Groupon leaves shoppers without goods for months

Groupon has come under fire for failing to manage floods of customer orders amid a botched attempt to source products cheaply internationally.

The US group buying giant, which launched its online deals site in the UAE this year, has left some customers waiting more than two months for products, having used its vast buying power to agree deals globally then failed to ship them on time to the region.

Paula Fernandes, 30, a Dubai resident, ordered a make-up brush set for Dh116 (US$31) at the end of November and had to go into the local Groupon office to pick the product up on Tuesday this week.

"I was really very upset," she said. "I did not want to wait one more day so I went in to get it myself. It was a really annoying situation because I was supposed to be saving money and it became a big headache for me."

She said scores of emails and even threats to go to the police did not encourage Groupon staff to make good on her order, which was sourced from the UK and had to be couriered to the UAE.

The backlash against Groupon practices in the UAE has been dragging on for two months as the website has failed to manage complaints and late deliveries.

It has recently hired more staff and opened additional phone lines to deal with the issues. Globally, the company's share price has fallen 25 per cent since its initial public offering in November.

Ainsley Duncombe, the chief executive of Groupon Middle East, said the company was now trying to source more deals locally and specific to this region, rather than internationally, as the products could be delivered faster.

"We are definitely now focusing on local products," he said. "We stand by the Groupon promise that where we have not met people's expectations, we will refund their payment."

Thabit Ghazaly, a Dubai resident, said three out of five orders he placed with Groupon had recently been unsuccessful. The 35-year-old insurance executive bought a Dh545 home-security camera via the website in November - but said the product never arrived despite repeated complaints to Groupon.

He eventually received a refund this week, after submitting a complaint to Dubai's Department of Economic Development.

Mr Ghazaly said delivery of another order was delayed, while a technical fault meant that he could not print out the voucher for a third Groupon deal.

"The overall experience is not good," he said. "I would not recommend them."

Mr Ghazaly also said Groupon was deleting negative comments from its Facebook page, on almost a "minute-by-minute" basis.

"I think they spend more time deleting the Facebook comments than attending to them," he said.

A number of other Facebook users have accused Groupon of deleting their comments from the company's page.

One user wrote: "Dear unprofessional Groupon, no matter how many times you delete my post, I will never stop re-posting it. ither you deliver my items, or refund the money, coz i am sick of trying to contact you. it's your turn to get my contact details from your system and contact me."

Mr Duncombe said Groupon had not deleted any message on the Facebook page without first consulting the person who wrote the comment.

"That's not something we would do without speaking to the person," he said. "There are lots of success stories as well of people who have recieved their products. There's a small percentage of problems and we are looking to alleviate those."

rjones@thenational.ae

bflanagan@thenational.ae

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