WHAT ARE THEY THINKING? 

I am actually not a big of fan of Groupon these days, but totally respect the company and what they do. This little Chicago company is setting the world on fire with coupon deals.

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It is a great concept. And when they first started out, I loved buying the deals and going to new restaurants.  But this past summer, on 2 different occassions in Chicago, it was a nightmare redeeming the coupon.  The restaurants were overcrowded and understaffed and unable to handle the flow new customers coming in.
 
In Japan recently, one restaurant crashed and burned so badly recently, that Groupon is refunding all the customers who bought in and are now  educating its customers on ‘capacity planning’ .

You probably heard  Google  wants to be in the online group buying space, badly, and with good reason. The company offered Groupon a  $6 billion buy-out offer!

Which Groupon has TURNED DOWN!    WHAT?!  ARE THEY CRAZY?!
 
But  Google seems determined to get in on the action – through acquisition – regardless. Companies like LivingSocial and BuyWithMe, both privately-held and backed by tens of millions in venture capital, are some of the names that are dropped in various reports.



MEANWHILE,  Village Vines  is a company I have been using lately.  I love it!  You get a  "deal"  for  $10 at the restuarant of your choice, at the times they have avilable via reservation.  Then you get 30% off your entire meal. So the other night, 4 of us went to dinner.  The deal  was  $10. And we saved $65 of the entire meal. It was great! They are small and just starting out. So new restaurants, and more cities will be added in 2011. Check it out!