yikes...I just loaded up with gift certificates after their latest 80% off sale. I can't pass up a $25 gift certificate for $2!

The whole point of restaurant.com gift certificates is to introduce people to their restaurant, so how about giving us the name of the restaurant?

Let me understand. You presented the certificate at the beginning of the meal. They accepted it, let you sit through the entire meal and only informed you afterwards that they wouldn't accept it? What response have you gotten from restaurant.com?

And next time, you may be better off getting the card from the restaurant, if possible. It would seem like it's harder for them to reject it that way. Sucks all the same, though, and doesn't help you now.

@lalaland13: The point of restaurant.com is that you are saving money on the gift certificate...i.e. getting a $25 gift certificate for $10, or even less. Most of the restaurants don't offer this deal in person.

Sucks... I have six yet-unused coupons from Restaurant.com. I guess I'll have to make extra sure that the restaurants will accept them before spending any money there.

I think we need to stop treating restaurant.com as a legitimate site. Let's not forget this story:
[consumerist.com]

I never understood this site.

How can they constantly sell $25 gift certificates for $3?

Can someone explain?

I had thought there was a note on the certificate that you show it before the ordering.

@SportsCentre: If you looked at that page you would have seen this:

Note: this post is about restaurant.com, not restaurants.com. The two websites are not related.

Hmmm...

There's a local restaurant I went to the other night with a sign up, "Sorry, we do not take restaurant.com gift certificates." I wonder if it is the same thing (or the same restaurant)?

Yes, this is EXACTLY why I avoid restuarant.com. I have read several similar stories where the site either seems to not have the restuarant's permission or is issuing more certificates than was agreed.

Sadly, instead of smiling at the customer, taking the certificates and then dealing with restuarant.com (even legally) most placed turn the customer down when they try and pay with thse certificates. That is the fastest way to drag a customer into a business dispute you have no right to and then making sure they never dine at your place again!

Please use caution with restuarant.com, too many horror stories.

@GenXCub: I just pulled up one on my account, and there wasn't any note saying such a thing. I've always had my certificates accepted, I just present them as part of payment just like any other gift certificate.

ive used quite a few certificates and im pretty sure all of them state that the patron must present the cert before they order. had he followed directions, this could have been avoided.

You are supposed to call ahead and check before you even go. Also, you should be letting them know loud and clear before you order anything or even sit down that you have the coupon (it's a coupon, not a gift certificate).

@SportsCentre: IIRC, even legitimate sites like Buy.com had (or may still have) similar reward services after you check out.

You should ALWAYS check with the waitress about your coupons, ANY coupons, before ordering. Many restaurants have a sign to this effect.

@GenXCub: That's a good rule of thumb for any gift certificate/coupon. That way you don't get any nasty surprises such as this one.

@tbone13: They don't all say that. It depends on the restaurant.

@twophrasebark:

It's not a gift certificate, it's a coupon. You get X amount off the bill if you pay Y total, plus you have to pay %Z tip off the total (pre-discounted) bill.
A real gift certificate would not put any pre-determined minimum amount. They would allow you to pay tip from the gift certificate.
Glorified coupon. I'm not saying it's a bad deal because for some restaurants its a really amazing deal, including several really great places here in San Diego. Don't let anyone tell you these are gift certs though.

Going to a restaurant on an off night in which it's probably less busy sounds good, but I think I'd rather go out to eat once or twice a month, pay more for the outing, than have to eat out on a Monday or Tuesday night and deal with this kind of crap.

That said, aren't there dangers of the unsanitary kind if the waitstaff know that you're going to lose them about $15 or $20? I'd hate for some unruly cook to decide he wants to hawk a loogie in my salad just because he didn't think he was going to get a tip as good.

@trujunglist: Calling ahead and checking is something that for sure will be done from now on - but I'd rather not show them the coupon when I first get there (unless it's stated as a requirement on the coupon). I feel like a number of servers, upon seeing the coupon, will assume I will stiff them and base the tip on the discounted price (which I never do) and give lesser service. Then, if they give lesser service and I give them a lesser tip, it only serves to prove their theory right. It's a careful system of checks and balances, in my head. :)

That said, I've used a number of these without any problem until now.

@trujunglist:

BTW, the reason they can do it is because most of the places are new, need business badly, and are very small mom & top types of places. The only chain I've seen on there is Tony Romas. They are usually hole-in-the-walls that put those restrictions on you and probably still make money from it, even if they do give you $25 off. Like I said, there are some very nice places that I've been to before seeing them on restaurant.com. The nicer places usually have the better "rules" too, because they can probably afford it...

The one time I ordered from Restaurant.com they overcharged me, never responded to any of my emails, and put me through voicemail hell. I had to involve the BBB and my bank to get my money refunded. Their final email explanation was that their servers were so overloaded that they couldn't process the coupon code I had given them. Being a software engineer, I found that response to be utter bullshit, especially after digging up their order review and "thank you" pages that showed the correct price. I swore I'd never buy them again... which is a shame, because we found a semi-local pizza place that we'd visit twice a month with the coupons, plus a nearby Thai place accepted them.

