There is more and more war between the Order of Doctors and Groupon. After the complaint, presented in recent days against the Italian managers of the famous social shopping site for unfair commercial practice, the defense of those directly concerned has arrived.
Let's retrace the story. In particular, the Order's ire was unleashed by an announcement made by Groupon for a teeth cleaning treatment for only 19 euros, clearly below the standard price.
Groupon's business is now known: for the uninitiated, it is a "social shopping" site that allows users to to obtain goods or services at particularly advantageous prices. The only condition is that many adhere to the offer (in fact, there is always a minimum number of adherents) within the deadline established from time to time.
In reality, the goods or services are not sold directly by Groupon, which limits itself to hosting the commercial offers of its partners, which may also include medical-health facilities.
According to the Order, however, the offer of medical services at bargain prices would constitute an unfair commercial practice, since, at least based on the information leaked so far, consumers would be led to believe that complex medical services could be purchased at lower prices at the cost of production and that national health companies speculate, offering tickets at a higher cost than that proposed on Groupon for similar services.
Groupon, for its part, rejects the accusations, arguing that the media campaign against it lacks any factual basis and the reasons given are merely specious.
Here is the official press release: "Groupon disputes the unjustified and unfounded accusations made by the Medical Association and deplores the media campaign launched against healthcare offers, a campaign that has the sole objective of denigrating our business, threatening the Doctors themselves and finally demeaning the work of all those who work in the our Company, bearer of a revolutionary and innovative business model that allows new openings to the consumer market".
And again, the company under accusation made it clear: “Groupon Italia offers discounted offers, valid only for 24 hours, which allow all citizens to access usually expensive services. Our goal is to meet the needs of consumers who, for economic reasons or long waiting lists, are unable to easily access health services".
Groupon has also announced imminent legal action: the counter-complaint to the Medical Association is already ready.
