The totally off-topic thread

[Vinny]

Thanks for the info and the quick reply.

I can get an educators discount from Apple Au which is only $30 or so more than what is offered in Asia so will take up that one. For the sake of a few bucks it's worth it.

After 16 years of using PCs I've become an Apple convert in the last year or so and want to ensure I have adequate back up when needed.

I bought a new ipod in HKG last year and was drawn by the seller to the clause that said that the warranty was only valid in HKG. I bought it from an Apple store.

By the way, any fairly new converts to Apple, like myself I recommend you ask about the One on One product. I have spent hours learning about a myriad of features of my computers at an Apple store.

 

[ozbeachbabe]

Has anyone heard of 'Scoopon' (link below) which offers daily deals on restaurants, accommodation & other deals?

Scoopon - Just $599 for 7 Luxury Nights in coughet for 2 inc Breakfast, Island Tour, Drinks + MORE! $2150 Value

I'm thinking that if you paid on credit card & it was dodgy, your credit card company/bank could do a 'chargeback' if you didn't receive the goods paid for.

They have a deal on at the moment for the Cape Panwa Hotel (former Sheraton?) in coughet for $599.00 for 7 nights in a Cape Suite including hot breakfast daily which is apparently worth $2150.00.

Would be interested to hear your thoughts.

 

[samh004]

Heard of them but never used them so not sure. I think a few other members have used them before though.

 

[Cynicor]

They are a big group buy site, like linked in etc. They aren't in themselves very dodgy but like all the others the services they on-sell may be. Read the fineprint closely, and search to see if others have had issues first. I find any deal selling really well is probably quite cheap but may not deliver on time or at all.

Also, they don't respond quickly or at all via their email it seems, and also have no listed number. Ozbargain has subforum for group buy sites, people have issues with every company it seems.

Read reviews on the hotel before buying, and if too many people buy I would be suspicious that they will not have good availability.

Oh, and the one thing I have bought was fine with good availability - some restaurant vouchers.

 

[samh004]

I bought a new ipod in HKG last year and was drawn by the seller to the clause that said that the warranty was only valid in HKG. I bought it from an Apple store.

Which isn’t true, an apple products warranty is acceptable wherever Apple has a presence, so you can buy in HKG and get it fixed up in AU, or vice versa, provided it’s under warranty, otherwise there’s a fee, naturally. AppleCare also works in multiple countries.

 

[Vinny]

Cool. Thanks.

Am presently at SYD international waiting for a plane that is not strike affected but is running a few hours late anyway.

I checked the Apple store in the tax free (but a good mark up) and they had no AppleCare for iMac at all.

 

[Ikara]

Has anyone heard of 'Scoopon' (link below) which offers daily deals on restaurants, accommodation & other deals?

Scoopon - Just $599 for 7 Luxury Nights in coughet for 2 inc Breakfast, Island Tour, Drinks + MORE! $2150 Value

I'm thinking that if you paid on credit card & it was dodgy, your credit card company/bank could do a 'chargeback' if you didn't receive the goods paid for.

They have a deal on at the moment for the Cape Panwa Hotel (former Sheraton?) in coughet for $599.00 for 7 nights in a Cape Suite including hot breakfast daily which is apparently worth $2150.00.

Would be interested to hear your thoughts.

Friends of ours bought a similar deal in Thailand. Forget the name of the hotel but it was devastated in the tsunami and has only recently reopened. They had a great time - went with friends as it was a deal for a "family" room(s). They had absolutely no problems and thoroughly enjoyed themselves. Bought cheap Jet* tickets, so a really good cheap holiday.

JB

 

[anat0l]

Has anyone heard of 'Scoopon' (link below) which offers daily deals on restaurants, accommodation & other deals?

Scoopon - Just $599 for 7 Luxury Nights in coughet for 2 inc Breakfast, Island Tour, Drinks + MORE! $2150 Value

I'm thinking that if you paid on credit card & it was dodgy, your credit card company/bank could do a 'chargeback' if you didn't receive the goods paid for.

