How Groupon Refunds Work + How to Return Your Purchases

Sometimes you’re not happy with a product or voucher that you get through Groupon.com. Perhaps the item got damaged during shipping, or is missing parts. Or maybe you just had a bout of impulse shopping and don’t actually want the product or service you purchased. So, the question becomes: can you get a Groupon refund?

Check out this video for the rundown on when you can return Groupons. Or keep scrolling if you’d prefer to read about it.

Well, that’s a more complicated question than it first seems – go figure. Groupon has different refund policy rules that apply depending on what kind of product you purchased from them, and getting your refund may involve a slightly different procedure as well. We’re here to walk you through it all by covering the following:

• Groupon’s standard refund policies
• Final Sales and “The Groupon Promise”
• How to cancel a Groupon voucher
• How to return Groupon Goods orders
• How to cancel a Groupon Getaways booking
• How to return GrouponLive tickets
• How to cancel a BeautyNow appointment

If you’re all set, let’s get you started with Groupon returns, and, more importantly, getting your money back.

 

Groupon’s standard refund policies

Groupon’s refund policies differ depending on what type of item you purchase. You can return a coupon depending on which type you purchased. Local vouchers, Groupon Goods, Groupon Getaways, Groupon Live, and BeautyNow are all eligible for return within certain time frames, under specific circumstances.

Here’s a rundown of the specific refund policies depending on the type of deal you purchased.

Local vouchers

Vouchers purchased for products or services at businesses near you are eligible for refunds if you self-cancel them within one day of buying them, unless their Fine Print says otherwise. You can also ask Groupon customer support to cancel a voucher and get a refund for it within three days of buying it.

Even if you can’t get a refund on your voucher, you can still use it as credit at the business that offered the deal – even if the promotion they were issuing the voucher for is over. In that case, your voucher is worth the amount that you paid for it.

Groupon Goods

Items bought directly from Groupon Goods are eligible for refunds if you cancel your order within 2 hours of placing it, or return everything you ordered within 30 days of receiving it. Again, this depends on the terms of the Fine Print for the item you ordered. Also, unless your items are defective, your shipping charges will not be refunded.

To get a refund from a third-party seller, you must cancel your order within 2 hours of placing it, or contact the merchant directly to initiate the return process. After the merchant has confirmed with Groupon that their items have been returned, you should receive a refund in about 2-3 weeks.

Groupon Getaways

If you purchase a voucher using Groupon Getaways and the merchant providing it is unable to book you in on any of the available dates, contact customer service before the book-by date and they will refund your purchase. If you miss the voucher’s book-by date, you can still use your voucher as credit towards the specific getaway it advertises, up to the amount that you paid for it.

If you book a getaway using a voucher or directly through the website, then you’re subject to the refund and cancellation policies of the merchant offering the getaway, as spelled out in the deal’s Fine Print. Depending on what those are, you may be able to cancel the booking yourself, or may need to get in touch with customer service to do so. You also may or may not be entitled to a refund.

GrouponLive

If you buy tickets to a live event using GrouponLive, you may be able to cancel your order for a full refund until midnight on the day of purchase. You can also get a refund if the event is cancelled or rescheduled. If the event is cancelled and not rescheduled, you will automatically get a refund. If the event is rescheduled and you can’t make it, reach out to customer service and they’ll give you a refund.

BeautyNow

You aren’t charged for a BeautyNow booking until after it’s over; as long as you cancel it within the merchant’s specified time frame, you’re entitled to a full refund. Be aware, however, that if you don’t cancel your appointment on time and end up missing it, you cannot get a refund and will be charged the full retail price of the service.

There are two other things we should mention about Groupon’s refund policies, and they involve specific circumstances.

 

Final Sales and “The Groupon Promise”

Any deal that has “all sales final,” “final sale,” or any language to that effect in its Fine Print is exempt from Groupon’s standard refund policies. So, if you buy one of these deals, you won’t be able to return the items, or get any sort of refund.

However, there are certain extreme circumstances in which Groupon may be willing to help you out. These include:

• Your experience with a product or service purchased through Groupon, or via one of your non-expired orders, is sufficiently unsatisfactory or you experience fraud while using Groupon
• The merchant offering the coupon goes out of business before you can use it
• You book a service and are then subsequently deemed ineligible for it
• A business refuses to accept a voucher for a product or service, even though it hasn’t expired and you meet all its eligibility requirements

All of these situations are covered by “The Groupon Promise” guarantee. So simply contact Groupon’s customer service team within two weeks of using a voucher, returning from a trip, or attending an event, where one or more of these situations happened. They will work with you to either get you a refund or offer you sufficient compensation in another form.

Now that we’ve been through all of the rules, it’s time to get to how to actually recoup your hard-earned cash. Depending on what you bought, follow the instructions in the corresponding section below.

 

How to cancel a Groupon voucher

If you buy a Groupon voucher for a local business or a getaway, you can cancel it yourself within one day of buying it for a full refund. Or, if it has been less than three days since you bought the voucher, you can ask customer service for a refund.

To cancel a Groupon voucher by yourself:

1. Navigate to Groupon.com or open the mobile app, sign in to your account, and go to Customer Support.
2. Click About an Order, and then select the voucher you want to cancel.
3. Select Cancel Order.
4. Follow the steps that appear to complete the order cancellation.

To request a refund from Groupon instead:

1. Go to the Groupon Customer Support page and click About an Order.
2. Select the voucher you want to cancel, and click I Need More Help.
3. Click in the box labeled “Tell Us What’s Going On” and type anything.
4. Click on any topic, and then click No, I Still Need Help.
5. Choose a way to get in touch with customer service.

