Beware Scoopon No Refund Even if Overbooked

janeymac on 07/10/2010 - 16:36
Last edited 31/01/2011 - 12:34 by 1 other user

I had a scoopon for a restaurant expiring this week. When I called to book, they said they were full and could not take a reservation. They refused a refund, or even a reschedule, so I tried to contact Scoopon (NB: They have no phone number, just email). This was their reply:

Thank you for your email.

Unfortunately we are unable to assist with your request for refund.

Your purchase is made in agreement to the terms and conditions of the
deal which includes the expiry date.

Please see below our policy on expiry dates.

  1. Scoopon voucher expiry and extension
    14.1. The Scoopon voucher expires on the date indicated on the voucher.

14.2. Expired vouchers are non refundable in whole or part. Once
expired, Scoopon vouchers are no longer valid and will not be honoured
by the supplier.

Should you have any further queries please do not hesitate to contact us.

Kind Regards,

Team Scoopon

I just want people who buy from scoopon to be aware that this may happen, and that there is no recourse. Imagine if a business has oversold the number of scoopons, neither they nor scoopon are liable for your expense.

A valuable lesson for me. I will not be buying from scoopon again.

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closed Comments

        • simmo on 26/10/2011 - 01:15
          +2

          I had a similar thing happen to me. Both the restaurant and Scoopon basically said "stiff sh1t"
          . I reported Scoopon to Consumer Affairs (they said I wasn't the first by a long way). I spoke to VCAT about filing a dispute but they seemed to think I might not have much chance because Scoopon cover themselves with their disclaimers.

          In the end I filled in a form to dispute the transaction with my bank. The bank refunded the money and gave Scoopon 45 days to prove I received what I paid for. The 45 days has now lapsed so it looks I've got my money back for good, and best of all Scoopon don't have my money and I believe they have to pay a disputed transaction fee to their bank…BONUS!

        • arcticmonkey on 27/10/2011 - 13:23

          If more people did what you did, simmo, perhaps we would see less of these complaints on the forum. Good work.

  • satoshi on 15/06/2011 - 01:15
    +3

    Well, it's been one week now after posting my ticket ID, the 'team leader' must be on holiday LOL…What a joke!!

  • dmanso on 07/07/2011 - 09:20
    +4

    Dishonest. Disgusting.

    Don't know about the food, as I was never given the service to try it.

    Bought a scoopon for this restaurant, but never had time to redeem the voucher.

    7 days before expiry, we called in to make a reservation. Mamaca answered with an answering machine.

    The message says that restaurant is booked out for the next 7 days. Basically if you have a voucher, bad luck.

    Some may say why wait till the last minute to make a booking. Regardless of our reasons, if someone pays for a service in Australia, we should be given the service. We do not live in a 3rd world country. If Mamaca saw that there are voucher yet to be redeemed and they are running out of time, Mamaca or Scoopon should have said something.

    Other voucher websites, will continue to honour the vouchers even after expiry. Or a refund in credit for another purchase. Mamaca and Scoopon took our money and DID NOT PROVIDE the service. They at some point or another intentionally ripped us off.

    Terrible restaurant and coupon website.

  • ro2y on 07/07/2011 - 18:12
    +1

    I finally got my refund after a few weeks of follow up emails to Scoopon (as advised by Consumer Affairs Victoria)and noisy complaints to this forum. Once Scoopon gets the idea that you will not go away quietly and may escalate to ACCC/Consumer Affairs stepping in they will refund your money as their "Gesture of Goodwill". LoL, they just wouldnt want to admit its their fault for having no limit on their vouchers when there should be one. Here is the email I got prior to the refund:

    "Thank you for your email.

    After discussing your concerns further with our Customer Support Leader, we would like to offer a refund of your Scoopon purchase. Although this request does not qualify for a refund in line with our Standard Terms and Conditions, in this case, Scoopon.com.au wishes to offer you a refund as a gesture of goodwill.

    Our number 1 priority is our Scoopon Community and Members. We never like to hear of any Scoopon Member having anything less than a great experience when redeeming a Scoopon, we constantly strive to ensure this is the case and take any negative feedback from our Members very seriously. Please accept this offer of a refund, from Scoopon.com.au directly, as a token of our appreciation for your support and patience as we have worked to resolve your query. ….."

