Dear Editors,
Groupon offered an item directly (and not through a third party merchant) for sale on its website and committed to delivery within seven days. I bought the item and made payment on 20 Jul 15. When I did not receive the item by 29 Jul 15, I contacted Groupon only to be told that they have despatched through their courier, that it was up to me to liaise with their courier for the status and that the 7 day delivery timeline was not binding n it. On checking against the waybill number provided by Groupon, I discovered that Groupon cancelled delivery on 25 Jul 15 and only re-despatched the item again on 28 Jul 15. No explanation was given as to why the initial delivery was cancelled.
As I was traveling on 29 Jul 15, I requested for the second delivery to be cancelled and for a refund to be issued since Groupon did not honor its delivery timeline commitment. Groupon refused and assured me that if there was no one to take delivery, the item will be returned to Groupon and a refund could then be issued within 2 weeks.
When I returned to Singapore and discovered that no refund was issued nor was there any notice from the courier of attempted delivery, I contacted Groupon again on 27 Aug 15 (more than a month after the date of purchase). Groupon again offered no explanation and merely stated that the matter is now escalated and will email me as soon as an update is available.
On a separate check on the courier service website, the item had in fact been returned by the courier on 7 Aug 15 to Groupon after 3 attempted deliveries. The photo of the purported lift lobby posted by the courier against the last delivery attempt wasn't even of that at my residence!
On checking various online consumer reviews, I realized that this is a common delay tactic that Groupon employs in making refunds and often, no refund is made altogether.
Whilst the monetary amount involved is small, I wish to highlight this highly questionable practice of Groupon.
Bea
A.S.S. Contributor
Editor's Note:
Do you have a story to share? Please use our submission form or email us at editorial@allsingaporestuff.com. If not, why not give us a 'Like'?