For all those who have been burned by scoopon, it's time for payback. Hammer their facebook pages, hammer their tweets and keep the discussions going here.
I got burned by the Mocean restaurant overbooking scam and I won't give up until they refund my $49. Let's keep everyone informed about this outside and inside of ozbargain.
More details on the Mocean scam here:
http://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/43238
For 49 its hardly worth the effort of spamming them or organising a mass protest, just do a chargeback with your credit card.
I think it's an effort to get them to improve their practices. That's fair enough.
Agreed if you are a share holder, i dont see why people want to help them after they get shafted by them?
Personally the money does the talking dont like them dont shop there
I bought the offer a few months ago. There is a time limit for chargebacks… I think about 30 days.
Ring your CC provider anyway. Its often stated as 30 days from the statement its issued on (which could be 50-60 days after purchase) and I have found they are not always strict on the time limit as well.
And wat happens when they close their facebook page or prevent any more commenting. Also most of my friends have no clue what scoopon is thus i am not going to further advertise them by commenting on their facebook page cos to comment you need to like them. It's more free advertising for them.
The best way is as the mod indicated above. Start a wiki. Post the details in a professional manner with your complaints and any communications outlined clearly in point form. And that wiki should only be for the initial complaints and not discussing them.
In that way if a legal proceeding occurs then that can act as a good evidence.
Isn't there an "anti Scoopon webpage"?
I just created one. search for "scoopon sucks" on facebook
Hi everyone,
We have been in contact with our deal partner, Mocean, to clarify any possible issues for our Scoopon members trying to redeem their vouchers.
We had been advised by our members that the restaurant was booked out and could not accommodate any new bookings in the lead up to the voucher expiry date.
Our Scoopon support team contacted the deal provider to investigate what was going on, and were able to confirm that the restaurant was fully booked out during the last two weeks (the last week of the voucher, and also the week previous) of the Scoopon validity period. This applied to general public bookings, as well as Scoopon holder bookings. As we only become aware of the restaurant being fully booked in the last week of the voucher's validity period, the options available to us were limited in terms of providing a resolution.
Our deal provider did everything in their power to honour as many Scoopons during the validity period, with some members even being placed on a cancellation list and being offered bookings as they became available. However, once the Scoopon voucher has expired, the deal provider is not obligated to honour the Scoopon - as it no longer carries any value.
Our members are our No. 1 priority, and we always want to help bring about a satisfactory resolution. So, if you do have concerns about redeeming your voucher, we kindly ask that you contact our support team via [email protected] as soon as you have concerns about being able to redeem your Scoopon voucher - as our team will get back to you as quickly as possible. We kindly ask that you do not post materials that are not important to your concerns, as this will slow our team's ability to respond to your, and other Scoopon member's, queries efficiently.
Kind Regards,
Team Scoopon.
This is insane. Nowhere in your terms and conditions do you require that customers book by a certian date. If the restaurant can't service the voucher, it should be refund time. That is what you promise. It is not the fault of the voucher holder that the place was booked out.
I think Scoopon is stepping over dollars to pick up pennies with this attitude towards customer service.
The minute this happens to me, I will be lodging a consumer protection claim here in WA.
If scoopon is selling a lottery for bookings then it should plainly state there are x numbers of seats available for vouchers. That way buyers can calculate their chance of getting a booking, before they buy the vouchers.
I think there is a bit of a push/pull situation here. The establishments obviously don't expect 1000 coupons to be redeemed in the last week (although you could argue they can see it coming because of number used != number sold), surely use your common sense when booking these coupons.
Typically these coupons have a validity period of 6 months, i've never purchased one that only has 3 months etc (although i have seen them available), simply because these problems popping up now. I also do no expect to be able to slip in a last day reservation for the coupon's validity date.
I think 2 weeks and being fully booked out is "fair enough" if there were 1500 coupons sold (just a number, i don't know the figure), but if it were booked out an entire month in advance then this PR disaster could have been averted by Scoopon doing the right thing
I guess in the end scoopon and the establishment want to sell as many coupons as possible, but expect them to be used over time. Terms and conditions need to be set at the time of sale, and not ammended as the establishment sees fit.
Just out of interest Team Scoopon, can you please make publicly available, how many scoopons were sold, how many were redeemed and how many have obviously become invalid from this particular deal? This kind of openness may help to improve your current public image
On my own personal opinion only, and having purchased many Scoopons and having only minor problems with a very few of them, I am thinking the number of unredeemed coupons is incredibly high, but that is just my opinion
Scoopon should also release what their terms and conditions are for how the businesses must treat the customer. See my other post from today where they say that the business can not treat scooponers differently and they refunded the voucher holder their money. (That was Ben from Whirlpool).
Wow, thank you for confirming every bad thing I ever thought about Scoopon; as well as reaffirming the reasons why I'll never buy from you! ;)
Our deal provider did everything in their power to honour as many Scoopons during the validity period, with some members even being placed on a cancellation list and being offered bookings as they became available. However, once the Scoopon voucher has expired, the deal provider is not obligated to honour the Scoopon - as it no longer carries any value.