    I replied to them that their "Terms and Conditions" should be changed. It does not protect customers from dodgy deals and businesses. I even wrote to them some of their competitors like Cudo have a Customer Satisfaction Guarantee on their Terms and Conditions. Anyways unless I see improvement on their conditions there is no way I will be buying from them again.

    • chloden on 07/07/2011 - 18:24
      +2

      I think they are feeling the pressure today after the TT story last night. Anyway good on you for putting the pressure on and getting your refund, hope to hear more of it.

  • Lubs on 13/07/2011 - 20:51
    +3

    Don't fall for the "subject to availability" ploy, it doesn't mean you're obliged to make do with whatever limited availability the vendor claims to have left. Scoopon must ensure you have a reasonable opportunity to use their vouchers within the validity period or provide a full refund. Escalate to the ACCC and Fair Trading if you have to Just sent them this in response to their rubbish standard form email:

    Dear Samantha,

    Despite the fact that Scoopon does not manage the voucher redemption process, I purchased the vouchers in question from Scoopon, and Scoopon is therefore obliged to provide me with a reasonable opportunity to use them within the stated validity period or to issue me with a refund. While this does not mean that Scoopon must guarantee that I am able to make a booking on what you refer to as my "most desired date" it does mean that Scoopon cannot impose, and cannot allow the third party operator to impose, unduly onerous limitations on my use of the vouchers.

    I am aware that Scoopon vouchers are sold "subject to availability", however this condition does not mean that I am required to accept whatever limited availability the operator claims to have. Courts will always interpret the terms of a contract in a reasonable manner and in this case a court would interpret the "subject to availability" term in such a way that I am entitled to be given a fair and reasonable opportunity to use the vouchers, taking into account their advertised validity period (that is, 17 February 2011 - August 2011) , the overall stated availability of the tour in question (that is, that it runs on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays) and the fact that Scoopon and the operator could have reasonably assumed that most purchasers would wish to use their vouchers on the weekend and so should have adjusted the validity dates and amount of vouchers available for purchase accordingly. The failure to have done this is likely to constitute misleading and deceptive conduct contrary to the Australian Consumer Law.

    I also note that while the operator states that it has extended validity of the vouchers till the end of the year, neither the operator nor Scoopon is entitled to unilaterally alter the terms of the contract. When I purchased them, a condition of the vouchers was that they were valid until 17 August and Scoopon is obliged to ensure the operator provides me a reasonable opportunity to use them by that date or to provide me with a refund. The operator may choose to offer to extend the validity of the vouchers but I am not required to accept this variation.

    As at today's date there is over a month left until the expiry of the vouchers and a total of 20 days on which the relevant tour operates. I telephoned the operator at 7pm this evening and asked them to provide me with all the available dates between now and 17 August. Out of a possible 20 dates, I was informed that there were only 6 dates on which I could use the vouchers, all of these are either Tuesdays or Wednesdays. This does not accord with your claim that the operator has "plenty of availability during the week days". The time period from today until 17 August equates to 1/6th of the total 6 month validity period of the vouchers and 6 available dates in the course of that time does not equate to a reasonable opportunity to use them.

    I am aware from media and online sources that Scoopon has a track record of refusing to issue refunds when operators fail to honour the vouchers that it sells, and that the email you sent me is in fact a standard form email. I would like to make the point that as a solicitor by profession, I am well aware of the remedies available to me under contract and consumer law and that I will pursue this matter until it is resolved to my satisfaction. I have no desire to enter into a dispute with Scoopon, however I will escalate this matter to both the ACCC and the state Department of Fair Trading if required.

    I look forward to receiving prompt confirmation that Scoopon will issue a full refund for cost of the vouchers to me.

    • arcticmonkey on 14/07/2011 - 17:28
      +2

      Nicely written. Hopefully you will get a quick refund.

      • Lubs on 16/07/2011 - 22:33

        Thanks!

