Major online coupon business facing bankruptcy

A major player in Canada's online coupon business is facing bankruptcy. The company that owns the websites Dealfind and TeamBuy has filed for bankruptcy protection. That means thousands of businesses could lose millions and consumers could be stuck with worthless coupons.

TeamBuy, Dealfind and MenuPalace are all owned by Couch Commerce Inc. The exact amount of money owed to creditors is not known, but documents filed with bankruptcy trustee MNP Ltd. show that Dealfind alone owes close to $11 million to more than 1,700 businesses.

Across the country, many businesses are concerned they may never be paid.

“Our coupon went went online in early June and we haven't been paid a dime since it started,” said Mike Duenny of St. James Lanes.

“Do we honour them do we not honour them? You don’t want to irritate our customers, but we don't want to be out of pocket for all the money. Our staff still need to get paid," said Bernice Later of Holiday Mountain.

The future of the websites may become clearer later this week. The company could be purchased by nCrowd, an American daily deals site.  But exactly what they will mean for Canadian business and consumers is still not clear.