In October, I bought an item ($200+) from Groupon, which had a ‘shipped in 3 weeks, fully tracked’ assurance. Obviously, I paid on the spot to secure the deal. So they have had my money for that long.
3 weeks came and went, and the tracking showed absolutely no movement, only the date of purchase. I contacted groupon, and was told there would be a 7-10 day delay. 10 days passed, and still nothing on the tracker, so I contacted them again. This time they told me the item had been shipped on the expected date, but it ‘may have gone missing, we will investigate with the courier’. Again, nothing further for a number of days. So I contacted them again, only to be told that there was a delay with the order, and it would take more time, and to ‘be patient’. I responded that obviously someone is telling lies, and that I was awaiting an investigation about my shipment apparently going missing. The response then was that if I was unhappy, they could only offer me ‘Groupon Credit’ for the value of my purchase!
Fast forward to the last 48 hours where the new/old story is being regurgitated that the shipment is delayed and I can expect to hear something in the next week.
This is appalling customer service. I know online there are plenty of similar stories, but is there anyone I can report this poor excuse for a business to? Surely its not legal to only offer in store credit (with a finite expiration) when they cant even give me a straight answer. We are going on 8 weeks with absolutely no idea where the product is. I actually want the product, but at the same time, I’d hate to think that this behaviour is legal in Australia.
Thankfully I have the whole email trail from Groupon saved, so its all in writing, but is this the realm of the ACCC or Consumer Action Law Centre, or elsewhere? I know it seems minor, but i doubt this is the only time they have tried to pocket money without any reasonable expectation of holding up their end of the bargain. I would like to see them held accountable for this poor service, if this isnt a one-off.
Any advice or recommendations on where to go from here would be greatly appreciated!
