A woman named Samara Leilani, who posts on TikTok under the handle @samaraleilani, says she booked a “mystery getaway” through Groupon and documented the entire process in a series of videos. What started as an excited booking video turned into a dispute over undisclosed terms and a customer service call that ended with the travel agent hanging up.
Leilani’s video about the dispute has been viewed 1.1 million times on TikTok and received more than 72,600 likes. In the video, she and a companion argue with a representative from Weekender Breaks, a company she identifies as being affiliated with Viva Holidays Ltd, which she says is a member of Hays Travel.
Leilani tagged Groupon, “Mystery Vacations,” and Hays Travel in her caption, writing that she was “sharing this & all related videos for consumer awareness in purchasing the Groupon mystery getaway.”
The booking started with a lottery for both destination and departure airport
In a video posted on TikTok August 4, 2026, Leilani showed the booking process on Groupon’s website. She explained that customers choose between “Mystery Deal Gate A,” “Gate B,” and “Gate C” tickets, priced at $200, $250, and $300 per person. She and her companion selected two Gate B tickets for $250 each.
@samaraleilani LETS BOOK THE GROUPON MYSTERY GETAWAY!!! I am SO excited to be doing this, I wanted to make a video showing the booking process (which is super easy) in case anyone has gotten confused trying to book. HERES WHAT WE PICKED: x2 Gate B tickets ($250 each, $500 total) Airport 1: LAX Airport 2: Bay Area (SFO, OAK, San Jose) Airport 3: SAN Departure date 1: 10/17/26 Departure date 2: 10/20/26 Stay tuned to see where we end up!! I’ll post the results as soon as we get them! #groupon #mysterygetaway #mysteryvacation #travelonabudget
♬ original sound – Samara Leilani
During booking, customers also rank their preferred departure airports and select date ranges. Leilani chose Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) as her first choice, the Bay Area airports (SFO, Oakland, or San Jose) as her second, and San Diego as her third. She picked departure dates around October 17 and October 20, 2026.
Leilani said that after submitting the form, customers wait 72 hours to learn their destination, and a travel agent then calls to help plan the trip. In the video, she and her companion discussed possible destinations, including Hawaii, New York, and the Bahamas.
In the video showing the dispute, Leilani said she and her companion spent 45 minutes on a call with a company representative before being transferred to another agent identified as Dave. During that first call, Leilani said the representative offered several destination options, including Austin, Texas.
@samaraleilani @Groupon @Mystery Vacations @Hays Travel Any comment? (Sharing this & all related videos for consumer awareness in purchasing the Groupon mystery getaway. All opinions & conclusions are my own based on my personal experience) #groupon #mysteryvacation #awarenessvideo #scam
♬ original sound – Samara Leilani
When speaking with Dave, Leilani said the options had changed. “So why did that information and the options change?” she asked him. Dave responded, “Uh, if you’re not happy what is being offered to you, you can simply contact Groupon for the refund.”
Leilani argued that the departure airport itself functioned as a separate, undisclosed lottery, in addition to the destination lottery. “The departure airport that all of the lottery relies on, other than the tiers, is a lottery within itself,” she told Dave. When she said this lack of disclosure could be a legal issue, Dave asked, “How come it is misleading information?” Leilani replied, “Because it’s not disclosed. It’s a lottery.”
Dave told her he only had one departure option available from LAX and denied that customers were misled. When Leilani asked to be transferred back to the first representative, Dave declined, saying, “Absolutely not, ma’am.”
The exchange grew more direct when Leilani confronted Dave about the changed options. “Do you understand why that is literally a scam and you are scamming us because you are revoking the options that the last representative gave us?” she asked. Dave replied, “Absolutely not. I have only Denver available, ma’am.”
Leilani said Dave had denied being able to offer Austin, Texas, even though she said it had been mentioned earlier in the call. Toward the end of the video, she said she planned to report the company to U.S. authorities regarding its business practices.
In a follow-up video she posted on TikTok, Leilani said she called the company again to request a refund. A representative asked for her name and email, then told her that any refund would need to be approved through Groupon, since that is where the purchase was made. Leilani noted this made sense, since she had booked through Groupon originally.
In that same video, Leilani announced she would try to book a comparable trip on her own, using the same conditions Groupon advertised: a stay of the same length, at a three-star hotel or better, for a lower total price. She said she planned to share her research publicly. “I just want to share the information I can gather to make your life easier,” she said, adding that she would document the process as a series.
@samaraleilani After being scammed & hung up on for asking questions regarding consumer transparency for the Groupon mystery getaway, I am going to make it my mission to figure out how to book a trip for this price & share it with you all. I have a ton of research to do, but I most definitely have the time of day. Stay tuned. (Sharing this & all related videos for consumer transparency in purchasing the Groupon mystery getaway. All opinions & conclusions are my own based on my personal experience.) @Groupon @Mystery Vacations @Hays Travel #groupon #mysteryvacation #awarenessvideo #scam
♬ original sound – Samara Leilani
Several TikTok users responded to Leilani’s videos with their own experiences. One commenter wrote, “at least they offered you a refund. They would not give it to me. Groupon will not give you a refund.” Another wrote, “I got scammed by Groupon and only got a refund after I wrote a complaint on the better business bureau website with my email receipts of them scamming me.”
Other viewers focused on the airport disclosure issue Leilani raised. One commenter wrote, “A lottery for the destination is fine, that’s what was sold. A lottery for the departure airport is the problem.” Another simply wrote, “Report to the BBB for sure.”
