Daily deal website Groupon recently misled promotion seekers when the company ran a deal for a manufacturer refurbished Nexus 7 for $189. Groupon listed the original price of the Android tablet as $260, when in reality potential purchasers can pick one up from Google for $199.
The confusion in this mess was where are users exactly getting a deal? Pay $189 for a refurbished N7 or pay $10 more for a brand new one? Purchasers would really be saving 5% for the Groupon deal instead of an exaggerated 30% that the Groupon claims.
A Groupon executive released this statement regarding the deal:
“The value and discount percentage listed on each deal reflect the regular full price for that product or service. If the business offers other temporary discounts or decides to change their standard pricing after their deal is featured, the relative savings and value might change.”
However, there are arguments that the price of the Google Nexus 16 GB has not be altered in a while. When the product originally launched the price of the tablet was $249, which was then decreased to $199. According to an article by TheDroidGuy, Groupon executives were reluctant about accepting that fact that this was a mistake on behalf of the daily deal site. A Groupon executive further clarified their side of the story:
“List prices may be based on a survey of other online merchants, tied to a particular merchant’s current or former price, or suggested by either the manufacturer or our supplier. It is not necessarily representative of current prices of other online merchants or the prevailing retail price in every area.”
Groupon may have made a mistake, but they sure aren’t ready to admit it. While a parade of articles are revealing the reality of the situation, as of right now, users can no longer save $10 on the Nexus 16 GB tablet – it’s sold out, claiming that over 1,000 have purchased the product.
Source: TheDroidGuy
