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Why I won't be using Groupon again.. A consumer perspective.

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Re: Why I won't be using Groupon again.. A consumer perspective.

#21

Post by rudepeklo »

patio11 wrote: post #9

I think you might be overestimating how much insight the waitress has into the business. It may be the case that this was a close, family-held restaurant and they have a daily pow-wow on cost of goods and marketing strategy, but I wouldn't bet that way. My guess? Groupon customers are poor tippers, either from adverse selection or because they either a) attempt to tip with leftover funny-money or b) tip based on the…

I agree with the tipping problem, I myself try to tip based on the total value and not what I pay (because that may be just for a few drinks). I don't want the waiters to suffer for the business owners discounts :)

Here in Czech republic we have local variants of Groupon and in some restaurants people reported the despise from waiters too. Surprisingly, this did not happen when we went to one that was otherwise really expensive - the people there were very nice and friendly. We won't return there regularly because it's out of our price range but for special occasions I would like to go back.

Regarding the quality - from my experience it's about 50/50, some restaurants are bad, some are ok so maybe contactdick was unlucky in encountering the wors first.

Re: Why I won't be using Groupon again.. A consumer perspective.

#22

Post by contactdick »

tibbon wrote: post #4

I'm really curious to see which way Groupon goes in the long term. With things like Yelp reenforcing a feedback cycle which directly effects the eating establishment in the long term, it rarely becomes all that great of a deal for the restararaunt or the consumer.

I agree, in the internet age I was hoping searching would become more efficient so that 'find good restaurant in xxx' was a sensible thing to type into a search box. Currently there's too much noise so places like yelp are a much better option. Interestingly Yelp hasn't taken off here yet.

Re: Why I won't be using Groupon again.. A consumer perspective.

#23

Post by contactdick »

andrewcooke wrote: post #19
patio11 wrote: post #9

I think you might be overestimating how much insight the waitress has into the business. It may be the case that this was a close, family-held restaurant and they have a daily pow-wow on cost of goods and marketing strategy, but I wouldn't bet that way. My guess? Groupon customers are poor tippers, either from adverse selection or because they either a) attempt to tip with leftover funny-money or b) tip based on the…

also, it sounds like the company is (understandably) restricting what is available to try reduce the losses implicit in the deal. that means hassle for the waiting staff, who need to explain the restrictions. i imagine, for example, that in this case the waitress had previously had problems with a similar group who ordered the "wrong" wine and then were vocally unhappy. when they found out.

Yeah good point. She did explain it to us and point out the wording of the deal as though she expected us to argue.

Re: Why I won't be using Groupon again.. A consumer perspective.

#25

Post by contactdick »

rudepeklo wrote: post #21
patio11 wrote: post #9

I think you might be overestimating how much insight the waitress has into the business. It may be the case that this was a close, family-held restaurant and they have a daily pow-wow on cost of goods and marketing strategy, but I wouldn't bet that way. My guess? Groupon customers are poor tippers, either from adverse selection or because they either a) attempt to tip with leftover funny-money or b) tip based on the…

I agree with the tipping problem, I myself try to tip based on the total value and not what I pay (because that may be just for a few drinks). I don't want the waiters to suffer for the business owners discounts :) Here in Czech republic we have local variants of Groupon and in some restaurants people reported the despise from waiters too. Surprisingly, this did not happen when we went to one that was otherwise reall…

It's good to hear you'll go back to the nice restaurant. For some reason I can't get over the mindset that if I return I'm no longer getting the discount so it's way too expensive.

Re: Why I won't be using Groupon again.. A consumer perspective.

#27

Post by hnsmurf »

patio11 wrote: post #9

I think you might be overestimating how much insight the waitress has into the business. It may be the case that this was a close, family-held restaurant and they have a daily pow-wow on cost of goods and marketing strategy, but I wouldn't bet that way. My guess? Groupon customers are poor tippers, either from adverse selection or because they either a) attempt to tip with leftover funny-money or b) tip based on the…

Groupon customers are definitely poor tippers. I've known a number of waiters to complain about it.

The problem is they tip on the Groupon price, not the full price, and are thus tipping something like 40% of what they should be.

Re: Why I won't be using Groupon again.. A consumer perspective.

#28

Post by wccrawford »

contactdick wrote: post #20
wccrawford wrote: post #7

It's really sad, because it's not only good restaurants that do the Groupon thing. It can be a good way to advertise your business in addition to the standard (boring) ways. Any restaurant that treats their customers like crap because the customer uses a deal that the restaurant approved is... Well, rude. I don't have much use for rude restaurants. For a lot cheaper, I can cook the food myself, and it's probably as g…

I should say the service wasn't horrible - it was just so noticeable the change in attitude from when we were regular customers to 'Grouponers'. I do like the point that half the value of a restaurant is the service. Except in Chinese restaurants, my favorite one has terrible service but the food is great and it seems to add to the character of the place.

You felt unwelcome. That's horrible service, no matter the reason!

It's quite possible that they give excellent service when the customer is not using a coupon. But I'm guessing you'll never know because of how they treated you. Even if you aren't their target market (because of the cost and driving distance, etc) it's possible that you would take someone there for a business deal or date because you remembered how nice it was. (Nevermind the outside.)

They defeated the whole point of groupon: To attract new customers.

Instead, they are actively pushing them away.

Re: Why I won't be using Groupon again.. A consumer perspective.

#29

Post by acgourley »

pseudonym wrote: post #3

It sounds like a rather depressing experience, and I'm rather sorry to hear that. That said, would you consider going back after the groupon deal, just on a purely scientific basis, to see what you'd rate it at based off a clean slate? I'm mildly curious about the actual differences when the place actually wants you there, as opposed to "handling" you.

that sample size isn't very scientific anyway

Re: Why I won't be using Groupon again.. A consumer perspective.

#30

Post by brown9-2 »

dagw wrote: post #26
brown9-2 wrote: post #24

Next time don't mention your voucher until the end of the meal.

But then they wouldn't have gotten the discount because they'd have ordered the 'wrong' wine.

They also wouldn't have received the poor service and smaller portion size that the poster perceived having received. It's on the customer to read the fine print of the deal and order the "right" wine, anyway.
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