Boycott Groupon!! – Sacramento Massage Therapist

Groupon, Living Social, Google Offers, Amazon Local….so many choices for quick purchases via collective buying sites. I hear so many people tout how much they LOVE these sites. In this day and age, everyone likes to save money.

Let me give you a business owner’s perspective of Groupon.

Admittedly, it is great way to get a lot of immediate exposure for your business. I have had a good ROI with my Groupon promotion.

However, there is a downside to Groupon, I can only offer my opinion about Groupon because that is the only site that I ran a promotion with. 97% of Groupon purchasers are good, respectful prospective clients. The other 3%, I like to call “bottom feeders.” Bottom feeders are a business owner’s worst nightmare. They are cheap. They have no intention of returning to any business because they are always looking for a better, cheaper deal. Bottom feeders are notorious for being rude, have a sense of entitlement attitude, no show, cancel their appointment last minute, don’t tip or tip very minimally (on the discounted promotion vs the full value). They are also the first ones to post negative reviews of a business on Yelp. I had a completely unblemished online presence for over 10 years with respect to reviews until I ran a Groupon. Thankfully, I have many more positive reviews and I still come up under Best Massage on Yelp.

I have talked to several other merchants who have had similar complaints with Groupon. I think the hardest hit are restaurants.

http://yelperswhosuck.com/2012/12/21/restaurant-owners-say-sites-like-groupon-and-yelp-are-bad-for-business/

Groupon is NOT pro merchant. They will refund a Groupon purchase almost every time, no matter what the circumstances. I strongly disagree with this practice.

After my personal experience with Groupon, I have boycotted them. I will continue to purchase deals from the other Daily Deal sites.