SCOOPON = Poor Customer Service. I will avoid using the service ever again.

LJoannaLouise on 04/09/2011 - 22:11

I have sent 2X emails to Scoopon regarding this issue, and it's probably very little surprise that I haven't heard back, based on previous posts on this Forum. I purchased a Scoopon on 22/06/2011, offering me a complete hair package at Vija Hair in Spring Hill. I paid $49.00 for a package worth $330.00 (apparently). I tried calling the other day to make an appointment, and discovered that the business closed down. Unfortunately, I had to find this out the hard way. Scoopon have failed to return my emails, and I note that they say they conduct business by means of email. This alone is very poor customer service, and even worse that they don't bother to answer them.
I gather people here have experienced the same difficulty, but what's the best way to get my refund?

By the way, Scoopon it wouldn't hurt you to conduct an integrity check on businesses before listing them on your website. I don't think it looks very good on your behalf to have the problem I am experiencing occur for your customers.

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  • JoannaLouise on 04/09/2011 - 22:18

    BTW SCOOPON… The Ticket Number is [#TLV-832560]: Vija Hair have closed down!

    • Scoopon on 05/09/2011 - 09:21
      -4

      Hi JoannaLouise,

      Thanks for your post - we received your email on Friday at 9:19PM.

      Our Support Team has responded to your email this morning.
      Also, you should have received an email regarding Vija Hair and Beauty a few weeks ago advising that the Deal Provider had closed down and that Scoopon was issuing refunds.

      If you had not received this email it might be caused by your email filters identifying [email protected] as junk mail. We kindly advise that you might need to add this address to your safe senders list.

      Kind Regards,
      Team Scoopon.

    • OzLuck on 09/09/2011 - 13:35
      -1

      I have only had good experiences with contacting Scoopon about problems with their deal-suppliers. I just recently had a refund of 3x $99 for a fishing trip vouchers, where we had been booked twice and they cancelled, and then when we tried booking almost 2 months before voucher expired, the deal-supplier was booked in all weekends and most holiday days, so we couldn't find a date good for us and another family, and the deal-supplier wouldn't postpone expiry even though we could prove hospital reasons for having had the gab between first bookings and last booking. The deal-operator in my opinion ended up being totally un-resonable and threatening me with a defamation law suit, if I ever wrote to anyone about it etc. I emailed with documentation to Scoopon and they refunded out of their account. I accept that Scoopon can't predict how their deal-suppliers will act down the track, so they have to consult with each customer if something is wrong… and it is really a problem when deal-supplier are really limited in "spaces /appointments /dates" etc., so please be aware of BRISBANE BAY TOURS.

      • scoopon_customer on 20/09/2011 - 19:30

        I am having exactly the same experience with BRISBANE BAY TOURS! He is being unhelpful with our booking - same story with the weekends booked up; we suggested a weekday and he is refusing to take us due to "insufficient" numbers - even though the voucher stated there will be maximum 5 (and we have 3 already).

        I am seeking a refund from Scoopon.

    • Barb E Cue on 30/09/2011 - 07:56
      +1

      It's really simple to get a refund, firstly send them a generic complaint email - then submit a chargeback request with your bank within the recommended timeframe (usually 90 days).

      Here's a generic complaint email:

      To Scoopon Pty Ltd,

      This email is a demand to cancel the a vouchers purchased on the [INSERT DATE HERE], and in result, a full refund, as a major failure has occured in this transaction between Scoopon and the customer.

      Over last few weeks, attempts have been made to redeem the vouchers at [INSERT VENUE NAME HERE] numerous times.

      Requests to redeem the vouchers have not been fulfilled as the venue has refused to [accept the voucher/or finalise a booking].

      In summary, a contract has been formed between the customer and Scoopon, that entitles the customer to a voucher that can be redeemed for a service provided by Scoopon's service provider, [INSERT VENUE NAME HERE]. Failure to provide the customer with the ability to redeem the voucher is a major failure. The existence of this major failure is a breach of the customer's rights under the Competition and Consumer Law Act 2010. Consequently,the customer is entitled to a remedy in the form of a refund as enumerated in Division 1 of Part 5-4.

      A copy of this email has been sent to the Consumer Affairs regulator, a unit of the Department of Justice Victoria.

