http://www.digitalone.com.sg/news/article/20100/1
Buy a coupon and you get to enjoy major discounts on a range of products.
Now, some of these online coupon companies seem to be falling on hard times.
The latest is Outlet.com.sg, one of the 50 group-buying websites in Singapore.
The site had been heavily advertised and has close to 2,000 followers on Twitter and 30,000 likes on Facebook.
But merchants and customers said that calls to Outlet.com.sg have gone unanswered since last Wednesday.
It usually publicises a daily deal on its website and in an e-mail newsletter, but software engineer Christopher Ang, 32, said the newsletters have stopped coming in since Monday.
"I also went to the redemption office at Boat Quay on Thursday to collect an electric steam mop that I had purchased a coupon for, but the shop was closed," he said.
"All they had was a sign that said that the redemption office would be closed from Aug 2 to 6."
Mr Ang fears he might lose the $60 he has paid for the electric mop, especially since the collection of the item had been postponed twice by the company since June.
A check with the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority (Acra) yesterday revealed that Volotek, the company that runs Outlet.com.sg, is under liquidation.
Although the sign on the redemption office stated that operations would resume yesterday, only agents from the liquidators were present when TNP was there.
Customers such as station manager Muhammad Farrid, 27, had filed reports with the police last week.
"They (the resort) are not obliged to fulfil the bookings for stays from Aug 2 onwards and referred me to contact the website for a refund," said Mr Muhammad.
Some of those affected have banded together online via the Facebook group "Victims of Outlet.com.sg", which was set up on July 31 and now has more than 140 likes.
They plan to lodge a report with the Consumer Association of Singapore (Case) and the police.
A spokesman for the appointed provisional liquidators, Raffles Corporate Consultants, said that they are taking stock of the company's assets and will contact the customers about the delivery of their items as soon as possible.
In Outlet.com.sg's situation, Case has received three filed and unfiled cases up till June.
The association's executive director Seah Seng Choon said: "If consumers suspect foul play in which the vendors collected money but failed to carry out the transactions, a police report should be made.
"Consumers should conduct research to ensure the credibility of the business and find out how the group buying system works before making any purchases."
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