Whilst researching a deal offered by Ouffer, I stumbled upon a discussion raging over a deal that was offered almost a year ago. It was holiday accommodation and what happened was that the company providing accommodation botched their booking system. As a result, Ouffer had to refund everyone in that deal (I guess it was nice of them) but everyone's bookings got cancelled. Now imagine if you booked flights based on this deal, would a refund really help you that much?
I am not saying that you shouldn't buy from group buy websites (as I continue to do so) like Zoupon and Spreets, just be aware of the risks that you take and take pro-active steps to investigate deals before you JumpOnIt. I'll post later about some successful purchases I've had with Scoopon and other group buy sites but for now, here is the online post by Ouffer to their customers which can be found here
Dear Members,
First off, we’d like to thank you for all your support. Thank you for spreading the word about Ouffer – it’s with your help that we are able to continue to grow. Our Melbourne page is up and running, and we’ll be launching in Brisbane in the next few weeks.
With your continued support, we are able to bring you better and better deals.
As you’re no doubt aware, you are very important to us. Our number one priority is to make sure that all your dealings with Ouffer are smooth (and fun!) experiences. This brings us to the reason for this email.
We do everything within our power to bring you the best activities, sights, tastes, and experiences in Sydney. While we do our best to assess and ensure the quality of the experience before featuring a business on our site, we have little control over the service you will receive from the businesses we feature after you have purchased your vouchers with us.
Unfortunately, one of our recently featured companies has been unable to provide the level of customer service that we demand for our members. We have received numerous complaints that Entire Group (Apartments at Ettalong Beach) has been less than responsive in the booking process.
While we have been in touch with Entire on an almost daily basis over the last few weeks, we have come to the conclusion that the best way to protect our members is to issue full refunds to all those who have purchased this Ouffer.
As mentioned, you are our first priority. We are currently doing all we can to secure another vacation deal. In addition, we will be providing all purchasers of this Ouffer with $10 in credit to use toward future Ouffer deals. Lastly, as soon as we have another vacation offer lined up, we will first make the offer available exclusively to you before opening it up to our other members.
Please accept our sincerest apologies for any inconvenience you have experienced in association with this deal. The refunds will be processed over the next few days. Though we do not endorse Entire Group, you are welcome to contact them directly.
We hope that you remain confident that we always have your best interests at heart, because at Ouffer, it is still together that we save.
Kind Regards,
The whole team at Ouffer
Nice post - I suppose this just proves that sometimes unexpected things happen in life. People's holidays get cancelled all the time, for all sorts or reasons; volcanic ash, earthquakes, recessions, embargoes, etc. You can never be too certain of anything but It's great to see a group buying company that cares enough to provide refunds.
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