Restaurant.com
reviews and complaints

I had purchased a certificate for a restaurant which stopped participating with restaurant.com, and I was allowed at no charge to change the certificate to my choice of other participating restaurants. Just ask the restaurant beforehand if they're still honoring the certificate, and you won't get stuck paying the extra money.

In December 2009 I purchased 4 gift certificates from Restaurants.com. Two for $25 each off on a $35 meal at Quick Kabob in Westminster, Ca. When we attempted to use one of them, the owner or manager said the minimum price had been raised to $50. I advised them that they were breaking a contract. They did not seem concerned.
I will contact Restaurants.com and ask for a refund for all 4 certificates, and if that does not work, I will ask VISA to reverse the charges.

I have never purchased a coupon but have read through a lot of these complaints and it looks like the restaurants are the ones really getting ripped off here. To put a restaurant on a list without the owners consent or leave them there when they have asked to be taken off is dishonest. Looks like the problem has been exasperated by cheap, stupid people buying these coupons (Geez you want to save 90 pervent and then not tip the servers!?!) -- between those two things no wonder there are a lot of problems -- sounds like too big a pain in the ### for my money and time -- I refuse to make phone calls on my own time because the people I bought the coupons from are dishonest -- count me out

This person obviously did not readtthe terms and conditions. I have used restaurant.com several times, with no problems. It seems that some people think that restaurants should simply give free meals, with no conditions? I think that when you can get a $25 coupon for only $2 (with the 80% off code), then it is more than fair for the restaurant to have a min order of $50 and exclude alcohol. After all, I just got a $23 discount on a $50 meal. In fact, I almost feel bad - like I am getting too good of a deal.

And - for those of you who don't tip their servers on the entire amount - shame on you. You should just stay home and cook/serve yourselves.

I am looking into using this service for the first time and have just discovered that there are radio buttons in the screen where it lists participating restaurants and shows the coupon values each restaurant will accept and under what conditions. The conditions change according to the face value of the coupon, you have to click on the button next to the specific coupon you are interested in to see minimum purchase amount.

I have been using Restaurant.com for discount coupons for almost 3 years and NEVER had a problem! I even had a coupon for a restaurant that went out of business and got a new $25 certificate. I've used them in NY and Florida and as long as you - read and follow the instructions - they work great!

Can you explain why they required you to spend $200 to use the certificate?

Did you show it prior to ordering?

Whats the name of the restaurant? Expose them

I think they sign on for the advertising aspect...but maybe arent ready to honor the discount?

Curious

The problem is that you didn't read the requirements to use the coupon - not that restaurants.com shafted you in any way.

If the restaurant didn't honor it for some reason *outside of the terms of the coupon* then you should contact corporate headquarters of the restaurant.

Sesame house restaurant should be removed from restaurant.com, very poor customer service, didn't want to accept the $25 e gift card and told me my code was invalid

I've bought and used MANY certificates and E Cards from Restaurant.com; and have never have a problem! If I change my mind after I buy the certificate, I just go to the website and exchanged it into an E Card and then use that to buy a different certificate. No problem. Those who gripped about being surprised at the amount they had to spend above the face value of the certificate did NOT take the time to read what they were purchasing. It's Not hidden in small print off in some far away location either! It's right there it front of them-I don't know how you can possibly miss it! It's right there next to the button you click to purchase the certificate! Here's a tip: I also have always Called the restaurant First Before I went there to check and make sure that they were still accepting the certificates. This can avoid a lot of your problems in the first place! I'm 67 years old, and I don't have a cell phone, plus I don't even have a car. What I do have is "Common Sense"! Come on people, quit your multi tasking and take the time to use yours!

