Groupon Steak Tasting at The Terrace Melbourne

gadgetguy on 19/07/2013 - 09:58

I tried to book for a Saturday night, the T&C say book by email only as a web booking will incur an extra $3 charge. The reply said they are fully booked and offered me a Sunday or Friday.

I was however able to book a table no problem on their website and by phone they also said they had space. I pointed this out in a further email to them and asked if they were limiting Groupon users. The reply: "yes we have to limit the amount of Groupon vouchers due to the massive discount given. If you have a problem please conatact groupon customer care and they will refund your voucher for you".

This is the first time I have experienced this with Groupon and is very disappointing. I guess I will stick with my web booking and pay the extra.

Archived

Related Stores

Groupon Australia
Groupon Australia
Marketplace

closed Comments

  • gadgetguy on 05/08/2013 - 23:31

    Still trying to get Groupon to resolve this. I raised an issue with them 9 days ago and there has been no movement since it was passed to the "Alex" in the resolutions team.

    Despite me sending them the email from this merchant actually telling me to go and get a refund and the pretty cut and dried circumstances I've still had nothing.

    Pretty poor show all round, shame as I only ever had positive experiences with Groupon to date.

    Are there any Groupon reps present here?

  • voteoften on 08/08/2013 - 23:31

    If the t/c disclose the three dollar fee, what's the problem?

  • gadgetguy on 09/08/2013 - 12:20

    Well it turned out to be more complicated.

    Initially I emailed and was told no availability. So I went and booked it via the website instead and I received a confirmation SMS stating my booking date and time was confirmed.

    I then emailed again and asked why couldn't I book this is via email and was rudely replied to by the manager stating that they have to limit the number of Groupon bookings on the weekend due to the fact that Groupon customers paid a lower price than "normal" customers. He also advised that I should contact Groupon and ask for a refund.

    I thought I would just pay the extra $3 and keep my online booking instead even though this already gave me a bad vibe.

    On the day of the booking I called the Terrace to confirm my reservation and was told that they never received my booking even though I have the SMS confirmation. It seems that the manager cancelled it after my communication with him so it was lucky we called.

    The guy who answered also told us that the manager advised him not to accept any Groupon bookings himself unless he had personal confirmation from the manager. This is totally at odds with the Groupon terms and conditions for this deals which allows for the $3 web booking and also do not mention any limitation or restrictions for Groupon users at the restaurant. He also advised that we were welcome to come on the night as a fully paid customer but the restaurant is full if we booked using our Groupon voucher. Basically the manager is changing the T&Cs and imposing his own rules.

    I have since requested Groupon refund my money. They eventually responded after almost 2 weeks of reminder emails and phone calls. They pretty much ignored the content of my email to them, saying they were trying to arrange a booking. I told them that given the circumstances I wanted a refund. I'm still waiting for this to happen.

    As I said, I've had good experiences with Groupon until this but now I'll think twice about using them in the future.

  • cloudy on 29/08/2013 - 16:52

    this is unfortunately a common problem with group buyers, its really a case of buyer beware, coz the time and cost to resolve is just not worth it.

Login or Join to leave a comment
Login Join