George Andrews Wrote:
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> So if customers buy their tickets at Groupon, and
> the trains don't run, will Groupon refund their
> money ???


No refunds from GROUPON, but if MT. HOOD RR goes under, they will generally let you apply purchaser price paid to other GROUPON offers.


This is a pure marketing smoke & mirrors. First, GROUPON takes 50% of price PAID, so let's say a ticket has a suggested retail face value price of $60. It sells on Groupon for $40, and Mt. Hood RR gets $20, GROUPON gets $20.

So Mt. Hood would be operating at 66% off face value. This is not all bad, as GROUPON offers advertising, sales, payment processing etc. These are all things that Mt. Hood might not have right now. Further if IPH has destroyed Mt.Hood RR's credit to the point that everything is COD from venders, guess what? GROUPON does not require any payments or cash!

GROUPON would argue that they will provide an immediate cash infusion and bring new customers to you, so rather than them charging a commission, it is more of a marketing fee. And that is somewhat true.

Often, only about 50-60% of Groupon certificates get redeemed, thus leading to some "free revenue" that no service has to be provided for. Also, if they are selling certificates that are good from DATE __/__/20 till__/__/20 but that buyer needs to call in to make a booking, there is no guarantee of availability of seats before certificate offer expires.


With GROUPON being a 3rd party, it isolates MT.Hood RR from complaints & liabilities and allows them to pass or put blame back on GROUPON.

In short, Mt.Hood RR stands to get a check for no upfront expenses for them for promising future runs. When you call in to book a trip don't be surprised if many trips are "sold-out" or "full", without a single person on them. Many of the shown trips may have never been intended to be ran.

The sooner Mt. Hood RR gets its feet back under it the better for the local economy. It's a capital intensive business that sounds like it has had is rolling stock, ROW, credit, and community goodwill extracted from it or destroyed/lost under IPH ownership.