understand that the abonnement is meant to help them attract and keep new customers. They seem to treat Groupon customers as lesser customers, both in terms of service and in attitude. Further, they impose new conditions that are not stated in the deal (i.e. not accepting Groupons on Saturdays, etc.) This is a good way to turn off potential customers. No one needs to be treated rudely.

Worse yet, it is practically impossible to contact Groupon. Most of their service email addresses don't work (bounce-back), the online form doesn't work, and when you actually find some service email that works and reaches a person, they either respond to French inquiries in German or to English ones in French... and then give you another email address to contact. NO SERVICE at all, totally dropping the ball, and no refunds when a provider refuses to provide service.

Two interesting elements: 1) ironically, you can actually buy an "always refund" service for $30 a year in the U.S. If you don't use a voucher, even after expiration, you have the right to exchange it. 2) If you don't use a voucher in time (NEVER wait till the last few weeks here), the merchant does not get the funds, giving them no reason to be flexible. Groupon just keeps your entire payment, and neither you nor the merchant gain.

Based on the really rotten service and really restrictive terms (un-stated in the original offer), I'm cutting myself off. A great deal is not a great deal if you can't use it.

Only two experiences with Groupon so far, both quite positive.

1. Enrolled in a bakery class, a very good one. All perfect.

2. Ordered a comb for my new cat, but as it turns one my cat does not need much combing, so have not used it yet. All purrfect too.

yeah, i tried groupon for getting other deals in Zurich and Lausanne and was very good deals and good restaurant locations.

Generally good experience with restaurants, laundry, massage sort of services but not very good with coupons for hair cuts and such.  When you call to get an appointment, they tell you there is no opening for 3 months or more and I just need a simple guy cut nothing fancy.  It seems like they only take one or two groupon customers per week.  In my view the coiffure ones are the worst. 

You just need to change your settings to English and you will get the deals in English in Switzerland

Used them a few times, never had any bad experience.

However, I found that often the deals were not really impressive, and that it was possible to find the same deals for more or less the same price.

Used twice, awful experience. Zero customer service (they don't even pick up the phone and the emails bounced back every single time). I prefer BuyClub, always a great experience,

I just published an academic paper on Groupon, or rather on the phenomenon called 'Deal of the Day' (DoD).

If you're interested: Teeth whitening, boot camp, and a brewery tour: a practical analysis of ‘deal of the day’ (send me a message with your e-mail address and I'll gladly send it over, though it's an academic paper and therefore not very practical).

You're right about the discount and fees. You need to give a consumer discount of 50-90%, and they ask for an additional fee of 30-50%. So essentially you're giving away your products/services for free. 

So which companies are promoting themselves through DoD? First of all struggling companies and companies that have just opened and need to build a customer base. Second, companies that have high fixed cost and low variable cost. For example, a beauty center has lots of equipment anyway, and need to have a certain number of therapists - these costs are fixed. Per individual customer their only 'real' (variable) costs are for example for cream and towels (that need to be cleaned). And third, companies that have spare inventory or a very seasonal business (tourism) can use DoD to fill up their off-peak/off-season time. 

Any other company that uses DoD promotion will have to assume that additional products can be sold to consumers who buy a deal, or that it leads to repeat business. There has been a bit of research on this and results have been mixed. 

Be careful if you consider using DoD with your company. A few months ago I read about a girl who had sold 200 self-made handbags via Groupon at a loss, hoping to get further business out of it. She went bankrupt because the promotion did not lead to repeat sales (most women don't want 2+ bags from the same small brand). 

A last thing I want to point out: Groupon does these deals every day and for your company it may be the first and only time. They know much more than you, so be very careful before entering a partnership with them. 

For those unsure about groupon's advantages..

http://www.groupon.ch/deals/national-deal/Ladieszonech/5301989?nlp=&CID=CH_CRM_1_0_0_121&a=2314

rofl... today they sell... vibrators!!!

Link or it didnt happen!

I m smiling, no one in this thread mention buyclub.ch who belongs to glocals and offer same deal...

I did yesterday!!!

Yes its true: http://news.groupon.ch/c/mv

todays offers.

Vibrators - http://www.groupon.ch/deals/national-deal/Ladieszonech/5301989?nlp=&CID=CH_CRM_1_0_0_121&a=2314

and Pearl necklaces - http://www.groupon.ch/deals/national-deal/Best-PearlEN/5302947?nlp=&CID=CH_CRM_1_0_0_121&a=2314

Only in Switzerland.

A discount for this _ _ _ _ ...

As a more recent up-date to this thread, I'd like to say that groupon is a complete rip-off without any effective form of customer service. 

I am not usually the kind of person to make posts on glocal forums but my experience with this company was so bad that I feel morally obliged to share it and let you decide if you want to go through something similar.

Also, it seems from this thread that other people may have had a good experience in the past with them. However, these are old posts and I can onlyassume this company has gone down hill more recently.

I bought a voucher for a boating excursion on Lake Geneva for 109 CHF at the start of May.  Since then, I spent a lot of my time contacting the boat provider without joy. Finally someone answered their phone and said they weren't yet ready to provide any services (why hadn't groupon checked this out??)

