Groupon will be evaluated by theAntitrustas part of a verification process foralleged unfair commercial practices perpetrated by customer service andmisleading advertising.
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In these hours, the news that is most talked about in the “e-commerce sector is undoubtedly the one relating to the proceeding initiated by the Antitrust against Groupon.
The hypothesis of departure elaborated by the control body is that Groupon’s customer service may have exercisedunfair commercial practices, to the detriment of consumers.
The finger is also pointed at alleged deceptive advertising activities, aimed precisely at attracting more potential customers.
The Antitrust has therefore initiated an investigation, following the receipt of numerous complaints filed by more than 600 individuals, as well as by several consumer associations (Altroconsumo, Adiconsum-Veneto, Associazione Consumatori Utenti-ACU Piemonte, Cittadinanzattiva, Nero su Bianco and Sportello Europeo Consumatori-Trento).
The investigation will primarily be against Groupon srl, Groupon International GmbH, Groupon International Travel GmbH, and Groupon Goods Global GmbH.
The first objection that the Antitrust is raising relates to possible deceptive advertising practices, to verify if – as stated in a note from the authority – “deceptive, misleading, and confusing commercial information for the consumer, concerning the prices and characteristics of the advertised offers” have been activated.
Then there is a second aspect on which work will be done: it will be established whether the Groupon customer service has always acted correctly.
In fact, consumers have widely complained about not being able to exercise their contractual rights in cases where purchased coupons were unusable.
In particular, in some cases, the non-reimbursement of money spent by customers is lamented, for example, in cases of confirmed overbooking; reports have been received of the customer service being unresponsive or unwilling to provide refunds, sometimes offering only the option of issuing new, spendable vouchers on Groupon, instead of allowing customers to get their money back for the inability to use the offer purchased through Groupon.
While awaiting further information and the conclusions of the investigation initiated by the Antitrust, Groupon has released a statement explaining that “Groupon constantly strives to provide a service that satisfies customer interests. Our business model and organizational procedures are constantly evolving to ensure consumers have the best purchasing experience and high quality standards. We are actively cooperating with the Antitrust to ensure consumer rights are fully respected.”.
We will continue to follow this matter, with future updates.
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