From there, just explain the issue you had, and ask for a refund from a customer service representative.

 

How to return Groupon Goods orders

If you bought a physical item, returning and getting a refund for it will be a bit different depending on whether you bought directly from Groupon or from one of its third-party merchants (labeled as “Marketplace”).

If you bought directly from Groupon Goods:

1. Go to Groupon.com, or open the Groupon mobile app, and sign in.
2. Go to My Groupons.
3. Select View Details next to the order you want to return.
4. Select Return Package, and print your prepaid mailing label on the next page.
5. Attach the Groupon return label to your order, and then mail it back.

(Image source: YouTube — Groupon)

That’s all you have to do! Returns are typically processed within 1 or 2 business days, and refunds are usually fully processed at least 10 business days after that.

If you bought from a third-party seller in the Groupon Goods Marketplace:

1. Sign in to Groupon.com or mobile app.
2. Select My Groupons.
3. Select View Details next to the order you want to return.
4. Log in to the Groupon Marketplace Customer Center using your Groupon account credentials.
5. Choose Contact Merchant, fill out the form on the next page, and hit Send.

You should receive a response from the merchant after at least 72 hours. They will send you a return label when it becomes available to them, and then all you have to do is attach the label to your order and send it directly back to the merchant. Once they get their stuff back, they’ll notify customer service, and you’ll get a refund within 2-3 weeks.

 

How to cancel a Groupon Getaways booking

Your ability to cancel a Getaways purchase and get a refund for it depends on what type you bought, as well as the terms of the cancellation policy you’re under – whether that’s directly from the website, or from the specific merchant offering the deal.

If you bought a voucher for a getaway deal:

The conditions are similar to returning a regular order. If it has been less than a day since you bought the voucher and you haven’t viewed it yet:

1. Go to Customer Support.
2. Click About an Order.
3. Select the voucher you want to return.
4. Choose Cancel Order.
5. Follow the process outlined on screen to confirm your cancellation.

If it has been less than three days since you bought the voucher – or the merchant offering the deal can’t book you in for your requested dates before the book-by date:

1. Go to Customer Support.
2. Click About an Order.
3. Select the voucher you want to return.
4. Click I Need More Help.
5. Type in anything, choose any related help topic, and click No, I Still Need Help.
6. Use the form to get in touch with customer service team to confirm the transaction.

If you booked a flexible reservation directly through Groupon:

You are immediately subject to the deal’s cancellation policy, as outlined in the Fine Print by the merchant offering the deal. With that said, if you are still within the cancellation window, you can cancel your reservation in much the same way as a regular voucher: go through Groupon Customer Support to cancel your order, or get in touch with customer service, and let them help you get it cancelled.

NOTE: If a deal is listed as “non-refundable” in its Fine Print, or you miss its cancellation deadline, you can neither cancel it nor get a refund for it.

If you booked a fixed “Market Pick” reservation through Groupon:

You cannot self-cancel this type of reservation under any circumstances. You can, however, request that customer service cancel it for you, as long as you abide by the deal-specific cancellation policy as laid out by the offering merchant in the Fine Print. Depending on that policy, you may or may not get a refund.

 

How to return GrouponLive tickets

Some GrouponLive tickets can be returned in a similar manner to a standard voucher. If you haven’t viewed your tickets yet, you can go to Customer Support, tell them you’re inquiring About an Order, select your tickets, click Cancel Order, and follow the process to finalize the return. You can do this up to midnight on the day that you make your purchase.

NOTE: Unless otherwise stated in a GrouponLive deal’s Fine Print, most tickets are “final sale” and cannot be returned. However, there are some exceptions that are covered by the Extraordinary Event Policy.

What the Extraordinary Event Policy covers

If the event you bought a voucher or pass to is cancelled indefinitely, you will automatically get a refund – you don’t need to do anything!

However, if the event is rescheduled and you can’t attend on the new date, you will have to reach out to their customer service division to get a refund. It’s basically the same process as requesting a refund for a regular voucher:

1. Log into your account, go to Customer Support, and click About an Order.
2. Select the tickets to return.
3. Click I Need More Help.
4. Type anything, select any help topic, and then click No, I Still Need Help.
5. Use the options presented to contact customer service and work things out.

 

How to cancel a BeautyNow appointment

The merchant offering the deal sets the cancellation policy for the appointment, so as long as you abide by that, you can cancel a BeautyNow appointment at any time within the cancellation window for a full refund. You can use a link in the email confirming your appointment to do that, or you can use the mobile app (available for Android or iOS).

When using the app, just follow these steps:

1. Open the app and log into your Groupon account with it.
2. Tap My Stuff, and then tap My Beauty Appointments.
3. Select the appointment that you want to cancel by tapping it.
4. Tap Cancel Appointment / Cancel Request.
5. Tap Yes to confirm your decision.

 

If you’re looking for some other useful information about Groupon, recognizing fraud online, or other helpful hints for finding great deals, these articles should help you out:

• Is Groupon Safe? How to Spot Fraud + What Not to Buy – If you enjoy using Groupon, this article will help you spot scams running on Groupon, and give you hints about what not to bother with.
• Best 12 Websites Like Groupon to Save Money Shopping Online – These alternatives might help you find great deals if you’re getting tired of Groupon.
• How to Plan an Inexpensive and Fun Date with Groupon – Use Groupon to plan cheap dates – without coming off like you are cheap.
• 19 Bargain Shopping Sites Cheaper than eBay – These sites can help you get great deals, and are a useful alternative to buying products on Groupon, which don’t often offer a good value for your dollar.