GOING OFF THE COUPON GRID

There is an old adage "once bitten, twice shy." And quite honestly I wish I was a one-trial learner. Most often I am, but in the case of these coupon sites, not so much.

There is a proliferation of these coupon companies lately -- Groupon, WagJag, TeamBuy, Living Social, and the list goes on and on and on. I have now had three instances (yes, I wasn't even a two trial learner) whereby I have either not been able to claim the service or the quality of the product was so poor, that you could have bought it in a dollar store for less.

Furthermore, once you've spent the money, the coupon company owns it. There are no refunds, nor even much of an apology for not getting what was advertised. They just say well, we'll give you a "credit" which you can use on a further purchase. What happened to me once, was with the credit, I bought something else and then couldn't get that service either. 

So why is this happening? I don't know what the business model is between the coupon companies and the service providers, but it must be a tragic loss leader for the latter (of course the product providers which sell the dollar store products -- they must be making a mint). They think they can drum up business, but offering these two for one, or 75% off deals and then they find that they can't support the volumes of buys on their deal. Why wouldn't the providers put limits on the number of "deals" available? My guess is that the coupon companies don't allow it because remember, you never get your money back. Furthermore, they've already taken a commission off the top of the provider who is now unable to provide, and so when you take this credit to another supplier, well the coupon companies get more commission...and so on and so on.

I know the local providers of services are thinking well, this might be a loss leader, but I'm going to get repeat business, so it's worth it. There has been research though that people who are motivated by price are always going to be motivated by price, so when you look to have them come back at the regular fees, well, they've already gone on to the next "like" company, which is offering the next great deal. 

And what happens if you end up being inundated with requests that you can't fulfill?Well, firstly, you've now taken a hit to your reputation, because no one like a company who promises and doesn't deliver. Secondarily, you may actually lose business, because you can't service your regular clientele.

And don't get me started on the substandard products that are being offered, that were probably made in somebody's garage in China!

So I'm going off the coupon grid. I'll stay with the providers that I know will deliver, and deliver quality, when I want it.

Thrice bitten, never to return..oh, except of course to use up that stupid credit.