Groupon's Charity Donation Problems

Over the past week, I've become an expert at what happens when you question one of Groupon's deals. The company's operation for dealing with public complaints is different from any I've ever seen.... not in a good way....

I had a problem with 2 Groupon sales reps friends harrassing me the last time I asked a question on the Groupon Belfast Facebook page. So, when I had a question about Groupon's most recent charity deal, I decided to ask on the Groupon London Facebook page instead.

Groupon had a deal to donate to Japan's Disaster Relief, and they would match donations up to £70,000. A great idea! I was so excited that they were giving money to charity, and what a great choice of a cause!

But I was disappointed when I read the fine print of the deal and saw 'any donation will be matched in full (up to the collated total value of £70,000) by Groupon.'

Collated total value? What does that mean?!?

So I googled 'collated total value'. Nothing. I decided I should ask Groupon what 'collated total value' means before I donated.

Does it mean if the public donate £70,000 Groupon also donate £70,000?

Or if the public donate £35,000, Groupon will donate £35,000 - leaving the total gift at £70,000?

Or worse yet... does it mean if the public come up with £70,000 Groupon gives nothing- because the total value of £70,000 has already been reached?

I asked London Groupon what the term 'total collated value' meant, and how much they would be giving.

Strangely, the first response I got was from a woman named Patricia. The same Patricia who was harrassing me on the Belfast Groupon page a few days ago saying that 'Groupon is wonderful!' and I should stop 'ruining the deals for everyone else!' She is also friends with the Groupon Belfast sales reps.

Patricia responded that she 'has a friend who works at a bank' and she thinks that it means that they match pound for pound up to £70,000.

I thanked Patricia for her response, but told her that I'd rather hear the definition directly from Groupon.

Then I got a response from a man named Tobias. Tobias lives in Germany, but had no problem saying 'the public donate 50k - we add 50k - if the public give over 70k we will add 70k.'

But Tobias... you live in GERMANY! How can you guarantee what Groupon UK's contract states?

I stated again that I would rather hear the news from Groupon UK.

The Patricia responded saying that she had heard that Groupon was giving matching gifts in 'every country in the world.' And that she was 'really impressed with Groupon's work!'

Groupon... for the record... was definitely not matching donations in the US! It seems Patricia's 'job' is giving false information on the Groupon pages.

I got messages from several other users. Users who were involved in my Groupon harrasment earlier in the week and for some reason post on all the Groupon Facebook pages... not just their local area. Fishy? Yes! I think so too! They said:

' I can't believe you are wasting your time wondering what Groupon will do. Just donate! You should do your part, it shouldn't really matter if Groupon is planning to match your offer! C'mon every little bit helps.'

'Seriously tho, every penny counts. Why does it matter if Groupon are going to give £35k or £70k? Just give your 2 quid.'

'How very very sad that you're not willing to donate to charity.'

Then I finally got a response from Groupon:

'Hey all! What this means is that for £2 you donate, we will donate £2 more. We're sorry to hear that some of you are not interested in supporting charities, you can email our support team regarding terms and conditions.'

RUDE! Not one person said they didn't want to support charity. They simply asked what Groupon's donation to charity would be. Which Groupon still did not answer! They simply told us to email for the terms and conditions. How many terms and conditions can there be on a charity donation?!?

Groupon have changed their website in London only to say that they WILL match £70,000 in public donations with their own £70,000. But I am still wary of this deal as I have not received the terms and conditions via email yet. I am very upset that Groupon couldn't even make their donation to Japan without a lot of small print and legal terminology that no one can understand.

I also want to make people aware that there are certain Facebook users commenting on all different Groupon UK pages saying how wonderful their service is. These same users immediately jump on anyone who has a complaint about Groupon. While I certainly cannot prove that they are employed by or connected with Groupon, it certainly is strange behavior and something to think about!