        Yep, I got an email back the next day saying they had discussed my issue with their "Customer Support Leader" and were prepared to offer me a full refund. In my experience in these types of situations, you just have to make it clear that you intend to persevere and won't take their standard cut and paste response, and they will usually come to the conclusion that it's not worth the nuisance and address your issue.

  • junsungk8111 on 16/07/2011 - 08:01
    +2

    I just want to share the bad experience I had with Pro Car Wash Burwood and obviously also with scoopon.
    Scoopon refused to provide a refund so wrote to them again as below.
    I was going to lodge a complaint to Fair trading but their server was under maintenance so sent them the last email before I take action. By the way, scoopon had wrong advertising as well. The image states 4 great locations for the car wash when there's only 3. I will take this false advertising to ACCC as well if I don't get an immediate refund. Below is the link, check the image right at the bottom of the description, it says 4 locations.
    http://www.scoopon.com.au/deals/2800/just-39-for-three-x-sup…

    Hi,
    I had a bad experience with this deal provider and I haven't used my scoopon yet. I did lodge a complaint and got reply saying that I am unable to get a refund for change of mind.
    I replied back saying that I will deal directly with the deal provider and fair trading but I think scoopon should be responsible for providing wrong impression of the service so I am writing to you again before I take it further.
    To give you some brief understanding, I went there on Sunday and car wash manager quoted me to complete the job in 30 minutes. And as soon as I showed my scoopon voucher, he rejected to provide a service and told me to come back between Monday to Thursday. This is where my first frustration came from.
    So I went back to my car and got my iphone out and read the details on scoopon and could not find anything saying that they do not provide service during weekends. Infact, it even stated opening hours during weekends and also stated that "no bookings were required".
    So I showed him this part using my iphone and he changed his words and said he will now provide a service but it will take 3 hours.
    So it takes 30 minutes if I pay the money and takes 3 hours if I use scoopon voucher?
    This really frustrated my family. The reason for asking a refund is not due to the change of mind. I was unable to get the service as described on the scoopon website.The service provider initially lied about the terms and condition and has refused to provide a service on Sunday. Also they were clearly de-prioritizing customers with vouchers and this is also not on the description.
    This is only $39 deal and I am not so much concerned about money but this is not a good solution for customers who had bad experience. And as I have mentioned in my previous emails, I appreciate other services that I experienced with scoopon. I am a regular customer and I was always happy with the service, but I will not tolerate this case as I wasted my whole family's valuable time on Sunday. I look forward to your response.

    • voteoften on 16/07/2011 - 13:11
      +2

      That is pretty crap service. You deserve a refund. Why don't you post your ticket number here? I'll ask before Scoopon does!

    • arcticmonkey on 16/07/2011 - 14:50
      +2

      That is horrible service. You should be provided with a refund straight away. Not told that you are "unable to get a refund for change of mind".

      Who told you that you won't be getting a refund?

      • junsungk8111 on 16/07/2011 - 15:52
        +2

        Yes, that was very unexpected service. I got a reply from 2 people in scoopon service team. First person replied and said the case will be looked into, and second person sent that unexpected reply.
        And the ticket number is VFN-735695, thanks voteoften, arcticmonkey.

  • junsungk8111 on 18/07/2011 - 14:49
    +1

    Another person in scoopon has sorted this out and I've got my refund now.
    I wish they had a closer look in the first place so that I didn't have to go through this lengthy process.

  • Pauline_s on 12/08/2011 - 00:35
    +1

    I Contacted Scoopon asking for a refund for a company called “Charisma House of Beauty” in Whitfords. There have been many bad reviews of this company on this site, some, the same “permanent makeup” coupon I am having trouble with for $138
    I booked an appointment for permanent lip blend tattoo on March 17th the Scoopon was only issued on March the 7th, and valid until September 9th. I made a point to ask the girl on the phone while making the booking, is there anything I need to do before the day or bring with me… she said “No”. When I get there and the tattoo gun is a few inches away from my face, the tattooist just so happens to ask if I have had cold sores before, I said “I cant believe you didn’t know that, you are going to get a cold sore today, and the lip liner tattoo “Yes” she said “Oh have you been taking the medication for a week” I said “No, I wasn’t told to” she had a very confused look on her face and said “I cant believe you didn’t know that, you are going to get a cold sore today, and the lip liner tattoo will look broken, where the cold sore appears“ I obviously said “well I will come back after I take the medication” she quickly said “Oh were fully booked up, you wont get in” (Keeping in mind the voucher expires in September – this was in march!!!) She was still standing there with the tattoo gun in her hand actually expected me to still do it and be happy – I just said “No thanks – I will get a refund from Scoopon” and left politely even though I was raging inside. Needless to say I wont be going back there again.

