Restaurant.com

My mother gave me $125 "worth" of these "gift certificates" as a Christmas gift. It's the WORST gift I have EVER receive in my entire life. My poor mother was duped into thinking that these are "same as cash" like what a normal gift certificate should be. These are NOT gift certificates! First, hardly any places accept these things, and if they do, you probably don't want to be eating there! If you are lucky enough to find a place to use one of these sinister things, you have to jump through hoops to use it. I spent one and a half days trying to use it the first time. Extremely frustrating. Log in credentials didn't work, no customer service, etc... When you are finally able to log in, you have to go to the site from your house (not very convenient if you're out in town!), 'convert' a gift card number into a redeemable coupon at a particular restaurant, get a confirmation, then print off the piece of paper for that particular restaurant, then go to the restaurant - which are all out of the way restaurants anyway! It's not like you can use this for a dinner and a movie. You have to plan your entire night around using one of these stupid things. I only used one of the $25 cards and threw the rest in the garbage. I went to a horrible, overpriced and empty Japanese restaurant, they had a minimum purchase of $50 required in order to use a $25 card - and $25 is the max you can use at one time. Therefore, my total was about $60 plus a $15 tip for a grand total of $75... I got $25 off and had to pay $50 out of my own pocket. Not exactly saving money in my book. I was still very hungry when I left the restaurant. These would make a great stocking stuffer if you want to play a mean joke on somebody.

This seems a legitimate business BUT buyer beware.
Pros:
1) I had some extra airline points I was going to lose so I used them to buy $100.00 worth of restaurant.com certificates.

Cons:
1) All the restaurants I saw listed had a minimum consumption so in my case, I bought a $25.00 certificate in ‘La Cigale' but I will be required to spend $37.50. Depending on the restaurant this may end up making you spend more money than you wanted (or eating more than you should). Furthermore, if you choose to then obtain a $50.00 coupon (rather than $25.00) the minimum consumption then jumps to say $70.00. I find this annoying.
A. In some cases the cost and time of printing the certificate was more expensive than the discount received.
2) Read the fine print as there is limitations on how many certificates you can use in one sitting and how many times you can use a coupon in a restaurant per MONTH.
3) There is a tad of bait and switch going on. Once you create the account you no longer have the same options. I explain. If you do not have an account you may find a supper deal to purchase a ‘$25.00 La Cigale' restaurant certificate for $4.00. But once you are a member (so Far) all those cool deals stop. So in a way it is better to go in as a new customer, purchase several deals and then never use the account again unless there is a special that includes you.
4) I found a very limiting list of restaurant. If you live in bigger cities like Miami or West Palm then you have much more options. Most of the restaurants were either very High END or not very healthy (heavy on the carbs).
5) Personally I found the website to be frustrating and confusing to use but you may have a different experience.
6) I tried to call customer support but was never connected. Email to customer support seems to be a better approach unless you like to be placed on wait for a long time.
7) They have an FAQ section but it was not written in a way that I could clearly get my answers or steps needed.

So in all there are some benefits from the opportunity but just be aware of some of the limitations. To trade dead end airlines points it is an option (you are not loosing money) but i believe you get more out of it if you make the purchase directly.

I got a deal via google offers for $100 of credit at restaurant.com and the deal listed tons of chain restaurants that are in my area, so i went ahead and bought it. When you go to redeem the code, you are presented with a much smaller list of places that you can use the offer on. There's only 1 in my town, despite having a lot of the standard chain restaurants. Strike 1 on the scam-o-meter. Ok i thought - maybe i just didn't read carefully enough. I'll just buy a huge certificate to this one restaurant and my friends can pay me cash when we go there. Nope. You have to use your restaurant.com credit to buy multiple $10 gift certificates to specific restaurants. The most you can buy at once is 4. Alright... that's annoying, but fine. I'll buy 4 and then buy 4 more and then buy 2. I buy 4 and there's a disclaimer you have to click to complete the purchase: Minimum purchase, $15. No problem there. Click ok. Then i actually get the certificate and printed on each $10 cert is this further restriction: Only 1 certificate may be redeemed per party per month per restaurant, even if the party is seated at separate tables and/or receives more than one check. WHAT. THE. $#*!? Now i see why you can only purchase certs in $10 denominations. Ok, at least the certs have no expiration date so i guess i can go here once a month for almost a whole goddamn year. I've heard horror stories of restaurants being put out of business by groupon deals, so I understand this restriction - it just needs to be spelled out very clearly before the purchase, not after checkout. Strike 2 on the scam-o-meter. Ok, well i have the credit now - caveat emptor, etc. Might as well get it over with. I go back to buy more certs. Credit balance: $0. WHAT! THE! $#*!?! Open customer service complaint. 5 days go by with no response. I'm about to write it off completely when they give me a certificate for the missing credit. I redeem it (still a $#*!ty deal - no new restaurants), but no problem. Buy 4 more $#*!ty certs. Go to buy 2 more: credit balance: $0. $#*! you restaurant.com. $#*! you. Strike 3 on the scam-o-meter. $#*!ty deal. $#*!ty website. $#*!ty customer service. Avoid this place like the plague.

