Restaurant.com

My advice is to stay away or take the time to really read the whole terms and conditions *if you find it worth it). Got a certificate as part of a purchase, only to find out that is not redeemable.

I sent the following to Restaurant.com via email three times with NO response what-so-ever from them:

My sister gave me two Restaurant.com cards about a year ago. I finally decided to use them (or try to use them) about 2 months ago. It has been such a huge hassle it is not worth the tiny discounts. I hope my sister did not spend much on these! I have to use them when I am driving and it was ridiculous how difficult it was to get the certificate on my iphone. I had to call you guys twice - the guy at the first restaurant also tried to figure it out and he could not and I am pretty computer savvy! So I never ate there.
So, I decide to try another restaurant - Little Europe. The owner kept telling me that I had to buy $37.00 to get the $5.00 discount. It was actually (I can't remember the exact numbers) $7.50 that I needed to purchase to get the discount. Finally, I convinced her that this was the case and again, had to call you guys to use the iphone app. Not only all this... the owner was rude, the service was horrible and the food sucked!
Do you guys just get people out there to sell to ANY restaurant no matter how crappy they are so you can make a profit and the salesperson can make a commission?
What a waste of time and money these cards are! Can my sister get her money back? I would suggest you respond with a solution unless you want a really bad review on the Internet.

Sent from my iPad

I've been using them for a few years now and have had no issues until recently. It is a good deal, but you have to invest time to your homework as it seems that the restaurant.com website itself is updated on a monthly basis now so they very likely may not have the correct information at the time purchase.

Case in point: I purchased a "certificate" coupon for a brunch place that was a bit out of our way a few hours before we headed out to the restaurant. The restaurant experience was satisfying however, when the bill came, the waitress kindly informed us that they no longer accept the http://restaurant.com "certificate" coupon even though http://restaurant.com continues to sell them. They told us that when they called http://restaurant.com to cancel their agreement, http://restaurant.com simply told them to tell their customers that they can exchange them for another restaurant that is still accepting them as payment.

So the moral of the story is: if you are going to use a restaurant.com "certificate" coupon, make sure you call the restaurant and verify that they are still accepting them before going. Also, I would discourage any one from buying a $25 restaurant.com "certificate" coupon for anything greater than $2. So wait for the sales that come around every several months or so!

Like others have said, this website is misleading in calling these "gift cards" when they're really coupons. But if it's a restaurant you were going to eat at anyway, I can look past that and be alright using it as a coupon. So if you have a $25 "GC" with a minimum purchase of $37.50 at the restaurant, then you only owe $12.50 Plus tax and tip (and your cost for purchasing the "GC"). It's misleading of course but not the end of the world...

What I can't look past is that they're adding restaurants without their knowledge. I have a $25 'gift card' to a specific restaurant, I called the restaurant to make sure they accept it and I was told not only do they NOT accept it, they've never even heard of this website! How can this website be selling GCs/Coupons/whatever for a restaurant that never approved of it?!
I also have a "GC" from this site for a restaurant that closed before I got to use it.
So many reasons this website should not be allowed to continue scamming people out of their money!

There should be a ZERO star option for this terrible website! I can't believe reputable companies are recommending them! DON'T WASTE YOUR TIME OR MONEY! A small pizza place in our area could never get reimbursed for the 'coupons' they honored, so of course they can't honor them any longer. They have a sign posted right at the cash register to let customers know that RESTARAUNT.COM IS A SCAM. Shame on them and everyone who is promoting them.

I've purchased certificates from Restaurant.com for several years. First in San Francisco and now on Central Oregon Coast. I've never been ripped off and I don't think it's a scam.

In my experience, the pros are: Often REALLY great savings (particularly if coupled with a special incentive through a site like RetailMeNot, Ebates, etc.), opportunity tor try places I might not know about/otherwise wouldn't try (and some of them have made me converts to full-price dining) and if I didn't redeem the certificate in the time period, I can apply it to something else so don't lose money (most recent example is a certificate I purchased at the Pork Store in SF several years ago, never used, but was able to apply the price I paid a couple weeks ago to some places in Oregon).

