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Author Topic: Groupon has chosen a side, and it's the wrong one.  (Read 2480 times)

Offline bkoenig

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Groupon has chosen a side, and it's the wrong one.
« on: January 21, 2013, 09:56:25 PM »
Found this on Arfcom, and several people confirmed they got responses from Groupon that they have suspended all shooting-related deals.  I emailed them tonight to cancel my account and let them know why.

Quote


PROACTIVE DEFENSE FEELS EFFECTS OF ANTI-GUN DISCRIMINATION.


by Proactive Defense on Friday, January 18, 2013 at 8:37pm ·...



NORTHLAKE, TX -- Proactive Defense was scheduled to run a Groupon deal today offering professional firearms instruction. Before the ad could run, Groupon's corporate headquarters decided to unilaterally refuse to do business with any business that was in anyway connected to the firearms industry. That included firearms training facilities and companies that offer the State of Texas approved concealed handgun licensing courses.



We are disappointed in the stance that Groupon has taken and believe that such a position is not in the best interests of its customers or the public in general.



Proactive Defense's training facility was visited by a local Fox News reporter and cameraman. Several interviews were conducted regarding the this situation and the effects thereof.



The interviews with Chris Rainey, the owner of Proactive Defense Training, and others will be on the local DFW FOX affiliate newscasts tonight (01-18-2013) at 9:00pm and 10:00pm. We will post the video here as soon as it becomes available.



PROACTIVE DEFENSE

11800 F.M. 1171

Northlake, Texas 76247

817-400-0882

Offline OnTheFly

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Re: Groupon has chosen a side, and it's the wrong one.
« Reply #1 on: January 21, 2013, 11:11:59 PM »
I contacted Groupons with the following message...

Quote
Greeetings,

As you can tell by my email address, I am not a current subscriber to Groupons.  However, I AM an avid gun enthusiast and supporter of our rights which includes the Second Amendment.  The word has been spreading through the shooting community that Groupons will not allow any offers from firearms related businesses.

I don't want to jump to conclusions, and I would like to know if this is true?  If Groupons unequivocally denies these accusations and vows not to take such a stance against the rights which keep our country the land of the free, then I vow to join Groupons immediately.  I will also post on several state and national firearms forums that this rumor is false.

If this rumor IS true and Groupons will not make the declarations I would expect from a business that benefits of operating in a free nation, then I will never join Groupons.  Furthermore, I will help spread the word to other firearms enthusiasts to suggest that your business is not one that we, as a group, should support.

Thank you,

It will be interesting to see if they respond.

Fly
Si vis pacem, para bellum

Offline NE Bull

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Re: Groupon has chosen a side, and it's the wrong one.
« Reply #2 on: January 22, 2013, 03:59:26 AM »
Canceled my account last month.
Never really had any deals on anything I was interested anyway.
“It is not an issue of being afraid, It's an issue of not being afraid to protect myself.”
 Omaha Mayor Jean Stothert
 "A gun is a tool, Marian; no better or no worse than any other tool: an axe, a shovel or anything. A gun is as good or as bad as the man using it. Remember that."  Shane

Offline lunchbox

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Re: Groupon has chosen a side, and it's the wrong one.
« Reply #3 on: January 22, 2013, 06:39:30 AM »
Canceled my account last month.
Never really had any deals on anything I was interested anyway.
Awe, c’mon. We ran alot of brewery deals. Everyone loves beer. lol

Offline Wetzel402

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Re: Groupon has chosen a side, and it's the wrong one.
« Reply #4 on: January 22, 2013, 09:44:47 AM »
I have also emailed Groupon for their response regarding these allocations.

Offline whatsit

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Re: Groupon has chosen a side, and it's the wrong one.
« Reply #5 on: January 22, 2013, 11:02:09 AM »
Sent via their "contact us" form:
Quote
I have heard that you have decided not to allow firearms-related business to make use of your services. Is this true?
If these rumors are unfounded, I encourage you to say so -- either publicly or in a response to this email.
If you have decided to exclude these types of business, please send me instructions that detail how I may delete my Groupon account.
Sincerely,
XXXXX

Received almost immediately:
Quote
Hi XXXXX,
Thanks for your submission! Although we typically respond to most emails in less than 24 hours, we're running a little behind right now. You should hear from us in about 48 hours. Sorry in advance for the delay!
Regards,
Groupon Support
support@groupon.com

Hammer them with requests -- fill up that inbox!
« Last Edit: January 22, 2013, 11:52:37 AM by whatsit »

Offline RLMoeller

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Re: Groupon has chosen a side, and it's the wrong one.
« Reply #6 on: January 22, 2013, 11:13:04 AM »
From the Chicago Tribune:

Groupon Inc. has stopped all current and future gun-related deals, bowing to customer pressure a month after the deadly mass shooting in Newtown, Conn.