They have a deal on at the moment for the Cape Panwa Hotel (former Sheraton?) in coughet for $599.00 for 7 nights in a Cape Suite including hot breakfast daily which is apparently worth $2150.00.

Would be interested to hear your thoughts.

Heard of them, along with similar sites such as Cudo, Groupon (mostly non-Australian) and TravelZoo (not as much, but they do have deals).

Some of their deals are stunning and - like most things in a retail store - are believable and real if not teetering on the edge of "too good to be true". Not sure how they exactly make the money here, but I suppose that's something for the merchant.

Seen many accommodation deals, but of course no money, time nor familial commitment to take advantage of them. Otherwise, there are some really good ones (and some rather odd ones, e.g. a voucher to stay a few nights at a hotel for around $250 per night whereas the supposed price is something like $500 per night = questionable).

One of my fellow PhD students buys these vouchers regularly and religiously checks Scoopon, Cudo etc. for dining offers, cheap food etc. Haven't heard her complaining bitterly yet. We used a Scoopon once to celebrate a colleague's birthday (it was for a tapas place in Fortitude Valley - still rather expensive but close to reasonable once the Scoopon sweetened the deal).

Given that any grievance will necessarily involve a third party - i.e. Scoopon/Cudo/etc. - if things go pear shaped I'm not too optimistic about confronting either one about it (it'll probably degenerate into a "their fault" fight). Considering a chargeback is not a bad idea if it gets to that point.


As for the specific deal you mention, looks like a good buy, although I'm not up to speed with the average price of hotels in coughet. I'm not in a searching mood right now so I can't ascertain whether the price offered is significantly cheaper than other rates for similarly rated hotels in coughet (let alone with free breakfast).

As others have said, read the fine print carefully, particularly with respect to how many vouchers you can buy, when they are valid (this is important! I got caught out before, but the merchant was kind enough to let me off the hook), what conditions you can use the voucher (e.g. can't use it with another offer, can't use it on certain days or blackout periods, minimum numbers required, etc.).....

 

[Mal]

I see no issues with booking from various websites (for accom) ... IF you can get immediate availability or confirmation straight away.

I don't trust being told "Oh the voucher is valid. Ring us up to book. Plenty of availability" - Especially when no cap is made on the number of vouchers sold.

Interestingly, I'm not sure sites like Scoopon etc will last the distance. There are many online reports of deals not being honoured, and IMHO the whole marketing scheme is flawed. The type of client that is attracted by Scoopon is usually not a customer who will usually pay full price for a meal. I believe in many cases restaurants etc are told different things and they price offers that way. When the reality sets in, they scratch their heads.

 

[awilcockson]

I've used scoopon and ourdeal a lot. Bert bargain was 3 nights on heron island, including launch transfers and all meals for two people for $900. It would have cost around $2300 at the best online price I could find at the time! I also booked two 1 hour massage packages for next weekend in melbourne. Cost $40 each instead of the normal price of $90. In both cases I contacted the seller directly to confirm availability for the dates I wanted before buying the coupon.

 

[straitman]

We have used Scoopon and the associated Catch of the Day web site quite a few times.

I have returned things without issue though nothing of the size or degree of this this offer.

 

[Lawlass]

Coupons come up all the time for restaurants here in St Kilda and I've always had good results (mind you, I've never tried booking for a Friday or Saturday night with them).

An accomodation deal I did for a holiday in Metung was okay.

I got one for a too-good-to-be-true cleaning deal ($30 for two people for two hours) and of course they never turned up, nor could they be contacted afterwards. Wrote to the coupon company, used the words "department of consumer affairs" and it was refunded promptly.

 

[RB]

The scoopons etc have received a bit of a hammering in the press the last few weeks. There was a big write up of havaiana thong deal-google will no doubt find it.
I read where a "refinement" was where you pay $2 to lock in access to the deal & then negotiate direct with the seller for stuff.

