When women’s clothing retailer Coldwater Creek filed for chapter 11 protection in April, the company went out of its way to tell a bankruptcy judge that it planned to continue honoring gift cards and other customer service programs for the purpose of “preserving goodwill and maximizing revenue during the liquidation process,” the Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday. One customer promotion, however, didn’t make the cut — tens of thousands of Groupon deals offering Coldwater Creek shoppers $50 worth of merchandise for $25. In a court filing made on June 18, Groupon — the Chicago-based purveyor of deals on everything from restaurant meals to sky diving adventures — says that Coldwater Creek customers still held $2.8 million in unredeemed vouchers when the retailer went into bankruptcy. Unlike other promotions, the Groupon certificates were no longer accepted after the company’s bankruptcy filing, an attorney for Coldwater Creek confirmed Friday. Since the stores began rejecting the deals, Groupon has issued about $1.29 million in refunds to Coldwater Creek customers, according to its recent filing, and “that amount will continue to increase.”
