[Toronto] Do you trust buying from these group deal companies??

[MrDisco]

With all of the complaints and warnings about this deal here and there, does it discourage you from buying vouchers with these daily group deals?

Absolutely. What started as a good idea has now turned into a sure fire way for dishonest companies to push junk on naive consumers. It's TV infomercials for the 21st century.

[DeathRazR]

had a bad experience with team buy. their customer service is absolutely terrible. will not deal with any of these group buy companies unless its a legit place i know that wont close down on me.

[uber_shnitz]

Can't speak for Toronto but I've done business with Teambuy, Groupon and Tuango(kijiji deals) and I've had nothing but positive experiences. Arguably, I don't just buy anything and most of the stuff I buy are like food coupons but still I've never had a business bail on me although I've had businesses tax the amount pre-coupon before

[flafson]

There is a Groupon going on right now for Toe Nail Fungus laser, they are using a machine which is called Fox diode laser. As far as i could find, there is no FDA or Health Canada for that machine yet they still run it and sold over 80 as of now.
I asked twice about it in their questions and of course no one answered that question.

[DaveGoodmen]

I think overall i have use 4-5 different group buy and only had 1 bad experience with LivingSocial (more to do with the place than the site itself). Now though I think I buy a voucher about once every 3 months, and I normally stick with GroupOn or DealFind.

[iridium001]

So having followed this forum for the past few months and reading all the horrendous stories about consumers getting ripped off one way or another, I've come to the conclusion that 99% of group deals are all either terrible where you are getting 1% of the valued deal, or 100% complete scams.

This is not a sustainable business model - there is no way that any business would give you the full value of a product or service for 50-75% off the regular price since you are talking upwards of thousands of quantity in sales. They would have to honor each and every single one for months if not years to come. Especially the service oriented ones.

The companies or organizations that have the infrastructure in place to handle thousands if not hundreds of customers in one day DO NOT post group deals. All of these group deals are ran by small time businesses, mom and pop shops. Some have even begin to outsource from offshore distributors selling straight up fakes or counterfeit merchandise, to ultra low quality products that costs pennies to make. (Toms shoes? Android Tablets?)

So long as there is no governing body that regulates this industry, I foresee more of a decline in quality of services and products offered while businesses looking to make a quick buck will rise, giving more incentives to group buy companies to spring up overnight hoping to quickly cash in on this fad. Eventually, it will implode and the only benefactors are the group deal companies and the vendors, the "victims" will be the everyday consumer. (Marlon's Meats anyone?)

[flafson]

It's sustainable IF you inflate the product price enough that after the 50%+ off and after the 50% cut, you still make a nice profit.
It's not sustainable if you are being honest and provide a product just like any other non deal customer.

In other words, it's not going to be sustainable in over 90% of the time.

[angekfire]

I haven't had any terrible experiences. I had a bunch of times where companies either didn't respond at all, or a few where they wouldn't honour the voucher. The companies have at the very least given me credit equal to the voucher cost, and sometimes a direct CC refund.

[appleb]

With all the discussion on this forum about all the deals gone sour, it should make everyone think twice about group deals to unknown companies.

Many deals will grossly overstate the advertised savings, for example $400 spa package for $30... you sure know as hell that spa package isn't worth $400.

I've only bought discount coupons for Kernels Popcorn and Baton Rouge. At least I know I won't get shafted by them.

[mstrouble]

With all the discussion on this forum about all the deals gone sour, it should make everyone think twice about group deals to unknown companies.
Many deals will grossly overstate the advertised savings, for example $400 spa package for $30... you sure know as hell that spa package isn't worth $400.
I've only bought discount coupons for Kernels Popcorn and Baton Rouge. At least I know I won't get shafted by them.

And even worse, on the trumped up $400 value, in the majority of case you have to pay taxes on the $400 at the salon (plus tips) on top of the original $40 voucher from the deal site!!!!!

[hamant]

overall yes, but i did have a bad experience with a retailer (defcon paintball). i went thru wagjag and they were extremely helpful in refunding my money.

I've probably used wagjag 5-7 times

[flafson]

And even worse, on the trumped up $400 value, in the majority of case you have to pay taxes on the $400 at the salon (plus tips) on top of the original $40 voucher from the deal site!!!!!

That's not true and if indeed it happened to you, you should have refused to asked a refund from the deal site. By law, tax is only on what you spent. So if they tell you the deal is $1,000,000 worth of stuff for $50 then by law and by all the deal sites i have worked with before, you only pay tax on the $50.

About raising the value, of course they would do that, how else would they give a regular product for 25% of the money? If they raise the value then at least they give a full product for 50% of the money, so there is a chance they won't go bankrupt.

[TrevorK]

While I don't buy group deals every day I have never had a problem with the ones I have purchased. I have also had very positive experiences with the group buy companies themselves in terms of issuing refunds when a business closes and even issuing a refund because I couldn't find anything I wanted to buy at the store (for their group buy). I typically only buy for established companies/restaurants so that might be why my experience is so good.


When you see the salon ads and that for 90-99% off you really have to wonder how they could ever pay their staff, which is why I just steer away from them. I personally think your asking for trouble if you buy one that seems far to good to be true.

[BananaHunter]

All the negative experiences I've had are due to the businesses, not the deal sites. I follow several the key principle of: If it's too good to be true, it's too good to be true. Nearly all my coupons have been at restaurants or certain events like CNE. Groupons make perfect sense for certain events like theatre. If there are empty seats anyways, why not fill them? Even when you split the $$$ with the deal site, it's better than $0. For certain restaurants, their markup is really high and even when they offer a deal, they can make a profit and keep the wait staff tipped. Plus it adds traffic to the place.

The question should be "Should you trust the businesses that choose to offer group deals?". Most deal sites are just the middleman. They aren't really intentionally out to screw with you. If you get a good experience, they are happy. Once the deal closes, the deal site takes their cut and that's it. The vendors on the other hand know that they are giving you a discount and have an incentive to cheat. I've had several cases where the business found lame reasons to either not accept the voucher or "cheated" in quality or quantity of food. In every case, I analyze if I'm getting my money's worth. If I am, I'm happy. It's the businesses that offer group deals without the intention to honor the deals that's causing negative experiences.

The other problem I find is that people don't read or can't do math. STOP READING DEALS BASED ON THEIR % DISCOUNT. READ THE $$$ DISCOUNT. $20 for $40 at an expensive restaurant is NOT 50% off. It's $20 off because you still have to pay tax and tip. Then they show up and act like they've been scammed when asked to pay tax and tip. Or, sometimes it says you have to make a reservation to use the voucher, or that you need a minimum or 2-3 people to use the voucher. Just read the deal and apply some common sense and you can avoid some of the problems.

[jiveturkeyboy]

Yeah I've had some wins and a couple losses so far. Especially around fake branded merchandise and restaurants changing name or closing down. I think it's part of the gamble...same deal with ebay. Once in a while you might get screwed.