Wow, as diplomatically worded as that appears to be at face value, it still shows that Screwpon & it's unscrupulous partners are perfectly happy to take the money from buyers when it appears that they know there's a distinct likelihood that the purchaser may never be able to redeem the voucher.
As others have stated, overselling is not the customer's fault, and the onus of responsibility & liability should not fall on consumers then either…it's not a lottery, you guys agreed contractually to provide a service, if you can't within your own time frames then you have a moral & legal obligation to refund, period!!!
Then Scoopon thinks they can just wash their hands of the matter after expiry. I can't wait to see the results of the impending class-action case; anyone can see the momentum building on this one; I'm also fairly sure the ACCC & respective fair trading departments will have issue with selling consumers products & services they cannot access with the allotted time period, and then offering no recourse!
You guys don't need anybody badmouthing you on social forums; you're doing an impeccable job yourselves of tarnishing any reputation you may have ever had!!! As voteoften said, you're shooting yourselves in the foot…and your business will slowly bleed out! ;)
when was this deal offered? I have little sympathy for late bookers (not to disagree with the above posters)
Tal_Shair,
It's not about being late bookers and unable to redeem the voucher, it's about a denial of refund despite unable to redeem the voucher through no fault of the consumer.
There is nothing in the deal that states the consumer has to book by X date or they risk no service and no refund due to lack of service.
Scoopon can NOT arbitrarily say that those people should have booked sooner when it is NOT in the agreement.
The provision of services may be subject to availability, but the refund for lack of provision only has to do with whether the business will/did provide the service.
Hypothetical question:
For the sake of argument,let's say the Mocean deal expired April 30 10PM.
If a Scooponer walked in at 9PM on the 30th and couldn't get a booking, does that person deserve a refund?
Same situation, tried to make booking 1 day in advance?
1 week?
and so on?
Whilst I do think either business should offer an olive branch, it's fairly clear that it's subject to availability. If you wanted to follow the agreement to the letter of the law then Scoopon "appears" to be in the right, the way they have worded their T&C's. The purpose of these vouchers is to get return business and gain some advertising. With neither party willing to come to the table, it seems like a failed campaign by Mocean at a cost to everyone involved.
Neil I think the answer to your question is a consideration of "what is fair".
Possibly, expecting a booking 1 hour before would not be "fair" - but trying to hook up a booking one week in advance does seem "fair".
Myself and others are unhappy because we have been treated unfairly.
I checked the other thread(s) but didn't see your story d3vi. When did you attempt to make your booking?
Neil,
I disagree with your logic in this scenario. If scoopon is going to be a hardarse about the terms and conditions (ie subject to availabilty) but ALSO promise refunds (when making the sale) if the business wouldn't/couldn't provide service, they can not now say that there was a magic date at which buyers had to attempt to book in order to avail themselves of a refund.
If there is a magic date before which buyers are protected, then Scoopon needs to state that clearly when they are offering trhe deal for sale.
The issue is Scoopon nor the restaurant are going to refund those who couldn't make a booking before the expiration date. So you are going to have to go through legal channels whether it is Consumer Affairs or simply taking them to court.
An argument of Scoopon being hardarse on their T&C is not going to get you a refund. Scoopon made specific mention in the other thread(s) that bookings were not available to anyone (Scoopon or normal customers) in the weeks leading up to the expiration.
Section 12.1 of their T&C states:
12.1. The scoopon voucher you purchase is redeemable for the specified product from the nominated supplier. The nominated supplier, not Scoopon, is the seller of the product and is solely responsible for honouring any Scoopon voucher you purchase.
Thus, if you do pursue a case it will be with Mocean not Scoopon.
13.1. All service products are offered by suppliers subject to availability. Some small group or individual “experience” products will require booking in advance. For all products, we recommend making bookings at least 2 weeks in advance. Peak times (such as weekends or holidays) should be booked further in advance. We do not guarantee that services will be available at your preferred date and time.
It's an ambiguous statement. Those who booked outside of the recommended 2 weeks may have some leighway. Those those booked under, possibly the other way.
Not sure what you mean by magic date voteoften. I don't think you could predict a date before the expiration date of the vouchers when you could get a booking (normal or Scoopon). I've tried in the past to get a regular booking at Movida in Melbourne and was told there is a 3 week wait for a booking. Most other restaurants, I can book on the day. Bookings can get more difficult around events such as the Australian Open/ Gran Prix but then fall during Christmas holidays. Just don't think it's possible to predict a magic date.
*I'm only speaking through legal/logical interpretation. I still feel that both parties should offer the Scooponers something.
Thanks neil for the constructive comments.
I'm afraid I disagree with you though, the T&Cs state an expiry date (for Mocean it was 1st May), so if a Scooponer walked in at 9am on the 30th and couldn't get a booking, he IS entitled to a refund because he still attempted to redeem the voucher within the expiry date. The "subject to availability" statement makes a lot of sense. It's recommended to book 2weeks beforehand, so for those of us who attempted to book late, we don't get the cheap meal we bought. To deny a refund however, is something completely different. It's as though we're playing lotto. Buy the Scoopon, attempt to make a booking, and if it's full, tough luck.