I redeemed Coke Reward Points to get a $100 Restaurant.com credit. Before I redeemed my points, I looked at the list of participating restaurants and found one in particular that I wanted to visit. After redeeming my points and getting an access code to Restaurants.com, the restaurant I had chosen doesn't appear in the participating restaurants list anymore! I called the number on the Restaurants.com website only to be told that they are limited as to the number of certificates they can offer per restaurant. I wasn't very happy about this as I had to redeem 1, 000 coke reward points for this $100 credit, but I decided to choose another restaurant. We were going out of town for the weekend - about a 3 hour drive - so I decided to see what was available in that area. I chose a restaurant on the list and redeemed $25 worth of my $100 credit (because it stated you had to spend $35 to use the certificate and we had never been to this restaurant before - therefore, I did not want to redeem the whole $100 credit) I had my husband, son, one of my son's friends and another guest with me and we went to the restaurant. Thank goodness I showed the waitress the certificate BEFORE we ordered! She informed me that they no longer honored the certificates and they had been contacting Restaurant.com since January of 2011 telling them to take them off of their list, but they had not done it yet. I bought the certificate on August 9th, 2011 and tried to use it on August 14th, 2011. It was quite and embarrassing event as it happened in front of my guests. I did call the number on the website again and told them what had happened and they issued an "exchange" credit to my account. I did find a couple of local restaurants on the list and I called them before I redeemed my credits, just to be sure they accept them and to verify if there were any "blackout" times that the certificate could not be used. I'm certainly glad I did not actually spend my money on this website. I would really have preferred to get my coke rewards points refunded to my account than use these certificates. To me it's a type of false advertisement. There is nothing that tells you BEFORE you redeem the coke points that you have to spend a minimum amount of money to use the certificates. Only after you redeem the points and try to choose a restaurant is this information revealed. Lesson learned.

wow thats all i can say i currently use the website all the time. i think you guys just dont know how to read how can a company get info from a rest with out there knowlege are they just gonna grab a hat and pull a rest out. you obivously have no idea what the hell your talking about tho. so keeping on thinking that ill use rdc all the time for you :)

Oh, I forgot to add this: The current website does state somewhere that you have to present the coupon before ordering your meal, so maybe that could have saved you some hassle and expense. Again, this is kind of standard practice, most stores do want you to present the coupon before ringing you up. Sorry it happened to you.

Thank you for the tip about using Pay Pal to avoid spurious charges, I will try that if I decide to purchase. I also agree with your suggestion to call every eating establishment before printing out their coupon to confirm they are still participating and the terms of use. I just called up nine restaurants in my area to check and see whether the terms listed for them on the website matched the restaurants' actual policy. For six out of nine the terms matched exactly, in two more the terms were a match but the website had failed to list some detail, such as not being available to use on a holiday or for the Sunday brunch. One out of the nine restaurants was in the middle of relocating and didn't plan to use the program again once they reopened, so the website information was out-of-date and erroneously showed the restaurant as participating when in fact they were not.

Many of the complaints I'm reading about the service seem to be based on not having fully read or understand the terms, for instance, not realizing that coupons of different face values require different minimum purchases. It took me a while of perusing the website to realize that the restaurant listings have radio buttons next to each coupon value for that business, and the conditions change depending on which button is selected; I can imagine this detail has been overlooked by other people as well.

Your story about the confusion at the restaurant where you went with your fiancé is one of those which gives me greater pause, in that the restaurant for which you printed a coupon apparently hadn't even agreed to participate. I don't know quite to make of this story and I wish I had more information about how such a thing could have happened.

Thank for you typing in the details of your printed coupon. I don't know whether the website has been recently improved in response to complaints or whether I am just more thorough than most people in reviewing the site, but most all of what was on the coupon is already on the website in some form. For what it's worth, "Void to the extent prohibited by law" is standard legalese. It just means that if for some reason in some jurisdiction the use of the coupon would be illegal, then it can't be used. Probably a non-issue.

