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Offering a straight-up refund is more than most retailers would give you.

I think you'll find that they wouldn't have any choice. You can't just change the deal once you've made it. The only options are to reach another agreement (2-sided!) or give the money back. They'd be breaking too many laws otherwise.

I agree they acted nobly but mistakes like this make you look like an amateur company. Such sites need to do their research!

Not really. Mistakes happen to every company. Handling the tiny number of deals like this that go wrong well makes you look like a great company.

Implying that they are "locking out others," as if somehow they've damaged one of their potential customers by not featuring them, is a stretch.

Having worked with sites like Groupon, I know how much research some of these companies do before they feature products (the loss of business if something goes wrong...)

It's a research fail and a noble recovery by Groupon

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