      Regards,
      [UNSATISFIED CUSTOMER NAME HERE]

  • voteoften on 04/09/2011 - 22:39

    When did you send your emails? I suspect you will hear tomorrow if it was this w/e or late last week.

  • punk on 05/09/2011 - 07:57
    +2

    scoopon and every other voucher/coupon online site sucks. stick with the entertainment book :P

  • Pooky1 on 05/09/2011 - 10:23
    +2

    I too have emailed twice regarding Diamond Dry Cleaning voucher with no response. I have checked my junk mail. Not good enough!

    • Scoopon on 05/09/2011 - 11:48
      -1

      Hi Pooky1,

      Can you please advise your ticket ID that you would have received from our auto-responder.

      I will ask our Support Team to investigate asap!

      Kind Regards,
      Team Scoopon.

  • Pooky1 on 05/09/2011 - 13:17
    +1

    I have no Ticket ID as I have not even received an auto response in return :(

    • Scoopon on 05/09/2011 - 13:29
      -4

      Hi Pooky1,

      Thanks for your post.

      Every email that is received into our email system will generate an auto email response, if you have not received this, it might be possible that your email did not reach us.

      Can you please send a new email to [email protected] or use the link below. Once you receive an auto-response, please post it here so that we can have the support team chase up your concerns as soon as possible.

      http://helpcenter.scoopon.com.au/index.php?_m=tickets&_a=sub…

      Kind Regards,
      Team Scoopon

      • dealman on 05/09/2011 - 13:53
        +3

        Not having a phone number is JUST NOT GOOD ENOUGH!!!!!!!!!!

        SCOOPON = SHI!TPaN

  • derkyft on 05/09/2011 - 14:10
    -6

    ScoopOn is trying to solve the problems, give them a break.
    Whats with everyone expecting good deals and excellent customer service.
    If I went to say MSY looking for customer service, I'd probably be dead in the store from waiting for someone who can provide good service. They make it up with awesome prices so let it go

    • takezo on 09/09/2011 - 14:24
      +1

      If you went to msy, paid for your product, and then were never provided it because they had already sold too many for that day - then I'm sure you would be p1ssed.

  • Pooky1 on 05/09/2011 - 17:07

    Ok thanks for the direct link that is a much better system with a ticket number (CKM-375240)issued instantly! There obviously was an issue with this supplier as experienced by a number of other people so Im surprised I was never contacted regarding this particular deal. Unfortunately it has completely turned me off purchasing these types of services in future and I had to then find an alternative company to get the job done leaving me severely out of pocket :( I understand its not your fault if a supplier doesnt supply the service but most people dont have the time to chase it up. I look forward to a resolution soon :)

    • Scoopon on 05/09/2011 - 17:28
      -1

      Hi Pooky1,

      It seems that we had not received a previous email from the address registered to your account.
      We've asked the IT team to look into what might have occurred.

      Our Support Team has now responded back to your email with a resolution to your concerns.

      Kind Regards,
      Team Scoopon.

  • OzLuck on 09/09/2011 - 14:06
    +1

    I wrote this to a Scoopon deal-supplier after being presented with very limited dates to book /no weekends:

    How can we be booked subject to availability on the 27th? That should only be on the 28th or 29th in case the 27th is cancelled - subject to weather or other unforeseen reason as is understandable.

    We actually have a medical reason for not having booked earlier + and added info. on knee operation.

    I hope it works out for our friends to get off work on the 27th of September. Our family has at least done our outmost to reschedule around your times available in the last 1 ½ month before expiry. Our intention is to get out and have a great day, not getting a refund - even though some enthusiasm have evaporated during our last emails. I’m sure you would also rather have happy customers recommending you, than bad feedback going around.