@pecan 3.14159265: As long as the diner tips on the pre-coupon amount (and many of the Restaurant.com deals state that a gratuity will be added based on the pre-coupon total) everyone's going to get paid the same as they normally would.

@fantomesq: there's no indication from the post that Adam showed them the coupon upfront. I'm sure that would have been mentioned as it would have shifted some of the responsibility onto the restaurant.

@Kevin Vesga: You are right, Kevin, except that in this case, Chris Walters is the one who is confused. He put restaurants.com (plural) in the headline, but the link in the article clearly is to restaurant.com (singular).

So despite getting it right the first time, there was a mistake (or typo) this time.

@pecan 3.14159265: Surely patrons base their tips on the total bill - not bill less coupons? Maybe not if they are cheap enough to take their date out on a coupon.

@pecan 3.14159265: Why? You're tipping on the *original* amount, not the discounted amount, right? RIGHT?

All of the certificates we ordered clearly stated to present it before ordering. We had one restaurant inform us they had dropped out of the program. It was then our choice to stay or go. We returned the certificate and got credit for another restaurant.

@SunnyLea:

It's been about a year since I used one, I had thought there was a laundry list of rules on them, I just don't recall what they were.

@SportsCentre: Let's never forget that some woman couldn't read and signed up for something she did not want by affirmatively clicking YES?

@Nathan Oliver: Typo. Fixed. Thanks.

@twophrasebark: Advertising budget.

People know restaurant.com, people go there looking for discounts and restaurants provide the discounts to encourage people to try their restaurant.

I have used half a dozen or so of these coupons. I have gone back to 5 of the restaurants, and the sixth closed.

Restaurants also often give gift certificates to radio stations for advertising purposes, radio stations will sell the gift certificate and give the restaurant advertising time.

@fantomesq: There's is no mention of even asking the server if they take the coupon. Folks, you need to ask ahead before you order.

It's not clear from the letter but I hope OP didn't sit, order and eat before showing his coupon.

The site has got too successful for its own good. A couple of years ago, there were a ton of restaurants around me that had coupons for sale on Restaurant.com. I suspect the local business were losing money, so they pulled their business. :(

I've used a couple of their coupons without incident. I bet its like those Entertainment coupon books you can buy. Restaurant either agrees to go in, or pays to be put in. In turn the coupon vendor sells the coupons and the restaurant gets new business, hopefully more than once. I would never pay the $10 for $25 that is regular price, but even with the risk of a few being denied once in awhile $2 for $25 is a pretty good deal for me.

The one (and ONLY) time I ordered from restaurant.com the same thing happened. The restaurant said they had never agreed to be listed as a participating restaurant on the site (despite constant harassment from a salesperson). I couldn't get restaurant.com to respond to emails/phone calls. This was ages ago and I can't remember what happened, but I probably disputed the charge with my cc company.

In terms of all the people saying you should call ahead, um, OK, sure, that will protect you a bit, but why should the burden be on you to call a restaurant to make sure restaurant.com isn't essentially lying?

It actually says on the website that you must present the coupon/gc before ordering. It's good practice in general to do this just in case something goes awry.

Sure its hit or miss sometimes if the restaurant decides to not honor the coupons, but its undeniably a good deal when it does. I call ahead every time I go to a restaurant I have never been to, so I don't drive all the out there and it turns out to be having a birthday party or whatever. When I call, I also ask if they are still accepting restaurant.com coupons.

The first time I tried to use one, one... the restaurant wasn't open for lunch, and two in the window they had a notice saying they wouldn't accept it. So I never went to that restaurant and restaurant.com let me exchange the coupon for another one. Now I call ahead and haven't had a bad experience since.

@defectiveburger: I did the same- $200 worth of certs. for $16.

@GenXCub: There are. Most of them related to minimums amounts, dates they are accepted (usually Sun to Thurs), alcohol may not be included, can't combine, can't do separate checks, etc. Even if its not listed that you should check first, you should check first.

@PLATTWORX: I agree. If I were the restaurant, I would mention to them that the cert. is no good, but that we'll give you the discount anyway (see how nice we are). Now, you can't let people do that repeatedly, but turning down the customer (even if they have the right to), doesn't bode well for repeat dines.

@youbastid: That's the issue I have. You're signaling to them that you're cheap (which may or not be true). Of course, if it's between getting the discount or having some servers judge me, I'll take the discount.

@defectiveburger: Stories like this would be the reason why I've never bought them, they sound too good to be true and therefore probably are a scam.

@GTI2.0: You'd be surprised how often people tip based on the net total, not total before discounts. It's obviously bad enough that the certs. often state that explicitly.

Thanks for the explanations!

@pecan 3.14159265: I think Mr. Pink has this one covered.

@morganlh85: Maybe not, but most restaurants will take their own gift cards. Look, I like a good deal as much as anybody else, but there's more room for error here. Although it's still stupid of the restaurant to do that.

@lalaland13: OK, now I see that the "gift certificate" has been crossed out, and they are actually coupons. Still seems like a long of ways for it to go wrong, but sorry for my error.