My Groupon Experience...

I'm back... been away as I was relocated, yes AGAIN... and I have been extremely busy. But I had to post this...

I have been a Groupon customer since 2011 and I have made about 50 or so purchases through them. And that’s just me… I think my wife has more!  In fact I have collaborated with them in 2011 for an F&B deal which sold over 7000+ groupons over 3 days. I had to call them to stop the deal as it was overwhelming. It was through this collaboration that I got to meet some of the big players of Groupon Malaysia.

In all my purchases, things have been good. There were a couple of hiccups but it was resolved efficiently… up until my most recent purchase.

On 4 May 2014, I saw something that I thought I’d try and bought the deal. It was RM68 for a meal for 2 at a Korean restaurant. Bought it, redeemed it. No issues. Good food.

On 12 May 2014 at about 5pm, as I was checking my bank account online, I noticed that there was another charge of RM68 from Groupon dated 12 May 2014. I checked my Groupon account online and there were no vouchers for 12 May 2014. I checked my e-mails… no correspondence for any deals from Groupons. I tried calling the support line but it was down due to some maintenance and would not be up till 14 May 2014.

The next morning, 13 May 2014, I sent them an e-mail articulating my situation attached with a screenshot of my account with the charge of RM68. After I clicked the SEND button, I remembered that I had the big-shot’s e-mail address and forwarded a copy to him. 

I then went off to the bank to cancel my card to be safe and applied a new one. Naturally, I was charged RM12 for the replacement card. Then I had to spend hours updating my accounts with the new card info… iTunes, phone, data, ASTRO, insurance, etc. Real humbug…

The next day… nothing in my Inbox. I call the general line and informed of my situation. The lady (dunno where I wrote her name, sigh…) said it could be a duplicate charge but she couldn’t confirm it as they had to check and Groupon will get back to me. I told her it was important as it would decide whether I needed to make a police report or not.

Later the same day, I received an e-mail from Groupon informing me that they had escalated the issue to iPay88 to investigate. 13 minutes later I get another e-mail requesting that I forward my statement to proceed with the investigation. 5 minutes later, I forward my earlier e-mail to her. 

19 May 2014. Still no correspondence from Groupon. I drop an e-mail requesting for an update.

26 May 2014… I check my account. There is a credit of RM68 from Groupon but still no correspondence from Groupon. No sorry. No reason. Zip. Nothing.

I write them another e-mail stating that I had received the refund but I still wanted an explanation and I copy the big-shot.

As of now… still nothing from them…

It’s really sad how this disease seems to infect every single organisation when they start to do well. Some wake up and recover… others don’t…

All I want is an apology and an explanation that’s all… wait… no… in fact, I think that they should also reimburse me my RM12 for my replacement debit card. I feel this is reasonable…

Sigh… really sad as I felt they were doing a good job... up until now.

Mulut Masin...

I am said to have a 'mulut masin'... literally means salty mouth... we Malaysians use this phrase to describe someone who utters something and it then becomes a reality. Ironically, I take my food salty too. : )

Well, I received a call today... pretty disturbing but that's life... probably a result of my 'mulut masin'...

More of this when the time is right.

Burgers

I love burgers... if you didn't already know. Especially a good wholesome fresh and juicy burger. Yummy...

Sadly, there are only 2 places in the whole of Dungun where you can get such a burger... at Hola West or at Tanjong Jara Resort.  If there is another place, I have not heard of it yet. Hola West has not opened for quite a while. Apparently it is operated by one of the lecturers at UITM who uses students to operate the cafe. I think due to the new intake it will not be opened for a while... and Tanjong Jara Resort will not be opened till mid January.

So, if I want a decent burger I will have to make my own... and that's just what I did.

You start off with the beef... obviously. I bought some beef from Mesra Mall. Imported Australian beef costs RM25.99 a kilo. Local beef at the market costs RM26.00 a kilo.  I prefer Australian beef for burgers as the local beef has a stronger gamey flavour. Local beef is okay for curries, stews and braises.

There are many recipes for burgers. I like my burger simple. I just season with garlic salt, pepper, paprika and tabasco.  How much seasoning do you put? For me, I season the meat before I mince it. I season each piece of beef as though I was going to pan fry it. This way it is less likely to put too much seasoning. Pop it into the food processor and pulse it for a short while. It's also important not to mince the beef too fine or it will end up being dry. After mincing, I let it rest for about 15 minutes. 

The second important part to a good burger is obviously the condiments. Here I used caramelised onions and tomatoes. What I would have liked to add would be lettuce, gerkhins and some mustard. Next time lah... the onions and tomatoes will do as these are essential to me.

I cooked my burger for 2 minutes on each side on medium heat and it was medium. My wife's burger on the left without cheese and mine on the right with cheese. I finished mine in 2 minutes. Yummy...

I will have to find bigger buns as these were the standard Ramly burger buns which are a bit too small for my 200gm beef patty.

Definitely cheaper than a Big Mac or a Whopper and yummier too... more burgers on the way. :)