    And received this answer:

    Every date is subject to availability, numbers and weather. It is also my intention to get you out for a great days fishing however please don’t threaten me with bad feedback. I do not accept that sought of conduct from any person. Its totally unacceptable and will not be tolerated. If you must stoop to that level and criticise me for something beyond my control then you should be ashamed of yourself and I will take legal action should any adverse comment be made or published that is slanderous and false, which it will be. Im doing my best and always will and saying what you did is very poor. Who agreed to take your kids out to watch back in January and fit your friends in before they went back. This how you repay people that try to do the right thing by you?
    You are booked for the 27th as requested. I will advise you re weather the day before. There is no need to respond. +

    No its up to me to decide refunds and you do not qualify I regret to inform you. In accordance with the terms and conditions I look forward to meeting you on the 27th. An opinion and fair comment must be true and not aimed at personal gain or the mainipulation thereof which you have attempted to do. You stated indirectly that unless you got your own way with bookings and I enforced my legally binding terms and conditions that you would make critical comment of me. That is unethical, is a threat and I stand by my comments. Scoopon were warned in writing by me 6weeks ago that this type of behaviour from people would occur when expiry neared. I look forward to their comments. See you on the 27th

    And just to clarify:

    We had 8 vouchers together with another family. We were booked twice around New Year, where the deal-supplier cancelled. 8 people is their max fishing capacity, so we would have booked the whole boat, and he had therefore acccepted to take (1) our youngest daugther out as well, to watch but not fish. 2 vouchers was for family friends on holiday from Europe, and he then filled them in on a tour booked by another group. That was making that tour more cost-effective for himself as much as helping them.

    Our friends ended up not being able to go on the 27th. What do you think? Would you want to deal with Brisbane Bay Tours?

  • Pooky1 on 10/09/2011 - 10:25
    +1

    I still havent had a reply email. This is the big problem not having customer service via phone as well.

    • Scoopon on 12/09/2011 - 09:26
      -2

      Hi Pooky1,

      We have responded to your email, within 20 minutes of receiving it.
      It appears that our email has been blocked, or filtered as spam - if you have not received it.

      We've asked the Support Team to send you an email from a secondary email account, which should reach you shortly.

      Kind Regards,
      Team Scoopon.

  • Pooky1 on 18/09/2011 - 09:23
    +1

    Thanks Scoopon. Problem solved. Got my refund :)

  • scooponscam on 19/09/2011 - 19:33
    +2

    I will also avoid using Scoopon again after a similar poor experience. I purchased 5 golf vouchers in March for my partner and as luck would have it he broke his collarbone 2 days later! However, once he recovered and was given the OK by his Dr to play again we tried to book in with the supplier - we tried on repeated occasions over the past several months (with a few weeks notice each time) to book these in with the supplier for a weekend but was told that there is no availability on weekends, because they "sold too many vouchers". As someone who works full-time we are unable to use these on the weekdays, and I purchased the vouchers on the assumption he would be able to book on the weekends (which it states in the voucher). However each time we have rung to book, we were told they were booked out for weekends and to call again the next month. As the expiry date approached and there was still no weekend availability, I emailed the Scoopon support email address to request a refund. I received a rude response implying I had only tried to redeem it on the last week of the expiry period and stating "All Scoopons are sold subject to availability, as Scoopon does not manage the redemption process, we are unable to guarantee that you will be able to make a booking on your most desired date." It wasn't just "our most desired date"!!! It was ALL DATES!!! All weekends we tried, for several months!

    It seems unreasonable to take money ($190 worth) for services that are unable to be redeemed during reasonable time frames for months out of a 6 month redemption period. I have replied to Scoopon again (Ticket ID: RRB-928781) but have not received a reply. Has anyone taken this company, or similar voucher companies, to Fair Trading or similar? I think they should do a news story on this, as judging by the number of complaints on this discussion forum, people are being misled about the availability and terms and conditions of these coupons. I certainly won't be buying any more, and will be advising everyone I know against them, particularly Scoopon!

    • Scoopon on 21/09/2011 - 18:00
      -1

      Hi scooponscam,

      Thanks for your post.

      It looks like our Support Team has responded to your email yesterday.
      Can you please advice if you have received our email to resolve your concerns?

      If not, we will arrange our Support Crew to resend the the confirmation.

      Kind Regards,
      Team Scoopon.

      • scooponscam on 21/09/2011 - 18:22

        Thankyou, I have received the email. For other readers, Scoopon has now emailed me to offer a refund as a gesture of goodwill, though they say that plenty of weekday bookings were available and therefore don't believe there was a problem with the offer (even though you couldn't book any weekends when most people are able to play). Will update this post once the money shows in the account.

