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Groupon UK has three months to change its practices following UK investigation

Groupon UK has three months to change its practices following UK investigation

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Over in the UK, daily deal site Groupon has been under investigation by the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) since July of last year, and now its being told it has three months to stop misleading consumers.

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Over in the UK, daily deal site Groupon has been under investigation by the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) since July of last year, and now its being told it has three months to stop misleading consumers. In response to a number of consumer complaints, the OFT will be checking on Groupon to ensure the company provides accurate pricing information, honest assessments of its retailers' abilities to provide the promised goods and services, fair terms and conditions, and a number of other consumer-friendly practices. Overall, the OFT found "widespread examples of Groupon's practices which in the OFT's view breached consumer protection regulations" and is now requiring Groupon to notifiy it of any reported complaints — if Groupon slips up again, the OFT may apply for court enforcement orders to keep the company in line. To its credit, Groupon cooperated with the OFT thoughout the investigation — if you're a Groupon customer in the UK, you can hopefully use the site with a little more confidence going forward.