Just curious..

Joyoz on 19/07/2011 - 23:17

Has anyone boycotted any of the group buy sites? After Scoopon removed me from their facebook for asking nicely if I was getting a reply today I have no given them the time of day since. I am quite over the group buy hype. There's so many group buys now that I don't have to impulse buy anymore and that a similar deal will most likely come up again. I'll go somewhere where customers are treated with respect.

This question isn't is just at scoopon but all these sites?
Also have any of the sites given service that just went over and beyond to assist you? :)

Archived

closed Comments

  • neil on 20/07/2011 - 02:22
    +1

    I think it's 2 fold.
    1. The personalities and styles of how the company is run.
    2. Enough staff to handle growth.

    Scoopon is run similar to the way COTD was/is run. Sure customers are important but they are not going to bend over backwards like Amazon.com or Groupon. I think they also suffered from a lack of customer service/social media staff observed by the amount of job ads they put out in the past few months. Their strict refunding policy goes against they way most companies run their business. In the business I work for, we are always monitoring what customers think of us and our reputation. If a customer is unhappy for any reason, we tend to always refund. We have actual inventory that we sell. Scoopon and other group buy companies don't. They sell pdfs essentially. For them to not refund customers, just makes no sense. This is the same company that registered Groupon in Australia to domain squat on groupon.com.au. It's the same company that also squats on woot.com.au and dealextreme.com.au. While all of the staff that I've spoken to including the famous QQQ have been very nice, you have to wonder what the upper management is thinking over there or if they care. Would love to see someone mention any of that in media interviews with them.

    As the group buy market matures, you would think that customer service would come into play. Livingsocial is heavily marketing itself all over TV and billboards. They have a phone number and from the few accounts I have seen are very generous on their refunds. Some of the new players in the market are marketing themselves with customer service in mind.

    I don't like Scoopon's business practices but at the end of day, we are all bargain hunters. If it means we have to deal with the devil to get a great deal, then that's the risk (and fun) we take.

    • bluedufflecoat on 20/07/2011 - 10:00
      +1

      I've not had bad experiences with Scoopon so far, but I am quite wary of their practices. Just looking at the way they domain-squat and all the complaints we've read on OzB, just proves that there is something wrong with the culture in COTD/Scoopon. It's like the phone scandal at News Corp atm. It all comes from the top. The bosses are the ones that determine the direction of where a company is heading, they can't run away from that responsibility. The Centro directors are another example.

      In my opinion - you have to be careful with all group buy deals - but Scoopon more than the others.

  • John Margon on 20/07/2011 - 12:27
    +1

    Scoopon is arsehole of the deal sites. everything about the ay they operate is wrong.simple things like having a PHONE NUMBER on the website makes a massive difference as a customer and says alot about the culture and priorities of the company. Also do you ever notice all of Scoopons deals are at riduculous discounts (80%) and 1000's vouchers sold? This is slamming businesses withhordes of customers trying to make bookings then leaving them in the cold when they have no one but the poor restaurant to contact. sites like living social, jump on it, stardeals, do not do this. their deals respect the business and they also have actual CUSTOMER SERVICE. it's apples and oranges. oh and if you cant tell i really hate scoopon :)

    • Scoopon on 27/07/2011 - 17:02

      Hi John Margon,

      I've asked our Customer Support team to look through to see if you have any outstanding issues, and it appears that we have had no emails registered to your name.

      Have you contacted our Support Team previously to bring up any issues that you may have been experiencing?
      If so, can you please advise your ticket ID, so that we can investigate further?

      Kind Regards,
      Team Scoopon.

  • arcticmonkey on 20/07/2011 - 20:23
    +2

    I'll happily buy from any of the group buying providers except Scoopon. For many of the reasons mentioned by the above posters, I find Scoopon's level of customer service to be unacceptable.

  • Scoopon on 27/07/2011 - 16:55
    -1

    Hi Everyone,

    Scoopon works very hard with our deal providers to ensure that all Scoopon Members can be seen during the validity period of the offer. We also subject all potential deal providers to a screening process. If, after their feature has run, it is found that a deal provider is in breach of their Scoopon contract and is not accommodating Scoopon Members in line with our Standard Terms & Conditions, along with the Terms & Conditions of their particular offer, Scoopon Members will be issued with a refund.

    Scoopon.com.au is very focused on ensuring our Members have a great experience using their Scoopons and we have a dedicated team of Customer Service Specialists to assist with any queries or concerns. We are able to provide support via email for conversation tracking purposes and aim to resolve all queries within 2 business days.

    Kind Regards,
    Team Scoopon.

    • Natt on 28/07/2011 - 12:26
      +1

      "We are able to provide support via email for conversation tracking purposes and aim to resolve all queries within 2 business days."

      yeah right

      http://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/47431

      canned responses:
      - asking for someone to provide a ticket ID for the umpteenth time
      - regurgitating a policy with very little meaning

      is not customer service

      sigh

Login or Join to leave a comment
Login Join