Christine Brunner

Bought a Groupon for a salon near me almost 6 months ago and booked an appointment online with them a couple of months ago. I stated in the notes in my online booking that I was using a Groupon for the apointment. My appointment was this morning at 10am. I arrived before my appointment time to the salon, and the only person present was a receptionist. She looked at me and said, "Appointment at 10?" I said yes. She said, "Groupon?" I said yes, and she told me to wait. She stepped aside to make a phone call and came back with the phone on speaker. I was basically told, by the owner?, that because my service was with a Groupon, the salon decides when to book the appointments, not the client, and I wasn't getting mine today. Problems are: a) I leave on a trip tomorrow for a period of time longer than my Groupon is good for, and b) my Groupon expires this week. No one called me to say they were turning down my appointment for today, and I was texted yesterday to confirm my appointment. I told her that I absolutely could not reschedule my appointment and the situation with the Groupon. She then tells me that Groupon will refund me for the Groupon purchase, and I need to contact Groupon myself to get the refund. She also tells me that the $30 deposit I made to reserve the appointment was non-refundable, and I will not be getting it back. She said it offsets the lower reimbursement they get for the Groupon. I drove from a distance for this appointment only to have it cancelled once I got there the day of my appointment. I was angry but kept my temper. I told her I was angry, that I was leaving before I raised my voice, and to enjoy my $30.

In the parking lot, I contacted Groupon. Groupon at first made it sound like they would refund my money after looking into it but then told me they wouldn't refund it without the owner's say. I told them the owner told me to contact them, and Groupon said again without the owner saying to process the refund, I wasn't getting one. So, because I was angrier than when I left the salon, I absolutely did not go back into the salon because I would have started screaming, and I am now out both the $30 deposit and the purchase price of the Groupon (which I would have to look back on my credit card statements from almost 6 months ago to see what that cost originally, but the service was at least a $100 value).

I also have an essential tremor, which I repeatedly told the Groupon CS while we were in the chat. It is hard for me to type on my phone, especially when dealing with something that takes a lot to type. I was never offered a phone number to call or for the CS to call me so I didn't have to keep typing. That was amazingly frustrating, too!

Ultimately, obviously, I was _very beyond_ disappointed with Groupon's customer service, and I absolutely do not recommend them at all to anyone for any reason at any time.