So I contact Groupon by email and get an automatic response... and then another one... and another... finally I start calling them only to spend hours waiting on the phone listning to a german voicemail. eventually I get through to someone who only speaks German...(surprising when you think how much of their website is translated into English).  

After a frustrating 2 months, yesterday Groupon agreed to give me  - wait for it - a voucher for other deals. Hardly what I was looking for.  Apartantly,for boat offers it says in their small print that they dont refund the money.  I asked them to send me this part of the Tand Cs. They refused and I'm left wondering if this clause actually exists but without any way to get my money back.

So either I call my lawyer and waste even more of my time or dare to embark on yet another deal (which might not work) and waste even more of my time.

To sum up, my advice is: STAY AWAY FROM GROUPON.  From my experience, I felt more like I'd been "dealt with" .  But maybe that's their understanding of the word "deal".

Jayne

Yep, totally agree.  I "wasted" over 200 francs last year, a nail offer and a hair offer.  Like you, could never get hold of owners, no refund available.  It is a complete con trick.  Good idea to flag this up.

I think DeainDeal is way better....and you get your money back or refund on your account...who wants to have an invitation please send email address to my inbox  

i'm agree with tanja F too. dein deal a lot better. i try to avoid groupon as well as after my last post i had some bad experience too.

http://www.glocals.com/forums/geneva/where-how-in-geneva/BuyClub-experience-159056.htm#msg_159257

I have used Groupon a few times mostly for restaurant. I definitely avoid it for electronics or stuff that may require an after-sales or customer service.

In general the restaurants deals work quite ok. I basically use it to discover and check new restaurants; so if they have a fair quality/price ratio, I come back, if not, I don't; but at least I haven't overpaid for a dinner with friends.

I've also used the buyclub deals on restaurants with a similar experience .

No one sane will trade you dollars for quarters.

After almost two months, groupon accepted to refund my money as I did not receive any response from the vendor. However, I paid the shipping charges on the vendor's site about which I dont think groupon can do anything. Fortunately, first time in past 4 months (Including calls to previous purchases with the same vendor), the vendor's phone number worked, a person informed me a next sec that my product will be delivered in two days and I received a notification mail that my product is under preparation for shipping. After a hard 2 months of frustration, hoping to receive my product :) 

I would say, groupon is not good (in choosing their vendors) and not bad either (accepted to refund my money).

Happy shopping!

G.

Groupon still stinks. Last week, they sent out an announcement (in French to English buyers) saying that their Bien-Etre deal provider was not able to honor the deal and that the deal was transferred to another provider. If the deal wasn't convenient, the email said, one could ask for a refund. No method was provided to ask for a refund, of course, and no one has responded in 5 days to my request for a refund.

I also bought a Groupon for moving. The guy confirmed at 1630 yesterday that he would come to give me an estimate. Not only did he not show up for the 2000 appointment by 2045, but when I called, he said his client was late and he'd call back in 10 minutes. No call at all for the next hour, and he subsequently wouldn't answer his phone or texts (still... almost 18 hours later).

Of note, the Groupon FAQ indicates that refund requests should go to [email protected]. Those emails bounce back. When you call on the phone, they say you should email [email protected] (not call). No one answers [email protected]. The only people who answer the phone are German speakers who promise that you'll receive a call back within the day. This rarely happens, so one must be ready for a several week wait. (It takes hours for them to charge your card and only about 5 weeks to refund.)

Since my last post, I did stop buying anything - even after getting cheery German emails saying how they're improving service (by sending German to English and French speakers). I only bought the moving Groupon. Big mistake, of course. I will NEVER buy again.

BuyClub is very responsive to inquiries - even if you contact them in the language of the offered deal (crazy, eh?).

How did you manage to get a refund?  I've been emailing group on support but no response!  I can't find a telephone number either.  Any ideas?

Continue complaining. It's teh only way they finally listen. The contact information is on the Contact Us part of their website:

Groupon CH
Heinrichstrasse 267 C, 8002 Zürich,
Telefon: 044 278 77 16 (0,08 CHF/min) , Telefax 0 43 430 23 71,
E-Mail: info(at)groupon.ch

You will call in English or in French. They answer in GErman and take a message. You need to call back in a week or so when you don't hear from them. From there, they will take your information, then may call back again. At that point, when/if the refund is confirmed, you should receive it 4-6 weeks later.

Talking about Massages & Therapeutic offers:

I don't quite understand why Expats having complementary health insurance which reinbourse 70-80% of the cost would be buying groupon-like offers for 50% ???

On the other hand, how real therapists can agree to put 100 coupons for 25% of value, just to be squizing too many clients per day just to get them through.. it's impossible to give a real 100% value.

For that at least Buyclub seems OK because you can limit number of coupons available. Although I don't know what is the commercial deal for a service provider.

_____________

www.lifetouch.ch

Thanks for that!  I'll give it a go.

I had a bad experience with groupon and it was a nightmare trying to get a refund, for the same reasons everyone else has cited.  Eventually, I got through via [email protected], a guy named Marc Thaler who was actually super responsive and distributed the refund immediately.  