I have to agree, the terms are very clearly spelled out and I always take the time to think about 1) how much $$ I think I will be spending at the restaurant to determine which level of coupon to buy since EVERY coupon requires a purchase in excess of the coupon value, and each required purchase order is clearly stated, and 2) what meal I plan to eat at the restaurant since some restaurants have add'l limits on usage, like dinner only or not valid for alcohol purchases, etc. Again, though, those stipulations are clearly stated prior to purchase. If you are able to use a discount code, slickdeals.net usually posts one every month, to get an add'l % off the cost of the coupon, like 60, 70 or 80% then you can purchase a restaurant.com coupon for a few bucks. I bought a $25 coupon for $2. I felt that even if I didn't ever end up using it, the cost to purchase is so low it's worth it to just go ahead and buy it. I did end up using it and the overall meal was still expensive, esp since it didn't taste that good, but at least it was $25 less than it would have otherwise been, which is good when you don't know whether the food quality will be good or not.

The terms of the coupons are available before checking out. There is no scam here - you guys just didn't read the terms before buying... EVEN THOUGH YOU HAVE TO CLICK A BOX STATING THAT YOU HAVE READ AND UNDERSTAND THE TERMS PRIOR TO CHECKOUT.

This happened to me too and I should have read scam websites first because I did not find out that I have to spend $150 to use my $75 certificate until after I bought it. I read the frequently asked questions on their site and I found nothing about this, but it was crystal clear after I paid them. This is very deceiving indeed.

I can not get an answer to what should be a simple question. I have posted the same question 3 times. Both thru email and phone, all I get is the run-around. This has given me the suspicion that customer service knows that they are running a scam and I am out money paid.

It it gana be all like that? I have more coupons

Please, need your service for a claim from the restaurant. com This restaurant did not accepted the coupons, because, you stop serving him. That is watt he seed. Send me my $50.00 Thank you!
Patrick Roy [protected]

I've used many restaurant.com gift certs. On a couple of occasions, the restaurant refused to accept the coupon (both timed due to a dispute between the restaurant and restaurant.com). All it took was one email to restaurant.com customer support and they gave me enough credit to purchase another gift cert of equal value.

From reading the comments on this site, it does seem that they do seem to sell a load of goods to the restaurants. But, they do seem to take care of the consumers. Now, whenever I plan to use a restaurant.com gift cert, I call the restaurant BEFORE I leave home to ask if they still accept restaurant.com gift certs. That's alot better than having a very embarrassing situation at the END of a meal.

But, I have noticed that there is clearly resentment in the eyes of the restaurant managers and waiters whenever I pull out my restaurant.com gift cert. It looks like many restaurants sign up for the program and then regret it later only to discover that hundreds of certs have been sold already that must be honored.

you all are f'n idiots

How is it restaurant.com's fault that a particular restaurant won't accept it. It's the RESTAURANT'S fault. Second of all, it's not a coupon - it's a gift certificate.

I completely agree their customer service is horrible I had an issue they told me I needed to take it up w/the restaurant but it was THEIR coupon I bought so it was THEIR problem!

I've used numerous certificates and except for the poor service at the one restaurant I have nothing but good things to say about the site. I read the disclaimers and fully understand before making purchases. Makes no sense why people ### and complain about things THEY should have know from reading. Perfectly good site from a consumers perspective. Will continue to use.

I always wondered about these...can't trust anybody.

@luv2complain... you totally work for Restaurant.com, please shut up now. (See luv2complain's only comments for reference)

That is stated on each restaurant offer...the total bill MUST exceed a certain amount.

It also generally states..."excludes Alcohol, taxes and gratuity"...some also state an 18% gratuity will be added PRIOR to deducting the certificate, that so their servers aren't shorted by the certificates.

There were many certificates I didn't purchase for these, and other reasons

You need to read each individual offer carefully

Hello
Do you read terms and conditions before you check out on any online company? I sure do. If you read the terms that were listed at check out on restaurant.com, as well as under 'terms' at the bottom of their website, and one each individual restaurants' /online partner site within the restaurant.com website, you would have seen that you can only redeem one per order and there would be a minimum order. Also when you click on 'more info' on the online partners tabs they state the minimum..I just checked myself. Seems to me like someone just doesn't like to read before entering a credit card online, which is stupid!