For god sake what planet areu guys from. It takes the dumbest monkey to work out how many tables these guys have and to only sell the amount of coupons this place can accomodate.You oversell, then u make the customer feel obliged to use the voucher on the day the provider wants and if still not then u take bloody ages to refund the money.
And then u have the guts to come here and say please don't post these things here so that no one finds out about your Mod: Foul Language ups.
Grow up rep.
I think that response by Scoopon is absolutely disgusting.
What value was there to the customer in posting any of that?
The value was for potential customers, who will read this and NEVER use Scoopon.
If they do, hopefully we will see less Scoopon complaints!
The moderators of ozbargain will need to make an important choice.
Ban scoupon deals until such time these issues are resolved. I don't think it is wise for ozbargain to advertise a company's products/services where that company appears to be engaging in conduct which amounts to misleading or deceptive conduct.
Actually how about we ban scoopon all together….
Scoopon and Catchoftheday do get by with or without us. Banning them from the site hardly make a dent in their sales.
Its not about getting vengeance, its about users like myself not having to hear about it!
Urbanspoon as well.
LOL @ Screwpon.. Im glad people make posts like this to stop other people getting screwed over :)
I've spoken to a few people where scoopon has booted people off their page for asking for a reply to emails. One lady got a refund but had been in contact with Today Tonight about doing a story on this.
Yep i just got blocked by the "Scoopon Australia" page for demanding a resolution to my problem
Maybe I should ask for a refund on all my gift vouchers that have expired at BigW, JB and others.
While I certainly wont side with scoupon as I do think they have a number of issues, if something is subject to availability, then that is exactly what it is. I know the one I got for WA (hotel) that I wanted to use on a specific date I was on the phone the minute the deal become active. I took my chances knowing that may not get the date I wanted. Of course if they sold so many that the likelihood of you getting a booking at all was non existant then I would see grounds for a refund. The trouble is you also dealing with numbers.. IF they sold 1000 of these, and say that is 50% of overall capacity, then there is a good chance nearly all of those 1000 are "happy" scoupon customers.. the handful (?) of ones that missed out jump up and down and blame the resturant and scoupon, but it is potentially a small number and without knowing more details is hard to side one way or the other. Perhaps they need to implement a refund policy where say the deal is active for say 3 months, then up to 4 weeks prior to the deal is due to expire, you can get a refund if the service is not going to be available… that gives the buyer plenty of time to make a successful booking, and if one cannot be made you get a refund but by having the timeframe they dont just get all the ones that "forgot" to use the voucher demanding a refund. I dunno… like I said I kinda see both sides on this one.
Hi sarakoth,
Nobody here is attempting to claim a refund after their Scoopon expired. We've all attempted to redeem our Scoopon BEFORE it expired. Some of us got a refund denial even BEFORE the Scoopon expired (http://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/43238). In my case, I made an effort to contact Scoopon days before the deal expired, but they did not respond until well afterwards.
Fair enough… I guess they need to draw a line in the sand perhaps.. even 3 days before it expires is different to 2 weeks or 1 month, etc.. (actually I think one of the mods said that as well)… I think as with most things there are some that have happened unexpectantly and others that are deliberate (overselling)… perhaps they need to enfoce a minimum 6 months or even better, 12 month expiration, to avoid any over selling… though you could still wait 11 months (they run subsequent deals at that time) and then you cant get in in that last month anyway if that makes sense?
I don't think the gift card analogy works
these retailers don't refuse to honour an in date gift card
(ok perhaps with the exception of angus & robertson and similar)
What if the item you want to buy is out of stock when you go there on the last day? Sure you can buy something you dont want, but if you wanted a specific DVD, book, etc you take your chances even if the card is still valid if you leave it too late.
I do agree though it is a little different and if anything this is why there was also a push around Christmas time (by Choice?) I think for retailers to remove expiry dates from gift cards for pretty much the same reason that they have your $ up front and you should be able to use the card whenever you like.
Also someone mentioned the Entertainment book… the flipside is I have been to many resturants where they dont even scratch their number off the card, because even with the discount they want you to come back if you enjoyed the meal. So effectivley the deal has no expiry… I can't see why they need an expiry on these sorts of deals, or at least such a short one.
The reason they have an expiry for scoopon "deals" is because essentially its a scam. They knowingly oversell in the expectation that some/many people will not use the scoopon. There is no reason why scoopon doesn't put a legitimate limit on the number of each deal, so that all people could use them without the business going broke. Scoopon take a cut of each item sold, so its in their best interest to sell as many as they can, and clearly they dont care about a) the business losing money on an unreasonable amount of deals or b) the customer who will endure the wrath of the business, angry at the overselling of the deal!
It's hard to get a timely reply from Scoopon at the moment. Wouldn't hammering their social networks make it even harder for other customers to receive help?
If someone is willing, perhaps start a repository or wiki with others who have been burned so you can get Consumer Affairs to build a big case. Legal proceedings are better when you have loads of other people who experienced the same issue.