Last time I bought a bunch of these, when I got to the first neighborhood restaurant I tried (which was specifically on the list at the website), they had a big sign on the door saying they don't accept restaurant.com coupons ! I think they had a new owner and he said those "coupons" were killing him. I think it was for $20 off a $25 order (or $25 off $30? I can't remember) and he said he'd give us $10 off and a 15% discount card we could use on any future visits....It was late and I wasn't in the mood for a fight so we actually stayed and took him up on it...I had only paid a few bucks for a bunch of restaurant.com coups at the time, so I wasn't too ticked.
Haven't had a problem at other restaurants...anyway, you might want to call ahead just to verify they accept the coups...
jimbocobb said:Last time I bought a bunch of these, when I got to the first neighborhood restaurant I tried (which was specifically on the list at the website), they had a big sign on the door saying they don't accept restaurant.com coupons ! I think they had a new owner and he said those "coupons" were killing him. I think it was for $20 off a $25 order (or $25 off $30? I can't remember) and he said he'd give us $10 off and a 15% discount card we could use on any future visits....It was late and I wasn't in the mood for a fight so we actually stayed and took him up on it...I had only paid a few bucks for a bunch of restaurant.com coups at the time, so I wasn't too ticked.
Haven't had a problem at other restaurants...anyway, you might want to call ahead just to verify they accept the coups...
If you do encounter a problem like this, if you contact restaurant.com they will refund your purchase or cancel the refused certificate and issue you one for a different restaurant in your area.
I love restaurant.com certificates, but you always have to call before you buy the coupons. It seems that restaurant.com is slow to update their site if a restaurant asks to be removed.
Our town sends a quarterly newsletter that is always advertising all of the restaurants we have and it says something like "go to restaurant.com to view menus of all restaurants in town"...but we only have 2 participating ones. I guess whoever writes the newsletter doesn't understand.
I have bought these before, but have never used them. Can you use more than one coupon per month, or does it stop you when they call for validation?
Also there was a restaurant that said it was sold out for this month and said it cost $0 for the cert, but it let me put it in my cart for $0 and buy it. Do you think it will get rejected?
gidge1019 said:I have bought these before, but have never used them. Can you use more than one coupon per month, or does it stop you when they call for validation?
Also there was a restaurant that said it was sold out for this month and said it cost $0 for the cert, but it let me put it in my cart for $0 and buy it. Do you think it will get rejected?
1. The fine print says once per month for redemption. It's probably up to the restaurant if they will let you bend the rules. If you ask nicely and it's a slow night, they might.
2. IMO,I wouldn't mess with it, the code will get kicked back and you might run into an embarrassing situation when the bill comes.
The restriction is 1 per month per restaurant. You should able to use multiple certificates in 1 month at different restaurants.
gidge1019 said:I have bought these before, but have never used them. Can you use more than one coupon per month, or does it stop you when they call for validation?
Also there was a restaurant that said it was sold out for this month and said it cost $0 for the cert, but it let me put it in my cart for $0 and buy it. Do you think it will get rejected?
Thanks! I've only used restaurant.com a couple of times, but had no problems either time. It's a great way to try out new restaurants for not too much money. I'll be using this coupon this weekend!
Tried to use one last night and when the restaurant called to verify the line were busy repeatedly, when she finally did get through restaurant.com's computer system was down and I couldn't use the certificate. Terrible thing is how far I had to drive.
I live in the deep South. The only restaurant within 25 miles of me that participates is "Hotwings Express"! I hate this place. Thanks anyway OP. Good deal for a lot of people.
Thanks. In for a couple. My friend and I had a couple places where we would use these to get together once a month.
You could tell the staff is annoyed sometimes w/ the discount & mgmt can be unpleasant about it. Once we had to wait 30 mins. for the waiter to find a mgr. to call it in. When we complained they would not do anything for us because we were already getting that discount. But we get a great meal for 2 $15 out of pocket so that makes up for the service.
They also made us hold strictly to the terms - I think once we only ordered $30 worth of food (the martinis didn't count towards the $35). We were certainly willing to place a $5 order to bring our bill down $25 & I have no problem w/ complying w/ the terms of any deal this good.
YES.. and even though only $3 or so.. think of all the $3 that they collect and NEVER are used.... nice game....as most "forget" about these as only $3 or $5 or $10!!! not to mention ALL the places that CLOSEUP before you can even go there!! more $$ in their pockets !!!
gidge1019 said:I have bought these before, but have never used them. Can you use more than one coupon per month, or does it stop you when they call for validation?
Also there was a restaurant that said it was sold out for this month and said it cost $0 for the cert, but it let me put it in my cart for $0 and buy it. Do you think it will get rejected?
QUICKAVE said:YES.. and even though only $3 or so.. think of all the $3 that they collect and NEVER are used.... nice game....as most "forget" about these as only $3 or $5 or $10!!! not to mention ALL the places that CLOSEUP before you can even go there!! more $$ in their pockets !!!
gidge1019 said:I have bought these before, but have never used them. Can you use more than one coupon per month, or does it stop you when they call for validation?
Also there was a restaurant that said it was sold out for this month and said it cost $0 for the cert, but it let me put it in my cart for $0 and buy it. Do you think it will get rejected?
restaurant.com's customer service is really good about that though - We bought several for a trip to Washington D.C. a couple of years ago, and when we got to one of the restaurants, we found that it was closed. Since the cert only cost me about $3, I didn't worry about it. But, without my solicitation, about a month later, I got an email from the site that notified me that a coupon that I had bought had been for a closed restaurant, and they offered me a 100% credit toward another coupon. No questions asked, not even solicited!
Oh, and the $ in their pockets comment, evidently you don't understand how this deal works.
- restaurant pays restaurant.com for the honor of selling their certificates - you pay restaurant.com - the restaurant eats the profit from your meal, assuming you're going to tell a friend or come back and pay full fare (or that you're going to drink yourself under the table and rack up a huge bill anyway.)
So ANY coupon that is purchased, whether you use it or not, is $ in their pockets. If you're really concerned about it, don't buy the coupon, and just go to the restaurant and pay full fare.
QUICKAVE said:YES.. and even though only $3 or so.. think of all the $3 that they collect and NEVER are used.... nice game....as most "forget" about these as only $3 or $5 or $10!!! not to mention ALL the places that CLOSEUP before you can even go there!! more $$ in their pockets !!!
Thanks for the heads up threadcrap! If someone "never" uses the certificate, don't blame restaurant.com. They are always in your account to print out even if you lose the original print out, Rest.com will issue you a certificate to a different restaurant if one goes belly up you are holding or give you your money back.
IMO, these deals are only good if you already eat at the restaurants listed or eat out quite a bit and have good restaurants listed in your area. I had purchased a dozen of these last year and many of those expired before I even used them. They were only a few dollars each so not a big loss, but I did stop buying these in bulk. Just buy two or three at a time as these deals (% off) are quite frequent.
Also, it is not really savings if they get you to spend money you would never spend otherwise (look at the min. spending T&C). I suspect most people will end up doing that. I know I did, which is why I stopped (except one restaurant where I like to go every other month or so anyways)
Disclaimer: By providing links to other sites, FatWallet.com does not guarantee, approve or endorse the information or products available at these sites, nor does a link indicate any association with or endorsement by the linked site to FatWallet.com.