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.