Why Groupon needs to go away
I am the first one to admit that I was on the Groupon bandwagon. I loved the idea of getting something for a fraction of the cost.
At first, Groupon was that place where you could find out about something you had never heard about before. In fact, my first purchase on Groupon was a wine tasting. I was extremely excited that I would be the type of person that would go to a wine tasting and that I was the first of my friends to do something like this.
The funny part of all of this was that I never ended up using the Groupon.
I think I liked the idea of it more than actually using it.
But, now I have fallen off the bandwagon. After Groupon started sending daily emails with promotions I would never be interested in, learning about how they treat the businesses that use it, and the restrictions, I wish that Groupon would just go away.
Before Groupon would send one deal a day. Today I receive 3 emails and one was for electronic cigarettes. I don’t smoke. There is nothing novel about the deals that they have and they are not very local any longer.
Why aren’t they local? Because the businesses that have used the service usually end up worse off than they were before. I was told by a business owner that they made only about 25%. So, if it was a coupon for a restaurant worth $40 that you buy for $20 the restaurant only makes $10.
This makes places have to put restrictions on the deals. Cannot be used on happy hour, drinks, tips, or they can only be used for specific items.
Then things like this happen…
I was out to dinner on a Friday night when a group of people who were seated by me attempted to use a Groupon. This Groupon was actually for the restaurant that used to be in the place of this restaurant that closed but, this restaurant said it would accept the coupon anyway because they didn’t want the people to be out of their money.
The only problem was that these people ordered off the happy hour menu.
Does anyone really think that you should be able to use a Groupon on top of really great happy hour prices?
What proceeds to happen was the customers throws a fit. It was an epic fit that basically ruined the meals of everyone around them. This is exactly why restrictions on coupons hurt the businesses that use them.
People don’t read the restrictions and then blame the businesses.
The staff at the restaurant handled it in the best way possible. Apologizing about the mix up but standing firm that they would not accept the coupon because of the restriction. The fit went on for about 20 more minutes where the customers continued to try and argue with the staff member to get them to back down. All the while yelling about how they would never come back here, that they were going to give them horrible reviews, and tell everyone they know never to come here.
I wished so deeply in my heart that the staff member could say, ” yeah, we think it would be best if you never come back here again too.”
I also hope they are reading this and realize how they were completely inappropriate.
All of us who want to eat great food and are willing to pay for it want coupons with restrictions to go away for good. Or I beg of you, if you are going to use a coupon of any kind don’t argue about the restrictions.
because Groupons just need to go away.
@mplsgossipgirl
What do you think? Do you use Groupon’s frequently and want them to stay? If you want them to go, why?
5 responses to “Why Groupon needs to go away”
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mplsgossipgirl 
I’ve never actually used a groupon. Since I live up north, I’m not buying one unless I know I’m coming down, and the few times I have looked, I haven’t found a deal I would actually use. The only exception is when corepower yoga has their groupons. If I lived in the cities, I would purchase one of those!
Man, I just wish corepower wasn’t so expensive in general. I can’t get it to fit into my budget.
You should “like” the corepower facebook pages, they announce when they have free classes (its when new teachers teach) and is a great way to at least get a fix!
Nice! Thanks for the tip.
I am 1000% agains groupons. I’ve never used one in my life. However I found out how bad they can damage someone’s life like mine. I am a hairdresser of 10 years throughout NYC. Last year I started working at a salon that did groupons, at first I was more than ok with the idea. Then it took a turn for the worst… See the thing is when you work for 35%-40% commission as a hairdresser… Groupons will rape your paycheck.
Lets do the math here. Say someone buys a groupon for haircut, highlights, and blow out for $80. The customer pays $80 to groupon. Then when they come to the salon they just pay the tax and tip. This is where it gets messed up.
Groupon takes 50% of that $80, then the salon takes a certain amount out for product and back bar, plus their 60%-65% then the rest that’s left over for the hairdresser gets taxed. So in reality I just made MAYBE $10 on a discounted service. Explain that to your landlords, credit cards, and anything else you pay in bills. Not to mention that most hairdressers work an average of 50-60 hours a week here in NYC. We don’t get sick days, paid vacation or any of that. There were weeks when all I had was groupon clients I’d be exhausted and would come home with a paycheck of roughy $150 FOR THE WEEK. And for the record MOST groupon clients I’ve seen don’t tip. Or if they do it’s like $3-$4 after they made you go to the ends of the earth for them and bend over backwards.
Virtually every salon in NYC does it now and it has made work unbarebale and most hairdressers including myself have reached a point that even simple expenses are hard to cover. Most had to get 2nd jobs. It has brought my passion and my career into ruins both financial and mental.
SAD FACT: according to salon statistics 96% of groupon clients don’t come back unless you honor the groupon price again for them. If you don’t they go to the next salon offering a deal.
Not to mention groupon clients are 9 times out of 10 are the ONLY people who leave negative yelp reviews and tip worse than tourists do. They wonder why most of us don’t want to do their hair or hide in the back of the salon from them. Usually they are the most disrespectful and want everything for nothing. And it’s sad, my job is a labor of love. I have yet to ever have been rude or disrespectful to a client EVER. But these groupon people are just a different breed. In 10 years I have never seen anything like this in my life.
GROUPON NEEDS TO GO AWAY! Or at least not be involved with commission/craft/trade based jobs. I’ve seen a number of great salons close because of groupon, amazon local, and life booker to name a few. This insanity needs to stop.