    When I contacted Scoopon and explained in detail what happened, with dot points and everything - they didn’t help at all, just tried to get rid of me.
    “We're upset that you can't fulfil you're Scoopon at this point in time. Unfortunately we can't issue you a refund on this occasion as the onus lies on the purchaser to research suitability before a product or service is purchased. However as there is a substantial amount of time left in the validity period there will be time to redeem the Scoopon after taking the said medication. Alternatively, as Scoopons are transferable they can be gifted.”
    I sent a second email

    “Hi, I don’t think you understand, Even if I wanted to use the voucher they will not honour it – In March they said they are fully booked – it is now August and the voucher expires next month. I would Like a refund – as I cannot redeem they voucher, nor do I want to return to these people who seem like they don’t know what they are doing. Im not sure what the problem is? Living social and deals.com will refund vouchers that merchants do not honour but scoopon doesn’t?”
    Again More excuses – this is the reply I got
    “If we could kindly direct you to our terms and conditions, you will notice that a cancellation policy applies. We understand that while this isn't ideal, we believe we've acted accordingly in line with our terms and conditions.”
    I then Sent another email
    “Matt,
    in your terms and conditions it also says this

    12.7. If you have any complaints relating to a provider whose goods or services have been promoted through the website, please bring this to both the provider’s and Scoopon's attention as soon as possible. Whilst Scoopon is not legally liable to you, in relation to any claim you may have against a provider whose goods or services have been promoted through the website, Scoopon will use its reasonable endeavours to try and satisfactorily resolve any dispute you may have with any such provider.

    More importantly in the FAQ it states
    “If you can't redeem your Scoopon because the company can't provide the good or service we'll refund your money.”

    I don’t believe you have acted accordingly in line with your terms and conditions at all. It seems as though you can’t be bothered dealing with this matter properly, you have offered no additional help whatsoever, but simply tried to get rid of me. But you wont, I have looked all over the internet at scoopon complaints and I have also rang my bank, I know I am well within my rights to issue a chargeback on my credit card for this transaction.
    It’s a real shame I have read so many positive outcomes for Scoopon complaints on the net, yet you haven’t even bothered to help at all.
    If you cant be bothered helping me please pass this on to someone who can. I would like a full refund.
    Regards”

    They have not replied - I have sent 4 more emails, no reply.
    I signed up for this. Just to let everyone know about my bad experience with Scoopon. It’s a real shame their customer service is so bad, I have spent $1000’s with scoopon, and have recommended people who have also spent $1000’s. But they cant do the right thing when things go wrong. I have now noticed they ignore most of their customers, and you have to sign up to this forum before Scoopon decides to responds. It seems as soon as a complaint is posted publicly, they all of a sudden want to fix it. I have never complained about a company before, but what they are doing is very wrong. They don’t even help, they just try and get rid of you.

    I will keep everyone updated to let you know if they actually do refund when things go wrong or if its all talk.

    • Pauline_s on 12/08/2011 - 11:51

      I just got this reply from Matt
      "Unfortunately having an appointment already booked and then deciding not to go through with the treatment does not constitute being unable to redeem your Scoopon and thus we can't process your request for a refund.

      While we understand this isn't the outcome you desired we have acted accordingly in line with our terms and conditions."

      Im Not Sure if he cant read or what…

      I sent the Following back

      "Matt, Please read my email properly!
      I could not go through with the appointment, because I needed medication beforehand or the the lip liner tattoo was going to break!! Would you ‘constitute’ that as the service Scoopon was offering? Having a broken tattoo line on your face? I don’t think so.. Through No fault of my own, I was not given the information correctly by either Scoopon Or Charisma House Of Beauty.

