[governance] Another Immovable Legal Object Meeting AnIrresistable Internet Force (this time it ain't Taipei...

[Roland Perry]

In message <117DA8A5-145E-4F76-AEEC-9BBF5B3236C3 at uzh.ch>, at 12:31:58 on 
Sun, 14 Aug 2011, William Drake <william.drake at uzh.ch> writes
>Inspired by this discussion, I just bought a half priced dinner coupon 
>at a small local restaurant on Groupon.  We have four months to redeem 
>it.  Per usual, the length of the sale was set by the restaurant.  Of 
>course, the government of Geneva could pass a law saying such coupons 
>cannot expire.  That would leave business like this resto with 
>basically two choices:  in effect, permanently cut their prices by half 
>(for all who see the ad online), or else never offer online sales via 
>intermediaries like Groupon.

There's a third option: Offer a coupon online (or as has been the 
practice in the UK for decades, in a newspaper, magazine or leaflet) 
which entitles you to a 50% discount when presented in that restaurant 
within four months (or similar). Such offers can be finessed by saying 
that they apply to food only (not drinks), or that the second person is 
free if the first person pays full price[1].

The specific objection to the Groupon offer, as I understand it, is the 
need to pay in advance, even if you never turn up and claim.

I admit I don't know how comprehensive the Canadian displeasure at such 
things is - would it extend to buying a coupon for 100 minutes of mobile 
phone calls, which expire at the end of the month even if you've never 
used them (that's a very normal thing in the UK). On the other hand, I 
wouldn't expect there to be any difference between buying those 100 
minutes in shop, or online.

[1] I understand that such "buy one, get one free" offers are illegal in 
Germany.

-- 
Roland Perry
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