"Groupon" anybody use them?
 

Has anybody ever used the web site "Groupon" to buy "coupons" for significant discounts on products or services? What's the feed back? My SO has used it to buy the odd pedicure or manicure from a local salon with OK results. But today they had posted an 8 night trip to Ireland with lodging, car rental and flights (out of CHI or NYC) for $999.00 CND. I passed because I was kinda nervous about it...What say you guys and gals....any dealings? good? bad?
Thanks

We've used them a lot with no real adverse effects (mostly at restaurants). It seems that groupon deals are the equivalent of putting a sign out in front of the business that says, "we are struggling and will do anything to get customers to come in here"...

That is my reaction as well.

I'd be careful with a significant thing like a trip. Many business that are struggling have put up things on groupon. I've heard several stories of folks buying groupons for business that later close the doors. I'm assuming groupon has a refund policy for things like this but I wouldn't want the hassle.

I think I would be leery of any trip that had a huge discount....are they trying to fill a tour bus, or hotel for a bonus, with little regard to the vacationing travelors and the hassle factor involved ?

I am on the board of directors for a local museum. We use Groupon to get people to come visit. They get a discount and Groupon gets their cut but we still come out ahead. We get paid even if they never show up. About 20% of the coupons for the museum are never redeemed. The feedback we get from the Groupon organization is very positive. Many folks come back later with friends and pay full admission. It works for us.

My wife is a GroupOn fan, and my experiences with them have been mixed, mostly negative. She did a groupon for air duct cleaning. They kept pushing the appointment date out, and when the finally did show up, they didn't do much other than try to sell us a new HVAC unit. There have been a couple of restaurant deals we did that were kind of disappointing. She did one where the company converted a photograph to an oil-painting; that one was kinda cool.

My son and his wife used a Groupon deal for an all-expenses-included vacation to Costa Rica. They had a great time. Place was nice. They're waiting to see the same offer again. The place normally charges more but was just using Groupon to fill rooms.

These are just special offers. I'd just check out the ratings and reviews of any place like I would, anyway.

We use them for restaurants that we normally wouldn't go to. I guess just to try something new. I use them a lot for golf courses.

Back when it was a new concept there were some great deals to be had. Businesses that are not necessarily struggling offer them for " off peak " times (mid week restaurants, etc).
Now, maybe once every 2 months one pops up that's worthwhile for us.
-C

We use Groupons fairly often. Read the fine print. Our favorite pizza place states "dine in only" but they're happy to let us pick it up and leave.

Only down side for us has been buying a Groupon for future use and forgetting about it. But, they're always worth what you paid so you don't really lose the money, just the discount. I have gone in with an expired Groupon to cash in the face value and had them honor the deal as printed.

We have used it a few times for a little place on the Missouri River in Parkville Mo. The food is so good but the service is so bad. I mean every time we go the service is bad. They always have a local band playing that's pretty good so we look past the service. I think the place survives off groupon.

We used it at a local shooting range. It was a great deal, we had fun and it turns out that the wife is an excellent shot!

I've used it for restaurants, electronics and some other local activity, never travel.

Read the fine print. Should be good.

My wife uses Groupon or used to. Seems everytime time we used it our bank credit card would get hacked.

This is scary!

The other thing is I followed the link from groupon to this site Vacation Packages to Europe, Asia, Africa and Latin America I Escorted Vacations I Vacation Reviews I GreatValueVacations.com
Looks like they run specials like this on a regular basis without needing the "groupon".
Now I need to do a little googleing to see what this companies reputation is all about.
I feel bad bypassing my regular travel agent, but some of these prices are pretty good! (maybe to good to be true??)