      Stop making ridiculous excuses, and do what you are supposed to do according to your FAQ and terms and conditions

      Again I will write it out for you

      12.7. If you have any complaints relating to a provider whose goods or services have been promoted through the website, please bring this to both the provider’s and Scoopon's attention as soon as possible. Whilst Scoopon is not legally liable to you, in relation to any claim you may have against a provider whose goods or services have been promoted through the website, Scoopon will use its reasonable endeavours to try and satisfactorily resolve any dispute you may have with any such provider.

      “If you can't redeem your Scoopon because the company can't provide the good or service we'll refund your money.”

      You have NOT at all acted accordingly in line with your terms and conditions

      I will be filling out this paperwork from the bank to withdrawal the transaction on the 7/03 For $138, I tried to do this nicely, because I know businesses get a bad reputation from the banks when this process is gone through – but your not co-operating at all

      I will also be posting this all over the net – Just to let everyone know not to deal with scoopon and stick with the other coupon companies who do the right thing, and genuinely want to keep their customers.
      You have just lost about 10 customers who would have spent $1000’s more with your company
      "

      I suppose they are all talk - for all the people out there who have problems like this I recommend you call your bank and do a reversal on the transaction - Dont waste your time trying to contact Scoopon- They dont want to help, They just want you to go away. Your bank will always put you first, and they have a special department now for things like this - Enough Complaints, maybe it will force Scoopon to start trading properley.

      • neil on 12/08/2011 - 12:33
        +1

        Obviously, the right thing to do is for Scoopon or the tattoo company to refund your money. I would recommend starting your own thread for ease of reading.

        Have you contacted the tattoo place to see if they have availability or is there no way you will go back again? It's a tricky situation as your qualm is really with the tattoo business but you have paid money to Scoopon. I believe you only have a limited window for chargebacks (90 days maybe) so you may be better off sending a letter of demand to Scoopon, followed by small claims court. The cost of a solicitor for Scoopon > $138 so I'd think by not showing up you should win.

        • voteoften on 12/08/2011 - 15:07

          WA consumer protection is a free and easy option.

          I think this thread should be closed.

        • neil on 12/08/2011 - 15:48
          +1

          Can WA consumer protection compel a business to do something or do they just mediate and give recommendations?

        • voteoften on 12/08/2011 - 16:35

          They can and do take them to court. My ex husband was taken to court by them, had a massive judgement against him. The IT people (separate company)found the docs they had misplaced backing my ex up and he appealed and won in the WA supreme court. And was awarded costs. The Dept does this on behalf of consumers. Unlike human rights/discrimination issues, consumer issues can and will be taken up even if there is no complainant and no one was injured. They were absolutely rabid against my ex.

      • arcticmonkey on 14/08/2011 - 00:13

        Disgusting service. I would be going to Consumer Protection/Fair Trading. And I hope you never use Scoopon again.

      • AssociatedScoopon @ Scoopon on 18/08/2011 - 11:10
        -1

        Hi Pauline_s,

        We're really sorry that you've been having difficulty redeeming your Scoopon!

        We've had our Customer Service Manager look into this further for you and we will be in touch with you with additional information.

        Thanks,
        Team Scoopon

  • scooponsux on 06/09/2011 - 19:05

    I too have had a bad experience with scoopon - specifically not being able to book an appointment for a service before the expiry time because they are all booked up. I think we should start to book in our voucher services without saying we have a voucher until after the service is received. How can there be bookings available for non-voucher clients but none available for scoopons? if it is "subject to availability' then if they are available for non-voucher clients then they should be available for voucher clients. Since I haven't heard of anyone getting a refund this seems to be the best way. I am currently asking for a refund through scoopon and if I hear back from them I will re-post

    • AssociatedScoopon @ Scoopon on 07/09/2011 - 11:38

      Hi scooponsux,

      Thanks for your post.

      Have you contacted [email protected] with your concerns?

      Our Support Team would like to follow up your concerns further, so if you have not already received a response from our team, can you please advise your ticket ID.
      If you have not contacted our team already, please do so, so that we can assist you further.

