Why we don’t do Groupon

Land & Wave never has, and never will have any involvement with Groupon.

We’ve never sold any of our adventures through any kind of deal/ discount/ voucher re-seller. Ever. 

How Much?

We’ve worked very hard developing and improving our experiences. We employ lots of staff and pay them a fair wage, we value our suppliers and pay market prices, we choose high quality insurance which costs more.

Our Coasteering costs £45 per person for a grown up at the weekend and £25 for young people mid week. We know that coasteering with Land & Wave is twice as expensive as a Groupon coasteering deal with one of our competitors.

The prices we charge are what it costs to run a business and provide a high quality experience in the UK.

Why the Beef?

Throughout the year we get messages and phone calls asking if we can “do a price like Groupon” (we can’t).

During the busiest phase of the year Land & Wave gets phone calls from people that have “signed up for our Groupon deal” (they haven’t).

When we’re waiting at the coast we sometimes get small groups of, slightly lost, folk with crumpled print outs in their hands asking us where the ‘Groupon Coasteering’ can be found (it often can’t be).

We have on occasion taken those abandoned clients coasteering, for free, and then contacted the appropriate company to see if they’ll pay for them (they never have).

Groupon devalues our experience and profession. We can’t work out why some of our competitors put such a low value on their experiences and time.

Today the lowest Groupon price for coasteering in Dorset is £20 per person. We think that Groupon normally take 50% of that price; the coasteering company earns £10 per client .

We offer great value, or free, adventures to people within our community on a regular basis, we run those sessions at a loss because we think it’s a good thing to do or can help us with training less experienced staff, not because we’re desperate to earn another few quid.

Of course every outdoor company needs to choose their own path; it’s not up to us to decide how some of our competitors choose to value their experiences and staff.

We understand that Groupon deals sometimes offer a great chance for people to jump in the sea cheaply. We think it would be brilliant if companies that work with Groupon to offer cheap adventures could provide great customer service and experience.

Land & Wave takes 6 months to train a first year seasonal instructor.

We pay all our first year instructors at least the living wage.

We promote hard working instructors to be Team Leaders or Lead Instructors.

During 2018 Land & Wave will spend £10,000 on new wetsuits | £6000 on new buoyancy aids | £15,000 on insurance.

You might only go coasteering once this year; choose the company that you go with with care.

21 March 2018 by Phoebe Webster