[alanstorm]

It doesn't seem like Posie's is "blaming" groupon, the owner owns up to their mistakes

From http://posiescafe.com/wp/?p=316#

"the single worst decision I have ever made as a business owner"

"we cannot afford to lose any more money on this terrible decision I made"

Jessie owns up to being the one at fault here.

Beyond that though, what does it say about online marketing, and our industry in general, that high pressure sales tactics are leading small business owners into bad decisions like this?

An industry based on caveat emptor, a lack of trust between actors, zero sum games, and the love of a quick buck over all else leads to an ugly future.

[codexon]

An industry based on caveat emptor, a lack of trust between actors, zero sum games, and the love of a quick buck over all else leads to an ugly future.

That's how capitalism has worked for hundreds of years. It was only relatively recently that western nations have slowly shifted away from this model with the publication of Upton Sinclair's The Jungle, and the Sherman Anti-Trust act in the early 1900's.

Of course you still have libertarian thinkers paid for by Koch Industries who preach that two greedy people will always cancel each other out, and benefit the market.