      Kind Regards,
      Team Scoopon

  • annoyed on 31/10/2011 - 14:44

    I was shocked with the nonchalant and quite impersonal rude reply I received from Scoopon today. I had bough 2 tickets for swimming with Dolphins (Moonraker Charters) last year for my partner- at the time I bought the voucher, I tried to make a booking with the company and they were booked out for months. More recently, I called to see if I could get a booking because the voucher is about to expire, and got the same response. The company told me they were booked out months in advance and that I should contact scoopon for a refund. Upon e-mailing them (I still have validity of the voucher- but could not redeem it due to their overbooking/ overselling!!) I got a very unsatisfactory response from most likely alias replies.

    "Thank you for your email.

    Each customer is responsible for the use of their Scoopon, including redemption. We can certainly help you out when possible, but securing a booking in the final weeks of a 6 or 12 month redemption period is cutting it extremely close. At this stage, we’re nearly at the end of the validity period. There was a lot of available bookings that went unutilised during the middle months of the validity period. Due to this, your request for refund is not valid in this case.

    Thank you for your email."

    After telling them that I had previously tried to book but could not get a booking- this was their response

    "As previously advised, we are unable to assist with your request for refund.

    If you ever experience difficultly booking a Scoopon experience, please advise us as soon as possible within the validity period. Advising us with less than 2 weeks left in the validity period makes it incredibly difficult to investigate your claim and find a reasonable outcome for you.
    Should you have any further queries please do not hesitate to contact us."

    How are we as customers meant to know when they have availabilities when we make an attempt to make a booking, they are always full?!?!

    I told Scoopon that usually I would not care, but I had bought 2 Scoopon's for $55 each, and as a student, I would love to get my $110 back.
    In both e-mails, I asked for my matter to be dealt by the manager or someone higher in the hope that i would get a sincere response from the company, but looks like they just don't care about their customers.

    I will never be buying something from Scoopon again as a result of this incident and will make sure I let everyone I know aware of what a horrible and dishonest company they are. If only they had a better way to deal with customer complaints, people would go back.

    I will also be taking this matter further to the ACCC and hope to hear what Scoopon's response to that is!

    OH, and my complain ID is JTS-274496 if 'Team Scoopon' want look into it. (It seems like team scoopon were too lazy to investigate my claims even then they were valid via e-mail, hence not too sure if they will do anything now.)

    • robinsoa on 31/10/2011 - 16:25

      Have you tried disputing the transaction with your bank? or is it too late?

      See comment by simmo on 26/10/2011 - 00:15

      • annoyed on 31/10/2011 - 21:08

        I think it is too late- otherwise I definitely would have….time to just spread the word on how horrible Scoopon's customer service is!

        • mini2 on 14/11/2011 - 13:54
          +1

          Just give it a crack anyways, the worst they can say is no.

          CBA said no at the beginning as it's more than 120 days since the payment was processed (Visa set the scheme rules, not CBA), they went and accepted the dispute anyhow. Got my money back and stayed clear of Scoopon from that point onwards. Paying via PayPal wouldn't have helped either as the PayPal dispute period is 45 days from the payment was processed originally.

  • 777 on 21/11/2011 - 21:33

    @ Scoopon
    Would your customer service care to reply to our emails ?
    Ticket NDX-590566. You guys dont have a phone to call to, dont reply to our email, ozb seems to the only hope before calling consumer affairs and raising a fraud case with Bank

    • arcticmonkey on 22/11/2011 - 10:48

      Hopefully next time you will purchase from a company with a phone number!

  • AssociatedScoopon @ Scoopon on 19/06/2013 - 15:18

    Hey Guys,

    My name is Mitchell and I'm the new Online & Social Media rep for Scoopon.

    If you have any inquiries regarding Scoopon deals, vouchers or orders just let me know and I'll be more than happy to look into it for you.

    Alternatively, you can submit a help request directly through our Help Centre by clicking on the following link:

    https://helpcentre.scoopon.com.au/home

    Thanks

    Mitchell - Team Scoopon

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