Tomi Cao was excited to take over a spa and wellness business in Queensland, but she didn't have much time to enjoy her new gig, quickly realising something was very wrong with an external payments system.
She discovered that Groupon, a major online couponing website, had been sending money meant for her to the previous owner of the business, despite multiple attempts to correct the problem.
Cao took over the An Head Spa & Wellness business in Brisbane at the end of October, and is now turning to regulators for help to get her money from Groupon, as she's yet to be paid for dozens of sessions.
She says it's been a tough journey to try and get her money back, telling SBS News "It's scary to speak up, especially speaking up against such a large multinational corporation like Groupon."
Cao was nervous about sharing her story on social media, but said once she did so people were largely supportive.
She said the previous owner notified Groupon of the change in ownership before the settlement date.
As part of the new business purchase, she inherited several ongoing campaigns on Groupon. Customers would buy discounted deals online, then redeem them in-store. The platform was supposed to deposit payments directly into Cao's merchant account.
Tomi Cao has alleged Groupon has paid weeks worth of payments owed to her spa business to the wrong account. Source: Supplied / An Head Spa & Wellness
"My understanding is that their merchants are getting paid weekly every Wednesday … that's the information [I received] from the previous owner," Cao said.
"When we missed the first payment, I think perhaps it's just to get everything updated. The second week is when I start noticing we still haven't got any payment and the thing is, we were redeeming customers vouchers daily.
"To give you an idea of the volumes … last Saturday, we had 12 vouchers that were paid through coupons."
According to the 31-year-old, she submitted all documentation requested by Groupon, including business transfer forms, ABN details, bank information, contracts, and identification. But after repeated emails, the situation hadn’t changed — and no clear timeline was provided for when it might.
In emails seen by SBS, Cao also let Groupon know that she couldn’t see how many vouchers had been redeemed in the website’s backend.
Cao says Groupon's failure to pay her for sessions has created issues with her business' cashflow. Source: Supplied / An Head Spa and Wellness
"This," Cao writes, "is creating issues for our cash flow ... especially during a busy trading period."
Cao told SBS: "I explicitly asked … I just want to make sure money does not go to the wrong account and they told me more than once, nothing will go to the previous owner’s account."
"And, later on, we found out that wasn't the truth."
Groupon admits in one email that funds had in fact been sent to the previous owner, who now lives overseas.
For Cao's small salon, even a handful of unpaid vouchers has been costly. Immediate cashflow can prove vital for small businesses to stay afloat, and take care of immediate expenses like wages, superannuation, product costs and overhead costs.
Cao said the situation put her in an impossible position: refuse the coupons and frustrate customers, or accept them and take a financial loss.
Customers caught in the middle
She had to make a difficult decision.
Cao told Groupon — and informed her clients on social media — she wouldn’t honour vouchers for new bookings from 20 November, and that she would redirect customers back to the site for a refund.
For Cao's small business, missing payments from Groupon have had a big effect. Source: Supplied / An Head Spa and Wellness
"We are told that we are scamming people. We're told that: 'I'm reporting your business'. We're told that basically: 'I don't want to go back to Groupon for a refund. You fix it'."
Cao also said she had feelings of guilt, knowing she probably wouldn’t be able to go through with the cancellations.
"I just don't have the heart to go out and cancel on everyone because they would have already arranged childcare, they would have arranged leave, time off, and a lot of those were bought for someone as a gift."
"Everyone's already booked … booked well into January 2026."
Escalating the issue
After weeks of unsuccessful negotiations, the owner lodged complaints with the Office of Fair Trading Queensland (OFTQ) and the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) on 26 November.
"I just really need Groupon to be held accountable," Cao said. "Because I know I'm not alone."
But these processes take time. According to OFTQ’s website, it can take 30 days to hear back from the agency, and even longer for more complex cases.
If they’re unable to resolve the case, civil action may be required.
"Reading up online, I know so many other small businesses who are just forced to stay silent … They have no idea how to navigate the legal system," Cao said.
"A lot of these businesses you see on the platforms … many of them are migrant-owned and just have business owners with English as a second language they speak at home."
Groupon’s response
In a written statement to SBS, Groupon said: "We’re sorry for the frustration this situation has caused, this is not the experience we want any partner to have when working with Groupon."
The company said the documentation confirming the ownership change had not been finalised. "Once the change was verified, we escalated the matter immediately and approved payment to the new owner.
"The payment is expected this week. We are in direct contact with both parties; recovering the funds issued to the previous owner and ensuring that customers are fully supported."
Groupon said it recognises "this transition could have been handled more smoothly and apologise for any inconvenience caused."
"Our focus remains on resolving this matter in good faith and supporting the small businesses who rely on our platform."
A waiting game
For now, Cao is still waiting for the payments to hit her bank account.
"We finally received a small payment from Groupon yesterday covering only last week’s redemptions up to Wednesday," she told SBS on Tuesday.
"However, the original amount in [the] dispute, funds that were misdirected to the previous owner, remains outstanding."
She said she hopes her complaint will highlight the vulnerability of small businesses relying on external payment systems.
"It's the holiday [season] where people are booking in," she said.
"I’m supposed to be training staff, hiring new people, push harder on marketing, getting my footing into a completely brand new business I'm trying to build — and I'm not doing any of that. I'm chasing after money that was rightfully owed to us."
Share