Generally, I agree with the other people that if we are receiving this much of a reduction in price, it should be assumed that the quality will not be as good as it would be for full price.  I have found this case to be the case for all service related purchases on both groupon and buyclub (sorry, Nir).  

Regarding how the sites compare, buyclub by far has the best quality, but perhaps consequently the most limited selections which sell out quickly.  Deindeal is wonderful for diverse offers every day.  A downside is that the company at times forgets to ship the order by the indicated date, but it has a sense of humour about it and will email to say ah right, sorry about that one it's on its way. Groupon has the sketchiest business, I would avoid for anything service-related unless it is very basic.  

Hello,

I must say that the price outshine the slow customer service and (sometimes) discrimination I got from the vendor when I come to try the offer.

Once or twice I asked for a cash back for a 20ish Fr items because the vendor couldn't be contacted. I called Groupon once, twice, three times and emailed them several times (with the additional number on the subject field everytime I resend the same email that wasn't replied). I got my money refunded in groupon credit, which was not so bad knowing that i will still use it. But I was shocked when I got my phone bill that charged the so-caled premium phone number to Groupon customer service higher than the refund it self.

My advice is that when you want to complaint or ask for a refund, don't bother to call. They will put you on hold for so long and you need to call again to remind them of their promise and again. In the end you will be asked to send email about the problem.

best,

Dinda

Great point, Dinda... calling the toll number often costs more than the voucher is worth, plus they will only offer online credit... which means you could be in the same situation again.

There's also the point that a lot of merchants artificially set their prices so that something appears to be a 50% discount. It's always good to check their website to see what the discount really is.

Bottom line: avoid Groupon. Bad service all around.

Other bottom line: BuyClub service is great, and merchants are pretty strong. I'd love to see BuyClub/Glocals add a Yelp-like capability, though, so members could review. They do everything else so well, and this would be icing on the cake.

Tonight at 4pm i called the restaurant 'La Pinata' mexican restaruant.

Asked to reserve a table for 5persons at 19h30.

I had a vouher for CHF 224- for 4 person and I understood we will pay for the 5th person.

I read the fine print:

Fine Print

I indicated if all ok, and I have a Groupon coupon, and said oui oui.I asked where there location was, they said in Junction. Regardless, I didnt see any reason why I had to tell him this as i also experienced Groupon descrimination or 2nd class treatment in past. i don't see that I first had to say I must indicate that im a client with Groupon. Further not indication that I must reserve 24hours before, because clearly says booking required and upon availability. But when I arrived i was told they dont have the reservation and that my voucher must have a 24hour before reserveation.

So I said really, are you joking, I just called 3hours before.No way they can say the conditions are any different that what is on the voucher. And that I will let everyone know that they dont honor the clear conditions that they agreed to on groupon voucher. This is just stupid business cents that they did this. Further we had no problem with the 5th person and alcohol, etc.  

now, this is not the first time I find the Groupon 'vendors' indicate something different than what is on the vouchers. Further I tried twice  before with Groupon and they do treat Groupon clients with 'descrimanating' lower standards. But these vendors are either just rubbish vendors, bottom feeders, or where are the really good vendors who really want to show case there restaurant?

These only exist with Buyclub, the treatment is 200% better, i use buyclub and 1 out of 20 was i disapointed.

I will personally never use Groupon again, and now I must struggle to get my 2 coupons reimbursed frmo Groupon. I am sure this will be a headache.

Fine Print

Anyone know website, in french or German or english where I can post my review of a restaurant? I know about Rest-a-Rang and also Trip Advisory. Already posted there, but anyother would be great, i am on a mission to warn anyone about Groupon and 'La Pinata'

Groupon has acted as almost a fraud site in our case. We ordered a XL bin bag last year. The delivery time was one to two weeks. Two months passed and we did not receive anything. After that we only received an email that due to large demand they run out of stock and they could not provide us with what we paid. Instead we could claim our money back 70CHF, or pay another 30 CHF in order to receive it from a different supplier!!! asked for money back and never received it...

I did get an emial today but i suspect its automated, because the details are 'inaccurate'. Because they indicate I must reply with the original email account. But I did, so I either is automated or dodging my claim? anyone have similiar message? And its only in German, really I am surprise that if your registed in Swiss french region they only reply in German.

I've had two therapists at my institute who worked with groupon, and had seen clients several times waiting in the waiting room as much as 6 months after those therapists no longer worked there!!

I ordered and paid for something before the end of January. The voucher did not work on the day it said it would be working, so I had a few emails to groupon about that. Then I paid for the shipping costs on the vendors site on the 1st Feb. I received something in German as a response, it was not clear if it was paid or not as the sum was still at the bottom of the receipt. I tried to contact the vendor to check with no response, I also contacted Groupon who reiterated that I had to contact the vendor. After a while, I repaid the shipping costs on the 19th Feb, this time through paypal but it was a worry that the vendors email address was not on paypal. I finally received notice at the end of Feb that the good had been shipped. I have contacted the site again to tell them I paid the shipping fee twice, but the email is no longer working. I wished I had read this thread earlier.