The cons, again in my experience, are: Really need to read the fine print to make sure it will work for you (i. E., minimum spend, food only vs. food/alcohol, lunch vs. dinner vs any time, time period in which multiple certificates can be applied...), limited choices of restaurants in your living/touring area and - like many "discounts" - the waitstaff may treat you like second-class citizens when you pull out the certificate (even before you order) so you feel like an idiot.

Overall, though, I continue to buy on occasion.

My husband and I signed up our small local mom-and-pop restaurant. The persistent sales person told us that we would gain more traffic and they would raise awareness for our restaurant through their marketing efforts. First they posted a high ticket gift certificates which is a death sentence for our single $ business. After a follow-up conversation with the salesmen he reduced the gift certificate purchase amount to $5 and $10. In a very short time a good number of certificates have been purchased of both the high and low denominations. But here's the problem. There wasn't one new customer, it was all existing customers that came with the certificate - purchasing $20 $30, $50 worth of food for half the price. One of our existing customers bought three coupons and plans to come back and use each one to save half off her order. I am sure our customers think we are getting a portion of the original investment they made but we get none of it!
We had our name pulled down from the site immediately and we are no longer honoring any certificates that are presented. No loss for the customer, restaurant.com will allow them to switch it for something else. My husband and I run specials and promos all the time but this type of promo is detrimental to our bottom line. We did not see any benefit only loss.

This weekend we were given a $50 card from BJs as a thank you for becoming new members. I set up an account through the app, put in my promo codes and called the restaurant to make sure they accept this type of payment. Well i had to purchase (2) ($25) certificates for ($10) each. So we already paid ($20) went to the restaurant ordered our food and our check came out to be $91 this was including the tip of ($13) because we used this certificate. We wanted to use our certificate and was told we could only use (1) certificate at the time. So after making a fuss and making a big scene they took the certificates and we paid out of pocket the remaining balance of $41. So in total we spent $60 out of pocket plus $50 certificate. Remember we had to buy the certificate which was a total of
$20 (restaurant.com) + $41 (balance) + $50 (certificate) = $111 total
This was not worth it! This card is bull$#*!! Do not use it! Also if you want to see for yourself make sure you call the restaurants first before going up there. And have money for backup.

BE VERY, VERY CAREFUL IN BUYING FROM THIS SITE. There is a slight possibility it may save you money if you are buying $100 or more in food from a restaurant. But see the minimum purchase bait and switch described below. Chances are that whenever you see a minimum purchase less than $100 in the description of a restaurant, your certificate will be printed with a minimum purchase of $100. Then add 18% tip and that it may not apply to anything but food and you may need a good calculator to see if it is saving you money.

Frequently a restaurant is advertised on its website with one minimum purchase but after you buy the certificate the minimum purchase increases to $100. Example on 10/24/10 Japanese Blossom in Chico CA is advertised with a "Minimum purchase of $35" but the certificate you buy has "Minimum purchase $100"

I have felt ripped off for years and had tried my best to get refunds for lots of money that seemed stolen from me. For example, I'd buy certificates, the place would shut down or deny the certificate use, I'd get humiliated and then stuck paying a much higher price for my meal than expected. I was a college student trying to dine and save my $. Instead restaurant.com would offer me certificates for their site for credit. I'd get stuck and still am over 5 yrs later. They have withheld and REFUSED my REFUND! Even, after I explain business shut down or denies use of your certificates... They keep that fraud move going... and say We do not refund we can credit you more certificates. It's THEFT! I have explained I have dietary restrictions, I am pescatarian, my location- I can't use certificates in Simi Valley, no choices here. In fact, overall there are very few places that want to work with this frauded site. How can I sped their credits they are forcing on me when no merchants want to support them. I am now forced to post on line, collect all law suit info, and fight this Fraud on my own. Now, I am out of school, broke with debt, and I quite often stress about the hundreds of dollars they stole from me. In the past, I'd search to find the website and that was shady. For a longtime I could not even access the account and thought it was a complete scam. The other day, I was surprised to see an email saying I have Lots of unused certificates. No $#*!! I can't use them, it's a SCAM.