Recently restaurant.com sent out an offer for $100 restaurant egift card and 2 free movie tickets through www.emoviecashreward.com

1st - trying to get the egift card was an exercise in frustration, though apparently the card is in my account now, so given the number of restaurants that refuse to use restaurant.com, I can only hope I can use it.

2nd - after redeeming the emoviecashreward.com codes, and printing the tickets, the tickets were denied by the (valid AMC) theater.

I was really interested in the free tickets, and any food offer was a bonus... restaurant.com has continued to basically say since the movie ticket codes were 'redeeemed' there is nothing more they can do.

My claim to them is that their business partner denied "payment" on the printed tickets... the theater was willing to accept them, but the system showed they were "denied".

So how is that my problem now? It's restaurant.com and emoviecashreward.com's problem to resolve.

Bottom line: stay away from restaurant.com. Much more hassle than they're worth.

Even redeeming any egift card etc is a hassle.

And you have no recourse once you've given them your money.

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Followup from the emoviecashreward.com site is that the cashier needed to "type" the code in, and not scan (she did scan then type) and that I had to prepay the difference in the ticket price and the max $12 prior to her trying to validate (she read the instructions and I assume she did try to validate the max $12 that was stated on the paper).

So, who knows? Buyer beware with these sites. I wouldn't recommend using either.

I've read the vast majority of comments regarding Restaurant.com and I wish to take exception with all of the commentators who felt that the discounts provided were inadequate or that they had been swindled. They seem to be incapable of comprehending just exactly what the website provides. They sell EXPOSURE and they sell it for a very nominal fee. Did the restauranteurs benefit from the exposure that the website generated? Evidently, people who would not otherwise have been aware of his restaurant's existence were introduced to it by Restaurant.com. They fulfilled their end of the bargain... no differently than an expensive billboard, an ad in a local newspaper, a radio spot or television commercial. What makes this form of advertisement superior to others is that the proceeds that would have been spent on a media blitz winds up in the pockets of consumers instead of marketeers, publishers and ad agencies. All of the "critics" need to simply recognize that! Ultimately, at the end of the campaign, some of those consumers will never return to the restaurant. Others WILL return if they had a delightful meal and/or felt completely appreciated by the merchant. I have NEVER returned to a restaurant that made me feel inferior for having taken advantage of their promotions, with or without a coupon. I have exchanged numerous certificates as a result of a merchant's indifference or reluctance to accept Restaurant.com's promotions. I had HUNDREDS of dining options, yet I elected to patronize their restaurant... based on their participation with a reputable website that has succeeded in offering value for my hard-earned dollar. The restaurants that overwhelm me with good service and extraordinary food will further benefit from my recommendations to my friends, acquaintances and associates... which is, by far, the most effective advertising a restauranteur could hope for.

Upon reading the existing reviews of Restaurant.com, I felt I had to chime in.

Restaurant.com offers great coupons that get you great discounts at some great restaurants. The single most important thing you need to know is that you need to read the all usage requirements of each coupon ahead of time since they are not all the same. If you do not follow the usage requirements, many restaurants will not accept your coupon but I would say each instance of that is because people are not fully aware of the conditions and usage requirements for the coupon. (Examples of usage requirements include which meal [lunch/dinner], how many entrees required, spending requirements, once a month per restaurant, etc.) Be sure also to mention to your server that you are going to be using a Restaurant.com coupon before you order.

Other thing to know about Restaurant.com coupons is that you should not be paying more than $2-$3 per $25 coupon. There are always sales and coupon codes that allow you to pay those prices. If you sign up for their mailing list they will constantly send you sale notifications (although the frequency of the Restaurant.com email mailings can border on spam so that's something to watch out for).

