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back to article Another Groupon ad complaint upheld

Online voucher service Groupon has been whacked with yet another Advertising Standards Authority judgement. Previous problems were blamed on new staff, and the Germans. This time the offer was for eyelash extensions for a bargain basement £24 instead of £90. But the ASA said Groupon had failed to provide documentary evidence …

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  1. b0llchit Silver badge
    Devil

    Complaint vouchers

    Maybe they should soon be starting to have vouchers for complaints against themselves. *That* should be a real business deal. Guaranteed turnover for decades to come.

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  2. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Tone seems a bit harsh

    How long has Groupon been around?

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  3. John Tserkezis

    Bridge for sale!

    At a bargain basement price of $0, verses the recommended retail price of 1.2billion.

    Beware of "discount" prices. Product is seldom worth anything OTHER than the marked price...

    We get lots of "super one time only get it while it's hot sales" here in oz, with the signs never leaving their hanging spots over the life of the shop.

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    1. BristolBachelor Gold badge
      Reply Icon

      worth

      "Product is seldom worth anything OTHER than the marked price..." is this sarcasm? I find it hard to tell sometimes.

      I see lots of sh... ahem "stuff" at marked prices far far above it's worth. (Windows 7 springs to mind)

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  4. teebie

    Groupon, the Pete Doherty of the voucher world

    Guilty again, unpunished again.

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    1. Wyrdness
      Reply Icon
      FAIL

      Bad analogy

      I take it that you're referring to the same Pete Doherty who's just been sentenced to 6 months inside. You really need to work on your analogies.

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  5. Robert Carnegie Silver badge
    Paris Hilton

    Obviously the eyelash extensions are worth every penny

    I've seen the television adverts for those products...... sorry, what? Really? Oh.

    Paris enhanced in post production.

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  6. BristolBachelor Gold badge

    First time for ASA?

    The ASA always says this:

    "...not to use the ad again in its present form..."

    But I think that this is a first?

    "...and in future it should hold documentary evidence from suppliers that pre-discount prices were correct."

    It's not even slap on the wrist, but perhaps ther might be a real punishment next time? Companies will not learn from repeated "don't do it again", but a hit to the bottom line or even better a fine for the MD may help.

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    1. The First Dave
      Reply Icon
      Paris Hilton

      @BristolBachelor

      To be fair to the ASA, TV ads in particular can be very expensive to make, and most advertisers run them for many months, and often repeat them again for several years, so by forcing them to make a new advert, there _is_ an inherent cost to the organisation.

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      1. Danny 14
        Reply Icon

        plus

        you often block book advert runs and I doubt they will get a refund on unused blocks.

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