Johannnesburg - Pathetic, terrible and disgusting. This is how one online shopper described the service from Groupon, an online shopping website that features one daily deal on “the best things to do, see, eat and buy” in cities across the country.
And that shopper isn’t the only one.
Groupon featured as number one last week on the list of the “World’s Most Complained About” section on HelloPeter.com – a website where consumers can report good or bad service – with 29 registered complaints.
The online shoppers have complained about being left out of pocket and without delivery of their purchased goods because Groupon has not met its obligations.
Jocelyn Adamson bought a blue seven-piece cast-iron pot set on October 17 but is still waiting to receive her R1 499 purchase.
“The agreement was the pots would be delivered by the end of that week by their courier service, but I still haven’t received them or a notification that they are going to be delivered,” she said.
Adamson has sent numerous e-mails to Groupon, and was initially told they were “working” with the business to resolve the issue.
But on October 30, when she followed up on her queries, she was told by a customer services agent that she needed to “contact the partner directly” as they did their own deliveries and collections.
Adamson e-mailed the courier service three times but got no joy, and still hasn’t received her pots.
“It’s a lot of money (paid)… and so far there is no way forward,” she said.
Groupon was launched in South Africa in 2010 and operates in over 40 countries.
One complainant – who purchased a Chocolatier Melting Pot on Groupon on October 6 and still hasn’t received it – wrote on HelloPeter.com that every time she called the call centre, they sent back an e-mail to say it would be delivered in three to five days.
“The service from this company is pathetic, terrible, disgusting,” she said.
“I want delivery of this product within the week or my money returned to me. There are various companies out there that will provide better service and not rob people of their money.”
Another said she purchased a massage voucher five months ago, and 30 phone calls later, she couldn’t get a booking with the vendor and the voucher had expired.
“Believe it or not, Groupon SA sent me an e-mail confirming that the voucher had expired and that it could not refund me,” she added.
Groupon spokesperson Blythe Flanagan said on Friday: “Groupon always strives to give the best possible service, and we are sorry in this case that Ms Adamson has yet to receive the goods she ordered from our partner.
“Unfortunately, in this case the wrong product was sent due to a mix-up at our partner’s warehouse.
“We have since been in touch with the partner and customer, rectified the issue, and delivery has been arranged,” she added.
Flanagan said Groupon prided itself on putting the customer first at all times and working with partners who shared its philosophy of providing superior customer service.
“We take reports of poor service incredibly seriously and look into all complaints, working with our partners to rectify as quickly as possible.
“Given the scale of our business, a zero complaint level is hard to achieve, but our philosophy is that one complaint is always one too many, and should any customer wish to speak to us about their purchase, we urge them to get in touch,” Flanagan said. - The Star