 

[Mal]

The scoopons etc have received a bit of a hammering in the press the last few weeks. There was a big write up of havaiana thong deal-google will no doubt find it.
I read where a "refinement" was where you pay $2 to lock in access to the deal & then negotiate direct with the seller for stuff.

Yeah, hadn't read of the Havaina thing - but this quote from an article I found on the topic is a common complaint from retailers:

Living Social, Havaianas Deal A Warning For Start-ups: Sales & Marketing

Earlier this year, group-buying giant Scoopon came under fire after failing to limit the number of vouchers available for a deal at a Perth beauty salon.

The salon was forced to extend trading hours, hire three new staff and add another month to the voucher expiry date, all the while jeopardising the existing customer base.

“[Scoopon advised] it’s better to uncap it and let it go wild [because] the amount of people who actually redeem what they purchase isn’t high but we’ve found the opposite,” salon manager Cheri Hodgson told StartupSmart.

 

[Mal]

Thanks to the CSM on a flight of mine recently (route withheld). I think I was the only Plat on the flight in Econ...

CSM visits soon after take-off. "Can I offer you a newspaper?" "Yes", "Which one from xx_xx_, xx_xx_x, xx_xx_ do you want?". Paper is given.
A little later CSM hands out various papers to others around the front of Econ. I basically got my paper choice before they ran out.
Meal service arrives, "Do you want a drink"? "Yes, a coke please".
Coke is given. About 10 seconds later: "The CSM has asked me to offer you a drink with their complements. What would you like?" (I twig at this point... ).
"Oh, a beer. What is available?". I settle with one of the first choices.
I drink the beer (guy near me looked strangely, but didn't comment).
Later on, the CSM visits again and suggests a top-up. I asked for a beer that wasn't in the J beer bin, so another FA runs down the back and finds one. It is given to me with the almond/cashew mix.
And again later, the same FA revisits and suggests another refill...

Great service QF.

 

[awilcockson]

Thanks to the CSM on a flight of mine recently (route withheld). I think I was the only Plat on the flight in Econ...

Great service QF.

And as a counterpoint to that ....

Flying back from Brisbane yesterday. The two male flight attendants stopped the private conversation long enough to ask me if I wanted a cold drink. "I'll have a red wine thanks", "Sure, that will be $6".

Seriously, Qantas want to be the "premium, full service airline" and I can't even get a glass of wine on a dinner service flight without handing over more cash?

 

[Mal]

And as a counterpoint to that ....

Flying back from Brisbane yesterday. The two male flight attendants stopped the private conversation long enough to ask me if I wanted a cold drink. "I'll have a red wine thanks", "Sure, that will be $6".

Seriously, Qantas want to be the "premium, full service airline" and I can't even get a glass of wine on a dinner service flight without handing over more cash?

Yeah it's crazy... $6 for a wine, $6 for a beer on "CityFlyer" flights that would be free during the week.... Yeah, does seem similar to a LCC mentality. I do see them give out free drinks at times - it's almost like the bar is "optional pay"...

 

[oz_mark]

Yeah it's crazy... $6 for a wine, $6 for a beer on "CityFlyer" flights that would be free during the week.... Yeah, does seem similar to a LCC mentality. I do see them give out free drinks at times - it's almost like the bar is "optional pay"...

Alcoholic beverages were a pay for item in domestic economy from way before the rise of the LCC's.

 

[Hvr]

So what are the poor people doing tonight? I'm sitting in the BKK Intercontinental Hotel Balcony Bar listening to some fine jazz. Life is good.

(And yes I am alone using free internet.)

 

[Flashback]

So what are the poor people doing tonight? I'm sitting in the BKK Intercontinental Hotel Balcony Bar listening to some fine jazz. Life is good.

(And yes I am alone using free internet.)

Right now? Still working.........