The times I have used Restaurant.com coupons at restaurants, they have all been excited about them and welcomed the business with open arms. My favorite place to use this coupon is at Strip Steak at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas. One time, we booked 2 tables of 2 since we had 4 people and 2 coupons to use (requirement is $50 spent or 2 entrees ordered per $25 coupon, I forget). Strip Steak allowed us to just have a table for 4 and use 2 coupons together as long as we met the requirements for each coupon. It was awfully nice of them and allowed us to have a great meal for a good deal and enjoy everyone's company.

In summary, READ THE REQUIREMENTS and follow them. NEVER PAY TOO MUCH for the coupons. ENJOY THE SAVINGS.

Maybe, just maybe, if they would reply to an email in a timely manner I'd give them 2 stars. This is just a notch above a scam

Wrote this email to restaurunt.com and it went unanswered of course:
Hi,

So I recently got a 100$ restaurant.com gift card. I was excited when i received it thinking I can use it for places I have never tried before, I was unpleasantly surprised. Your website, is NOT customer friendly or intuitive. It does not blatantly say on the website, and in each restaurant - when the coupon is valid for example I would have to call every restaurant to find out if they accept the cards on the weekends, or holidays etc. Next the reviews aren't easy on the eye or easy to navigate through - why not just put the yelp reviews attached, would go to yelp for each restaurant because it is a trusting source of reviews. And not to mention most of the reviews are bad there are a handful of restaurants that had good ratings from reputable sites like zagat or yelp. Finally, the fact that the minimum purchase in many events HIGHLY exceeds the gift card amount, it makes the site nearly pointless. When you think your getting a gift card your actually getting a coupon, so i should of expected to spend anywhere from 20-100$. After hours on your site trying to find a restaurant with good reviews, it was available to purchase a 10$ gift cared with the minimum purchase being 100$, makes sense. This 100$ may just go to waste.

Some suggestions:

Make the instructions of the purchase, CLEAR, the days it can be used, and if alcohol can be purchased/
Have some quality restaurants involved. If you are passionate that you have a good company, good restaurants should want to get involved.
Make the website more intuitive
Make it clear you can't use 2 gift cards at 1 time in most places, so for example if the minimum purchase is 100$ and there is only 50$ gift cards, DON'T buy two.

Stop making people find out the hard way.

Kind Regards,

Natalie

Complete and total scam! This concept sucks out loud, completely devised to make people feel like they are getting a deal and them making them want to commit suicide while navigating their complicated and set up to be non-user friendly web site. I received a $50.00 "Gift card" as a Christmas present and thought "Wow, how generous" it turns out, it's actually a coupon, because you ALWAYS have to spend out of pocket to use the "gift card" I waited 2 months while the one restaurant within my dining area that I was even remotely interested in going to "refreshed" it's coupons (Due to the fact that that they only allow so many coupons to be redeemed per month-it took me several times on the web-site and then calling the actual restaurant to find out this info), then I woke up at 6am on the first of the month to be sure I would be able to finally redeem my card for a voucher, only to find out out I HAVE TO SPEND $100 DOLLARS TO GET THE $50.00 OFF! WTF? So now to get my "Christmas present" I have to dish out $50 bucks out of pocket? DO NOT EVER buy this for anyone as a present. It is a curse. Now let me go back to banging my head against the wall for wasting my time...

Hi,

We got a free $100 giftcard for resturants.com when we rented 5 tuxs from mens warehouse. The deadline for this promotion was sept 24th. We went the beginning of September to mens warehouse to make sure we got our giftcard. A month later, NO GIFTCARD. The woman at mens warehouse has called your company 4 times. Each time they say the same thing "we will send it". I have no gotten any emails, I checked my email, spam, junk folder as well as my fiancés. WHEN ARE WE GETTING OUR GIFTCARD? We are ready to file with the BBB. We called you again today, to hear it will be sent. My question is, is how long does it take to send an email? You are online when you're over the phone with us, because you pull up our info. This is absolutely ridiculous. We noticed you have horrible reviews too, I wonder why. Please send us what we are owed. We shouldn't have to ask a 5th time. This is truly getting out of hand, and totally not necessary. Don't make promotions you can't keep.

BTW- We got this promo at a bridal show, and later got an email and postcard clarifying it. So this wasn't any online promo we came across, it's legit.