        • scooponscam on 30/09/2011 - 11:48

          Refund received in my bank account. While I am obviously pleased with that outcome, I'm not pleased it was so difficult to obtain one in the first place - it took numerous emails from me to them and my post here before Scoopon agreed to the refund. Like Cave posted today, I'm wondering how much screening of the companies takes place AND it seems that they sell way too many vouchers for reasonable availability during peak times (when, by definition, most people will want to redeeem them!). I suspect the system relies upon an expectation that a sizeable proportion of coupon holders will not actually redeem them (whether by choice or because of the availability issues) and not bother to seek a refund, in order to make money. I'm certainly wary of ever using Scoopon again. In contrast, I haven't had any problems with Spreets, though perhaps that is more luck…?

  • scoopon_customer on 20/09/2011 - 19:26

    I am having a similarly bad experience with Brisbane Bay Tours - I am unable to redeem the three vouchers I purchased for Brisbane Bay Tours - $99 Full day Fishing Charter.

    I have made several attempts to book the fishing tour, however the deal operator is claiming that all weekends are booked up.

    He was also unwilling to make a booking for the weekday we proposed even though the boat was available, as he claimed he did not have "sufficient" numbers. I purchased my vouchers on the basis that the terms and conditions stated it would be "Small groups only - Up to 5 people only per trip!". The deal operator is now refusing to honour that, claiming that he has sold his smaller boat and needs to "sufficiently" fill a boat of 8.

    I have submitted a refund request to Scoopon…

  • krushgroove on 20/09/2011 - 20:05
    +1

    Cue the next stomp, stomp, bah!, grrrrr SCOOPON! post in 7 days….6….5….

    How do people keep using them?

    • arcticmonkey on 23/09/2011 - 17:30

      They seem to attract far more complaints than the others in this forum.

      I'd like to think it's a case of 'once bitten, twice shy' from a consumer standpoint but that may not be the case.

  • suzy19 on 28/09/2011 - 19:02
    +1

    Isn't it amazing!! read most of the complaints against Scoopon on this site - and funnily enough, most of the replies from Scoopon say - 'we sent you an email this morning'….. Very ironic.
    I wouldn't touch this company with a barge pole - I have lost count of the number of emails I have sent about a dodgy purchase, and NOT once have I had the courtesy of a reply. Their customer service is non existant, and it is absolute rubbish that they reply to all emails. I feel more stupid as a friend warned me not to sign up with them, due to the problems she had. Now I've had enough - I have lodged a formal complaint with Fair Trading. And note - as soon as I mentioned Scoopon to the girl at FT, she told me I wasn't the first.
    And more people should do so. I want my money back and I think that's why they are refusing to reply - hoping I will just get sick of it, and give up, so that they get my money for nothing.
    There might be a few people happy with this site - but where there's smoke, there is fire - and the web is chockers with (negative) comments about this company!! DON'T waste your time or money!!

    • arcticmonkey on 29/09/2011 - 20:10

      "I have lodged a formal complaint with Fair Trading. And note - as soon as I mentioned Scoopon to the girl at FT, she told me I wasn't the first."

      Good work. What you did is a much better option than doing nothing!

  • suzy19 on 29/09/2011 - 18:40

    Update: well - I finally got a reply from Scoopon stating they had replied to me twice previously. In their email, they 'attached' so called emails, but it was just plain typing.
    I paid $29 for a Hypnolipo tape - I think the original price was quoted as $129. When I downloaded it, all I got was the noise of water so assumed the download hadn't worked. But - I was mistaken. The price of $29 WAS for a tape of JUST water noises!!!
    What a complete and utter load of rubbish!! What a con!! NO-WHERE on the orignal advertisment did it state anything about paying $29 for just the sounds of running water.
    DON'T waste your money on this company.

  • cave on 30/09/2011 - 11:32
    +1

    Hi Scoopon, please reply to my email that I sent to [email protected] last Wednesday. My Ticket ID is: CCU-667731.

    As I stated on my email the deal provider could not be contacted for booking purposes. Called, left message on their phone, email non of them were responded/working. I would like to hear a follow up from you.

    Since it seems more and more deal providers trying to get away from the deals provided through you, I'm actually wondering whether you have proper screening system in place to avoid this kind of thing happens in the first place.

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