Groupon?

What can I say? After months of my brother sending me invitations to join, workmates extolling the virtues of the "group" buying scheme I succumbed.

What a simple way of getting Christmas presents?

I never believe anything that claims to be a huge saving; either original profit margins are super high or the goods are lesser quality. After some googling and even eyeballing similar items in shops the deals looked good enough, although I still think the RRP claimed is a little high.

In the end I bought some Grip-on fashion watches for Claire. Ideal as she likes a watch that can be worn as a novelty time piece. They took over a month to arrive, rather than the "allow 21 days" the supplier stipulated. They arrived on the 23rd December! 1-0 to the crap side.

The second item, Swarovski crystal earrings. They are silver and look really good. They came well within the "allow 10 days" period and despite my thinking the seller was from Liverpool they actually came from Poland. Doubly good. Quick delivery and from outside the UK. 1-1!

As for the third item. I am still waiting. Ordered on 11th December also with the "allow ten days" clause and now 18. 2-1 to the crap side.  I have emailed and simply got automated replies. Not very good at all I emailed Groupon but didn't get an encouraging reply to the two late orders.

Compare this to a £4.09 (free postage!) eBay purchase of a new  Pama Bluetooth handsfree unit for the car. Two days from order to delivery. Or consider the £80 (postage inclusive) purchase from eBay of an Odyssey battery for my motorcycle. It had an estimated delivery of first week in January, but it arrived December 24th. Thirdly, maybe consider the BMW parts I ordered and that came in three days from Motor Works?

Maybe there were fewer orders for the handsfree or the battery, but once the customer has spent their money with you, it is time to give a shit.  Two of the Groupon companies obviously don't with their poor communication, and it seems Groupon are similarly uninterested.