grouponSites like Groupon and LivingSocial offer daily deals for discounted services and products, but the coupons come with a caveat: an expiration date. A new class-action lawsuit filed in Illinois seeks a preliminary injunction to block Groupon from selling deals. According to The Chicago Tribune, Adam Dremak spent $25 on a Groupon deal in November 2010 for $50 of merchandise at Nordstrom Rack. The voucher expired December 31, 2010, before he could use it. Dremak and his lawyers contend that daily deals like Groupon's should be classifed as gift certificates. The Illinois Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act prohibits gift certificates from being sold or issued if they expire within five years
Roughly 15 percent of all daily deal site coupons are never used, Fox Business reports. "That is money you are literally throwing away," family finance expert Ellie Kay says, warning of expiration dates. "It may be a great price, but if it's not convenient in locale, a store you frequent or want to try or the timing is bad, the value-proposition has gone out the door and you've wasted your money." Groupon disclosed last week in a regulatory filing for its planned initial public offering (IPO) that the company currently faces more than 15 similar class-action suits disputing whether their vouchers should be classified as gift certificates, The Chicago Tribune reports. Additionally, The Next Web reports that Groupon, along with LivingSocial, Buywithme and OpenTable, have been sued for patent infringement. Relatively unknown company SellerBid Inc. has filed a lawsuit in Virginia Eastern District Court for infringing on patents that relate to the offering of goods and services at discounted prices.
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