Scoopon

[Guest The Pom Queen]

As anyone ever used them how does it work? Have you ever booked holidays with them?

[tonyman]

We use them Kate , more for meals , kids days out (ice skating ect) would defo book hols through them but probs next yr.....also use Groupon and catch of the day living social and eatnow.com which has been great for me the last few weeks , takeaway food delivered ordered online with good deals ie 10% off , 8th meal free .......a big thumbs up from me :yes:

[Incata]

We've used them for haircuts and days out so far. It's used as a loss leader by companies and the deals are quite good on the whole. We have used Groupon more in the UK where we used it for restaurants, stays in hotels as well as haircuts and days out.

[Guest]

Used mainly for haircuts (well my girlfriend has) and for meals out.

 

I recently bought one for Brisbane for Dental Exam/xray/1 filling which seems a good deal!

[Guest The Pom Queen]

Is there a catch ie so many have to buy them before you get it at that price

[Incata]

There is no catch. It is a way for the organisation to get you in and show you their goods, in the hope that you will go back and pay full price. They do however aim to make as much money as possible from you while you are there.

 

A restaurant meal will not, for example, include any drinks, or it will only include one drink. You will then find the rest of the drinks super expensive. In the UK people got round this by having one drink and then sticking to water.

 

For a haircut (with highlights for example), it will only include one colour, whereas normally when I have highlights it includes 3 colours. One extra colour will be an extra $20. If it is a cut and blow dry it will just be a cut and blow dry and then they will give you a discount voucher to use next time, to try and make you want to go back.

 

When it is discount items, it is used as a way to get you to their site to see what else they can sell you. Invariably when you select the item, the page will suggest other items you might want to buy at the same time (what other customers have allegedly bought).

 

With holidays you may find the accommodation is included but the food is not, but in the small print it says you have to pay for breakfast in the hotel, or dinner. You might be miles from anywhere so have no choice about where to eat. You might find that it excludes compulsory tips, or transfer fees. On the other hand, you may find the dates that are available are only off-peak or out of school holidays when they don't get many bookings. You need to look very closely at the terms and conditions of these offers. Caveat emptor.

 

We have not done a holiday yet, but we have done hotel stays in the UK via groupon.

 

Our favourite meal was in a lovely Hilton in Kensington, London. The deal was £39 for a 3 course meal for two with a glass of wine (value about £150). Any other drinks were extra as was tea and coffee at the end. Where they made their money was a 10% surcharge (as a tip) which was done on the original price of the meal (not the price we actually paid). Of course the extra drinks we bought also had the 10% surcharge. In the end, we ended up paying more as a "tip" than we actually did for the meal itself. It was lovely though.

 

However, if you are in Sydney, or London, there is a fairly recent entrant in the field called Lime & Tonic. We have done some of their deals such as high tea and they have been fabulous and we have not had any extra charges to pay when we were there. Haven't tried the Sydney one but the London one was great!