I love restaurant.com. I just bought about 40 certificates and used my printer to print them out.

I have so far used 3 certificates so far.

I always purchase additional items, such as a cocktail, appertizer and coffee & dessert.

I am still saving $25 and have a wonderful full course meal.

The people that are complaining are probably the type of people that the restaurant can do without because all they want to do is spend the $25 and they will never return.

The one time I purchased a coupon for a restaurant that had closed, they cheerfully replaced it with a different restaurant with no question or problem. I have purchased coupons for various area restaurants and had great experiences. You must print the coupons on your own home printer!

the certificates are not mailed to you, you have to print them on your computer. also, about not getting in touch with them by phone, check the no. had no problem calling them at all. some times a rest. will either go out of business or stop participating in the program, i had no problem redeeming a cert. for another rest. GREAT COMPANY...have many more to use !

I have had a same experience with restaurant.com. Two years ago after buying certificates from it and looking at credit card statement a few months later, I noticed a monthly $14.95 charge from Shopping Esstentials which is the result of buying the certificates from restaurant.com. At that time, it was too late to file an complain tp credit card issuer and get money back. I will never do any business with restaurant.com!

thanks for letting me know- I just got taken by the same scam, I plan to contact my cities convention and visitors ctr as well so they can pass along the word to other restaurant owners about these clowns- tell EVERYONE you know in the industry and pass the word along.

I just emailed you a couple of days ago. I sent a link to this
site to a district manager for restaurant.com I am happy to
say that after weeks of struggling to cancel a restaurant contract with restaurant.com I received a telephone call day
cancelling the contract and taking down our restaurant from
their site. I am so happy to be rid of the fraudulent service
that prays upon both the restaurant owners and their customers. Believe me restaurant owners do not want to
participate with such businesses. You are so right they have
never responded to any emails that I have sent or telephone
messages other than transferring me and putting me on hold
on a voice mail.

look ppl if you do read the fine print its all there if someone gets info about a rest obvisouly they have sighned up, they dont pull the inffo out of the sky now do they?

I had the same problem...soo embarrassing! The last one I tried to used was posted as "new"...the clerk told me they no longer have a business relationship...I am scared of using the other ones I bought...

We have been to two restaurants that have refused to honor the Restaurants.Com certificates which we purchased last week (at 80% off), both claiming that neither of them have a relationship/contract with Restaurants.com.
This was not an issue with time of day, total amount of purchase, etc. or other fine print of which I am aware.
This is smelling like a big scam!

READ ALL OF THE FINE PRINT! Yes some have stipulations. ex. spend $35 min excludes alcohol and includes 18% gratuity. They are not fake or a scam to me. I just used one at a local diner. Our bill was $45.00 the cost was $22.00. As with anything real the fine print. Call the restaurant, ask them if it's legit. Common sense people.

The Falcon- are you just a total sexist or a [censor]? Perhaps a bit of both. I don't know what the "hunters" have done to you but it is time to get rid of all those cats in your mobile home; shave your legs and get back to work.

Invariably, the people taken advantage of in these circumstances are always men who are in a hurry and are naive to these "opt-out" boxes to check or uncheck. I know this discussion area doesn't qualify as "scientific", but it is nevertheless interesting that all the men were "ripped off" and the two women respondents easily handled the requirements to avoid being "ripped off". Men are supposed to be the "Hunters", women the "Gatherers" from the beginning of time. This is a perfect example of bad hunters who got caught by the sabre-toothed tiger... Having learned this lesson I have taught my son how to avoid being "scammed", and you guys ought to learn from your mistakes, and pass it on to your male offspring, the girls you produce will be able to figure it out on their own - they are all born with the "shopping gene" which is akin to that "gatherer" business... Learn to hunt...

