Groupon deal cancelled

So the day for my Executive Detailing valet came and went and my car is still filthy.

Unfortunately it does seem that the relationship between Executive Detailing and Groupon broke down, and as a result Groupon announced by e-mail that the offer was being withdrawn.

This whole experience has certainly raised Groupon's profile for me, and not in a positive light. Recent newspaper reports have suggested that consumers who use Groupon may have no legal protection if things go wrong. And Which? agrees that we are unlikely to be protected by the Consumer Credit Act, The Distance Selling Directive or the Sale of Goods Act; the main tools we can use to seek redress when a retailer doesn't fulfil its obligations.

Meanwhile Groupon readies for a £19 billion flotation amidst stories from some of its merchant partners that the extra business it generates is short-lived and therefore unprofitable. I also read that the Advertising Standards Authority has ruled against over 60 group buying promotions in the past nine months.

Groupon goes all Hoover

Unlike some of my colleagues I'm not a massive user of Groupon, in fact I've set up my e-mail account to divert the daily messages to a separate file and I review them once in a while. The last time I looked in the file I found one offer of interest, from Executive Detailing. It was an unusual case of the right offer at the right time. The Executive Detailing guys offer a mobile car valet service. I'm lazy. My car's filthy. And £19 for a £70 valet was a great deal.

However, things didn't quite go according to plan. A few days after downloading my Groupon coupon I received an e-mail from Groupon explaining Executive Detailing had been swamped with requests and it was taking them some time to respond. They asked us to be patient and complete a Survey Monkey questionnaire designed to organise all our requirements into geographical territories.

I still had a filthy car.

About a month after downloading my coupon, Executive Detailing sent out their own e-mail apologising for the delay, explaining they were analysing all the information from the survey. However, they sent it in a conventional e-mail format showing all the e-mail addresses of the recipients.

Not surprisingly my in box then filled with unhappy customers complaining about the delay. According to these e-mails Executive Detailing wanted to cap the offer to 300 coupons but Groupon refused, and they now have 1,700 coupons to fulfil. They suggested the whole promotion could bankrupt them. All very reminiscent of the now legendary Hoover promotion from 1992.

I've just booked to have my car valeted in a few weeks. I'll let you know how it goes.

Nestle's Get Set Go Free made me cringe

I was lucky enough to get one of my choices in the London 2012 Olympics tickets lottery - diving. And as the pre-games hype has just kicked off, I've been seeing and perhaps obviously noticing Tom Daley a lot more. But today I was horrified by the free sport promotion he is fronting for sponsors Nestle. The TV ad is difficult to watch. He's clearly hugely embarrassed by the whole acting thing - it looks like you're watching the first rehearsal it's so wooden. Nevertheless, as Tom is clearly up for The Nation's Sweetheart Award (he may have won it already!) he comes out of it endearing as ever, and you just end up feeling sorry for him. I suspect only the pester-power will save it for Nestle.

PS I felt bad for Tom and just watched The Making Of, which is better!

Social media is dumb

I read Mark Ritson's Marketing Week rant on social media on the way home tonight. I love the fact that his employer is obviously a little scared by his forthright views because editor Mark Choueke distances himself from them in his leader column. Nevertheless as usual Mr Ritson speaks a whole load of sense. Personally I love the social media milieu, and fit into his "over 40 and paranoid" target audience. I am still trying to solve the social commerce conundrum but for what it's worth I think we're close. I'll let you know. Meanwhile, next week Mr Ritson promises "the five most piss-poor social media campaigns." And he says he means it.

Nokia's brave agency choice

Whilst there may be an element of spin on the reported news, on the face of it Nokia's decision to appoint the relatively modest agency Inferno to handle its business globally is a brave one. Kudos to Inferno for hanging on in there, and moving from the role of business to business agency to global brand agency, and allegedly beating off JWT and Wieden + Kennedy. Insiders say that Nokia is struggling on many levels, so exactly what Inferno have won is debatable.

L'Oreal retouching

I'm delighted that the backlash against digitally enhanced images is continuing. The most shocking detail in the latest chapter which saw the ASA uphold two complaints against L'Oreal is that the ASA were not allowed to see the untouched photographs of Julia Roberts. So what does she really look like then?

Tesco Travel Money

I've noticed the Tesco Travel Money press campaign and am a little puzzled by the fact that "free parking" is being highlighted as a major benefit. I thought you could park for free in any Tesco anyway.