I got introduced to Restaurant.com through one of my credit cards. They gave monthly $25 credits for a while. Then for some reason they stopped issuing / associating with the discounted, Restaurant.com. I got $75.00 worth of certificates, to patronize my local eateries. I was looking at getting a few hundred $ worth of wine gift baskets. Then I thought that I would just try out the certificates first.
Out of the four restaurants that my certificates represented... NONE accepted the Restaurant.com "pieces of paper".
One of the restaurants stated that they had not authorized restaurant.com to issue any type of certificates to their business. Another time, a sandwich shop that I have been going to for years came up on Restaurant.com, when I asked about the certificates, the owner said that he had never heard of them.

It's like they go onto yellowpages.com and pull names of restaurants "outta a hat" and issue certificates for them.

NOW, I know why my credit card company stopped promoting them.
Luckily I didn't loose any money, because they were all gifts. Just the extra $$ that I spent at the first restaurant, that I probably wouldn't have eaten at, had I not had the certificate.

Either way... the consumer is the one left footing the "BILL"!

RT
Philly, PA

THE MOST DIFFICULT WEB TO MANUEVER AROUND IN, COULDN'T FULLY DOWNLOAD VOUCHER, TRIED TO CALL THE COMPANY FOR ASSISTANCE, GOT HUNG UP ON (3) TIMES! IN MY AREA THEY MOSTLY OFF THE WALL MEXICAN PLACES, 1 DECENT GREEK RESTAURANT - NEVER EVER AGAIN WOULD I USE/NOR RECOMMEND THIS COMPANY - THEY'RE A JOKE - THEY RIPPED ME OFF! TOOK ME FOR MY $30... TRIED TO CANCEL ON MY CREDIT CARD SINCE I COULD GET NO HELP - NO SUCH LUCK... LESSON LEARNED...

I've been a customer of Restaurant.com for almost 20 years and have learned two things. It's terrible, but it's workable. The key is "Caveat Emptor" = "Buyer Beware". Here's how to make it work for you.

1. Go through their available list of restaurants
2. Sort your choices by size of $$ cost
3. If you have a credit of more than the largest $$ cost, go after the largest first
4. Read CAREFULLY the use limitation (Days, Hours, Max savings $$ on Min purchase $$)
5. Review the posted menu and prices
* if 4 and 5 aren't available, pass by them
6. BEFORE you order a certificate
a. CALL the restaurant to verify their acceptance and terms
b. Buy the largest $$ cost certificate you want
7. Work you way down to a final $5 certificate cost and buy it last

If you're going to give someone else a gift voucher, ask the recipient what restaurant out of the available restaurants they like, then do the above and buy the specific restaurant certificate to give them the.pdf of it so they can use it directly.

Once you get down to $5 credit, that's all you can get. You can't (but they can) combine credits. I have 4 x $100 plus 1 x $50 plus 1 x $15 plus 5 x $5 credit. IF I CAN EVER GET SOMEONE ON THE PHONE (rare), they will combine all the the less than $100 credits into the largest amount possible for this process to start over again.

My wife and I received a $100 restaurant.com gift card as part of a wedding present. The thought of $100 to be used at a plethora of restaurants excited us both. Of course, I found out one evening when my wife and I wanted to enjoy a meal at a good restaurant that: a.) the $100 "gift card" has to be used to purchase "gift certificates" on the website, which are then printed-off. B.) Only a few restaurants in my area even participate. C.) The stipulations on the gift certificates for the restaurants in my area that do participate severely limit the possibility of receiving a good deal (must purchase a certain entree; not usable for purchases below $50; not applicable on weekends; must purchase two entrees...).
I have only used half of my credit ($50) as the experience with that was too frustrating to make it worthwhile to pursue any more "gift certificates." For anyone considering giving restaurant.com "gift cards" to a friend or relative, be aware that it might not be such a great gift after all. Restaurant.com must make tons of money by applying so many limitations to the use of their supposed gift certificates!

I just used my coupon, but it was a bit of a hassle. The waitress didn't add our sodas to the bill so we didn't make the $35 minimum purchase. I had to talk to the manager and ask why non-alcoholic drinks were not included in the minimum price purchase and she fixed it for me. We all had lunch for $10.00 + $6 tip, so that was nice, but it was a bit of a pain. Has anyone else had a restaurant try to exlcude non-alcoholic drinks? DEFINITELY CALL THE RESTAURANT AHEAD OF TIME TO GET THIS STUFF WORKED OUT BEFORE YOU SHOW UP.