Glad you had such a good experience, Dave. I spoke with them very politely and worked my way up the pecking order, but they were adamant about only returning one month. Based on my Googling, it is clear that they only have pissed off customers. My credit card company crammed a second refund down their throats, but I am still out 10 payments of 11.95. So, now, I am on a campaign to let the world know that Chase Bank and our legal system allows obvious criminals to sucker the public.

Dave again...

After my last post, I spoke to a representative of Shopping Essentials plus, and she passed me on to a supervisor who confirmed that I will be getting back all of the fees that they took from my account. I just looked in my account, and indeed there has been credits for every one of my payments, which added up to the total fees that I calculated. The whole situation took under a week to resolve.

To the companies credit, (or perhaps to the credit of their customer reps...) the refund process was relatively painless. I spent more time fretting than I did dealing with the company. My instinct was to ready myself for a high blood pressure inducing battle, but I just kept calm and everything went okay.

If you just call Shopping Essentials and be nice and explain that you didn't know you were signing up for SE+, you will hopefully have the same experience I had.

-Dave

Well, I guess I spoke too soon. I just got an email confirming my "membership" cancellation (where by membership I mean they take money out of my account) and they are only refunding one month of fees. I sent an email telling them I want my entire fee history back and will call later this afternoon.

-Dave

I fell for the same thing as the OP, and my girlfriend just discovered the problem after over a year of charges (I'm pretty bad at checking out my bank account info... my own personal failure...)

I just got off the phone with a representative from Shopping Essentials. I didn't have an account number and the system did not recognize my phone number, so I waited for a representative to pick up the line; she took my email address, which apparently pulled my account successfully since she asked me if I was the person whose name was on the account.

I explained my situation in the following way (paraphrased, of course):

"I signed up for restaurants.com last January, and was unwittingly signed up for shopping essentials as well; I have never signed into your web site and was not aware of the charges, and I would like to have my account cancelled and a refund of my payments."

I tried to sound nice as possible, as the person on the phone with me is NOT the person who devised what may be considered a scam; they just want to do their job.

The individual that I spoke with told me that she'd credit my bank account and cancel my shopping essentials account, and gave me her name and a confirmation number.

I REALLY don't know how I signed up for this; I'm the type of person who avoids signing up for anything that might lead to spam, ignores all "special offers, " and I'm very net-savvy and protective of my information. I'm not presuming that my "No, thanks" to the offer was ignored, but I'm just puzzled by the whole situation.

I'll come back here in a few days to let everyone know if this case is closed successfully.

-Dave

11-13-12

MY USES FOR THE COUPONS ARE MOSTLY TO GIVEMY REALESTATE CLIENTS FOR A GREAT MEAL --THEY DO NOT MIND PAYING THE BALANCE !

I HAVEHADNUMEROUS QUESTIONS OVER THE 2 YEARS WITH RESTAURANTS, COM AND ALWAYS -ALWAYS I WAS HELPED TO THE INTH DEGREE AND MMOST RECENTLY BU JERLISA WHITE - SHE SPENT A LOT OF TIME TELLING MWE SHORTCUTS TO THE PROGRAM --I WAS LOST IN THE SIT -FROM NOT USING IT OFTEN ENOUGH FOR MYSELF--NOW I AM FINE AND THEY HAVE ALWAYS BEEN HELPFUL ! JAC DESHA-FLA

Great Customer Service from :
Christina Catalan...Rob Vorhies...William Weimer...

I messed up trying to purchase gift certificates each one of these Customer Service Rep's were all 10's...
when I sent out an email for help they all immediately responded and resolved each of my issues.

It is a wonderful experience to have a knowledgeable rep help you. A+'s to each of them.

