discobay

I have been charged an overseas transaction charge for buying from these two websites yet they call themselves Groupon Australia and Scoopon.com.au. Are these registered overseas - does anyone know?

Amazulu

I think Groupon is a local operation for an international company and Scoopon is Australian?

discobay

I rang HSBC credit cards and they don't know either but they will investigate and get back to me. The charges do seem to coincide with each time I buy from them.

discobay

Confirmed that Groupon charge an overseas charge to my credit card.

bcworld

I was just having a google about this and came across this thread.

About the same time you started it I bought a restaurant Groupon for $35 and was hit up for a 3% 'currency conversion fee'. I happened to be in Thailand at the time so that confused me further!

Anyway, according to their T&Cs:

http://www.groupon.com.au/terms_and_conditions

5.3 ...Our payments are processed via an overseas gateway and from time to time, your financial institution or payment provider may charge you an additional fee for transacting with us because of this. If this occurs, please contact our customer care team who can arrange a refund for this fee.

I happened to have a look at their FB page and wow, what a tale of customer service woe that is...so I think I'll just let it go. But based on what I read there I certainly won't be using Groupon again. Stick to Scoopon!

discobay

But their offers are so tempting. You're right though. Do you know whether Scoopon is completely innocent?

bcworld

Heard you the first and second times!

I haven't had any issues with Scoopon. Had restaurants go out of business and they've always been quick with the refunds.

Beware with Groupon I think if they do refund the fees it will be as credit on your Groupon account rather than to your credit card...no thanks!

discobay

Thanks for the heads up.

Amazulu

We've also had a generally good experience with these vouchers - from all providers. We had a fantastic meal last week for $50 - would easily have been $150 normal price.

bcworld

The amazing thing about it is not only do you get a great deal but the restaurant makes a killing too! We know some people who run a restaurant that sells literally thousands of Scoopons when they run an offer and they love it!

Amazulu

You also have to be selective with what is on offer - there are also a lot of rubbish/shit restaurants being promoted.

fremantle

Before I commit to buying a Scoopon or other restaurant deal I always check out www.urbanspoon.com.au to check out reviews of the restaurant first which I find really helps to sort out the dodgy ones.