The Chicago company said Monday it has cancelled existing and planned discounts for shooting ranges, conceal-and-carry and clay shooting.

The statement didn’t specify the company’s motives or when it would resume such deals, other than to say that the “category is under review following recent customer and merchant feedback.”

Full article: http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2013-01-21/business/chi-groupon-nixes-all-gunrelated-deals-20130121_1_groupon-gun-deals

Offline NENick

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Re: Groupon has chosen a side, and it's the wrong one.
« Reply #7 on: January 22, 2013, 11:48:38 AM »
I wish I had a Groupon account so that I could cancel it.

Offline unfy

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Re: Groupon has chosen a side, and it's the wrong one.
« Reply #8 on: January 22, 2013, 11:52:36 AM »
bowing to customer pressure

Maybe I'm in the wrong circle(s), but I've never heard of anti's complaining at businesses that support gun stuff... ?  Sure, we hear politicians rag about it all the time.. but... normal joe schmoes ?
hoppe's #9 is not the end all be all woman catching pheramone people make it out to be ... cause i smell of it 2 or 3 times a week but remain single  >:D

Offline gigabelly

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Re: Groupon has chosen a side, and it's the wrong one.
« Reply #9 on: January 22, 2013, 01:47:59 PM »
un-subscribed.
Government is not the solution to our problems, Government is our problem. -Ronald Reagan

Offline whatsit

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Re: Groupon has chosen a side, and it's the wrong one.
« Reply #10 on: January 24, 2013, 08:18:53 AM »
I got a reply:
Quote
Hi XXX,

Thank you for reaching out to us. We appreciate your feedback and take these inquiries seriously.

I'll pass it on to the right people.

Regards,

Nnamdi N
Groupon Customer Support

Offline bkoenig

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Re: Groupon has chosen a side, and it's the wrong one.
« Reply #11 on: January 24, 2013, 09:11:29 AM »
I haven't got squat back from them, but they're still emailing me deals.

Offline OnTheFly

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Re: Groupon has chosen a side, and it's the wrong one.
« Reply #12 on: January 24, 2013, 09:42:18 AM »
My generic reply from Groupon...

Quote
Thank you for reaching out to us. We appreciate your feedback and take these inquiries seriously.

Due to customer feedback such as yours, gun-related deals -- including shooting ranges, conceal-and-carry, and clay shooting -- are on hiatus as we review our internal policies for the types of deals that we feature. Groupon has always aimed to offer deals driven by local consumer preference and request; at this time, enough consumers have asked us to eliminate the category that we believe a review is warranted. A decision has not yet been made.

Thank you again for contacting us and please let me know if I can do anything else to help.

Regards,

Adriana A.
Groupon Customer Support

Fly
Si vis pacem, para bellum

Offline HuskerXDM

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Re: Groupon has chosen a side, and it's the wrong one.
« Reply #13 on: January 24, 2013, 07:27:32 PM »
I've purchases some Groupon deals, and am a subscriber.  Just fired off an email saying that if they make the "hiatus" permanent I will immediately drop their service and never purchase anything through them again.  Period. 
The master has failed more than the beginner has even tried.

Offline Wetzel402

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Re: Groupon has chosen a side, and it's the wrong one.
« Reply #14 on: January 25, 2013, 08:15:12 AM »
My generic reply from Groupon...

Quote (selected)

    Thank you for reaching out to us. We appreciate your feedback and take these inquiries seriously.

    Due to customer feedback such as yours, gun-related deals -- including shooting ranges, conceal-and-carry, and clay shooting -- are on hiatus as we review our internal policies for the types of deals that we feature. Groupon has always aimed to offer deals driven by local consumer preference and request; at this time, enough consumers have asked us to eliminate the category that we believe a review is warranted. A decision has not yet been made.

    Thank you again for contacting us and please let me know if I can do anything else to help.

    Regards,

    Adriana A.
    Groupon Customer Support


I received a nearly identical copy of this email and then asked that my account be canceled.  The representative did not seem to have any issue at all with that which is a shame.  What ever happened to caring about customers.  Of course when you have a large business such as theirs things change in that regard...

Offline bkoenig

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Re: Groupon has chosen a side, and it's the wrong one.
« Reply #15 on: January 25, 2013, 09:13:42 AM »
Finally got an email back confirming this.  My account is cancelled.

Offline dkarp

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Re: Groupon has chosen a side, and it's the wrong one.
« Reply #16 on: January 25, 2013, 09:32:59 AM »
I should sign up just so I can cancel.....