On November 2, 2011, I purchased a $25 certificate for $10. When I hit the "print" button, a center message popped up giving a message about the coupon: I must have a $50 minimum purchase. Minimum purchases were not mentioned in their "terms and conditions". The next day, I called [protected], and spoke with an agent named Julie Krumwidee. I explained the above information. After checking with her boss, she credited back the $10.00. She explained that since i just became a member on the day (11/2) I made the purchase, she would give me a one-time courtesy favor of reversing the charge. I remained pleasant the entire time and she mirrored back great customer service. Just remember...if it sounds too good to be true, read the entire fine print. When I revisited restaurant.com and the restaurant site, the minimum purchase was actually stated on the screen: There was a message in red that said something about a promo code, and then right under it in black print, was "on a minimum purchase of $50". I was too much in a hurry to read EVERYTHING!

My friend, Charlie, earned $100 in gift certificates with Restaurant.com. I assisted him in printing out $50 worth of certificates in January 2011. Recently, We attempted to print out the remaining $50 but could not find a current portal for access. Upon sending an email to the website's customer service dept., I received a prompt and helpful reply from William Weimer of Restaurant.com.
We have obtained the remaining gift certifcates and we are thankful to Mr. Weimer for his excellent customer service.

I live in San Rafael, California. I bought the $25 gift certificate for $2.00. I don't own a printer so I emailed Restaurant.com my situation and certificate number.

A week later Bryan in Customer Service emailed me he had mailed my certificate to me from Chicago. It arrived today for a great local restaurant.

I don't think the minimum purchase amount changing is fraud, it's a matter of website design. Apparently a lot of people don't see that the radio buttons to the left of the coupon values (on the list of participating restaurants) are meant to be selected and the conditions listed below will change accordingly. Did you really think you were going to use a coupon for $50 off on a meal of $35, thus getting the meal practically for free? What would be the point, to the restaurant? "Come on in, folks, free food!"

The other two complaints do not divulge sufficient detail. Is there some disagreement about the time frame in which free promo discount coupons can be used? I don't understand the disagreement.

And Mr./Ms. Runyon, in what way were you overcharged?

Sorry, but none of this was very helpful.

these people hide behind the legal agreement when you set up the account. The fraud is that the minimum amount changes as you select the coupon you want.

Then when you get the coupon wow watch out, you will get screwed. An honest vendor would have returned the money if a customer was not satisfied with one week.

SCAM, SCAM, SCAM

Ms. Guitierrez,
I have a copy of the promotion email sent to me, however since you are being very stubborn about making good on your deal and also not willing to give a refund, I will once again ask nicely for either a refund or my free certificate. If you decide on neither I will forward the promotional email to the local BBB and the local fox TV investigator, and have them both contact you for resolution. In case you forgot here is the infor once again!

6/22/2008

get $25 gift certificates for only $4 and save 60%. plus, get a free $10
gift certificate with every order!

robert di liberto

[protected] $10.00 grumpy's cafe
[protected] $10.00 grumpy's cafe
[protected] $10.00 grumpy's cafe
[protected] $10.00 grumpy's cafe
[protected] $25.00 mcnulty's
[protected] $25.00 mcnulty's

Robert Di Liberto

----- Original Message ----
From: yvonne gutierrez
To: Bob D
Sent: Tuesday, July 8, 2008 10:57:36 AM
Subject: RE: free cerificate not received->7/1/2008 1:52:32 AM

Dear Robert,

I apologize for the inconvenience, the promotional emails do state the dates
that the promotion are valid for, so that is why I could not honor the
discount for this order. Since you agreed to our terms and conditions we can
not issue a refund. If the certificates are under the 90 day exchange
period, with accordance to our terms, I can only send you a credit to the
Restaurant.com website.

Yvonne Gutierrez
Customer Service
ygutierrez@restaurant.com
[protected]

Please tell my boss how I am doing by e-mailing myboss@restaurant.com

They ripped me off. I reread it and there was nothing about giving my creditcard to another company. I got the 'survey' line also, and the only thing on the site is an already marked box stating if you want to hear of other offers type of thing.