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Restaurant.com review: Scam 71

J
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9:56 am EDT
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Received a $50 "gift certificate" with purchase from drugstore.com. Logged onto restaurant.com. In order to redeem the certificate at a local restaurant, I have to spend at least $50 out of my own pocket. This makes me wary to do business with the restaurants that list with them. Do they know what a rip-off this is?

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71 comments
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Excelcia
Middletown, US
Apr 05, 2011 4:26 pm EDT
Verified customer This comment was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

I also have a problem with the 18% and do not go to those places! Even though one is a few doors from my home and is probably pretty good. In my experience, those places are the ones that make you feel badly for using the coupons in the first place!

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MSLILLYD
AUBURN, US
Apr 05, 2011 4:15 pm EDT

As a consumer..I've saved a lot of money using those.. But only when they are 70-80% off making it a steal practically.
The only complaint I have is with the 18% Gratuity.. I'm not cheap, I am a former waitress of 8 years. BUT: I Tip mainly based on the service me & my family recieve and will tip Above or Below the recommended. I would like to have a choice there.
I am sorry if the Restraunts themselves are not seeing a profit from the extra business the coupons could bring in.

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Excelcia
Middletown, US
Apr 05, 2011 4:09 pm EDT
Verified customer This comment was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

for those that are saying this site is a scam, I have used it as a customer in the past and have found resturants that I would never have gone to any other way and became a good customer after.

If you treat your customer right with the coupon, maybe they will become regulars and spend even more money and tell their friends!
You get out of this what you put in. I have been to some places from this site that acted like "I owed them" for using the coupon...these places I would NEVER go back to!
this is a CUSTOMER'S POINT OF VIEW!

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lalala007
saint joseph, US
Mar 19, 2011 11:08 pm EDT
Verified customer This comment was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

[censored] thats all im saying . she or he is prolly butt hurt becuase they cant print so they call the company and ###

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bhall89
, US
Mar 19, 2011 8:16 pm EDT

ummm... there is no fine print. Its in clear font, decent size right under the damn add to cart button... in what world do you think you can buy a "gift card" worth $100 for only $40 bucks and that $40 is 80% off... not a scam... your all just dumb as hell lol.

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mknj
Medford, US
Mar 12, 2011 11:53 pm EST

I went to use a restaurant.com coupon last night at a "newer" restaurant in Sicklerville, New Jersey. They informed me that they are under new ownership and that they are under no obligation to accept the coupons. They told me that they would give us 50 Cents off of our hamburgers-- which means we got $1.00 off our bill in the end! I'm beginning to think that it is a scam and any restaurant can tell you that they are no longer accepting the coupons. It worked on us! We were already seated, hungry, and forked out $37.00 for a crappy dinner!

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bmacker
hollywood, US
Feb 23, 2011 1:04 am EST

Every restaurant I have tried from restaurant.com participated in the program, what you wrote doesn't make any sense.

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Your Boss
Garland, US
Feb 11, 2011 3:33 am EST
Verified customer This comment was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

I could NOT use the $25 coupon at CINDI'S in Dallas because I had to buy $50 in food to get the $25 off-is that a deal-NO ! Of course this wasn't told to me. WHAT A RIP OFF. Don't buy these cards ! I got 2-$25 from them.

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WriteOn
Hopat, US
Feb 08, 2011 6:51 am EST

Having used at least 2 certificates at participating local restaurants in the last year, all I can say is: it works and it's a great deal, especially when Restaurant.com offers $25 certificates for $2. If you subscribe to their emails, you will be able to purchase at that rate at least 4-6 times per year. The restaurants have always honored the certificates, with no question or problem.

I have read every item posted here, and I see that most of the complaints come from folks who obviously didn't read the terms and conditions posted at the Restaurant.com website. Yes, there ARE restrictions; each individual restaurant has its own specifications on when the certificates can be used, what the minimum FOOD purchase is, etc. I'm guessing a lot of the complainants did not read thru the entire site before purchasing. The certificates used to have expiration dates, usually one year. Recently, though, I see that the certificates never expire. I also see complaints from restauranteurs who are dissatisfied with the service; they joined to generate business & repeat customers, and are now upset that 'too many' people are using the certificates, causing them a loss. Apparently, when they try to opt out of their commitment/contract, they leave the customer with the certificate 'holding the bag' when they refuse to honor it. Some restaurant owners & certificate buyers seem to have had difficulty communicating with Restaurant.com, so I can't comment on this issue. The one time I, as a customer, called Restaurant.com, the call was answered promptly, and the information I was seeking was helpful. I never tried to email.

To anyone who wants to try dining with these certificates, all I can recommend is that you call the restaurant before you purchase the certificate, and then use the certificate promptly, just in case the restaurant is subsequently seeking to opt out of the program & is unwilling to honor the certificate. Present the certificate to the waiter BEFORE you order, to be sure they will honor it. If not, you then have the option to leave. Buy the certificates one at a time, so there's no prolonged time period wherein an unhappy restauranteur decides to refuse them. Because of the many restauranteur complaints I see here, it's probably not a good idea to give a certificate as a gift, unless you're sure the recipient will use it rather soon. Remember that it's not a 'free' meal to the recipient; they will have to pay something.

And to the unhappy restauranteurs: please do the right thing & honor the certificates; they were purchased with your knowledge & understanding of the program, and if you're not happy with Restaurant.com for any reason, the customer should not be the one to 'pay' for your dissatisfaction. For example, when I have used a certificate once, I have returned to that same restaurant, if I liked the food & service, numerous other times without a certificate (because the repeat visit is usually a spur-of-the-moment decision), and have recommended the restaurant to friends. The certificate DID generate repeat business, at least on my part, and offered a great, inexpensive way to try a new place. When you refuse to honor a certificate, you can be ASSURED a customer won't return!

And, no, I don't work for or have any connection to Restaurant.com; I'm just an average 'Jane' consumer in a small town in northwestern NJ, looking forward to my next new dining experience.

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Owner/Operator
Columbus, US
Feb 02, 2011 8:33 pm EST

As a restaurant owner and operator, we were approached by this Restaurant.com and other companies (Entertainment Book Co. etc...) Unlike many of the previous complaints and posts, we actually read the entire agreement and THEN decided not to sign. I only blame those restauranters who lack the ability to read what they are signing.

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mephisto2011
, US
Jan 27, 2011 9:28 pm EST

Every single one of these complaints on this site talks about "reading the fine print" or "I made a purchase, then read the fine print, and zoinks! Fraud!"
It's all there for you to read, for better or for worse. Yes, some certificates are not beneficial if booze isn't included...so don't buy it. I "don't buy" them all the time for that very reason.
I've used restaurant.com for 6 years and have been reading at or above the 12th grade level since I was 8 years old.
If you can read, and want to save quite a bit of money from time to time, USE restaurant.com
Because, there's no such thing as a FREE lunch anyhow.

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uberjer
, US
Jan 25, 2011 8:31 pm EST
Verified customer This comment was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

I forgot to mention that the restaurant told restaurant.com that they didn't want to be in their program 6 months prior to my incident. Restaurant.com continues to sell bogus certificates anyway.

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JessiM
, US
Dec 30, 2010 12:18 am EST

I have had good and bad experiences with Restaurant.com. I have had to exchange at least 3 certificates due to the restaurants no longer accepting the gift certificates. In one instance, I had just purchased the gift certificate on rdc and went to the restaurant that night and the certificate was refused. RDC was very helpful with my exchange.
As of today, 2 of the 3 restaurants that are no longer accepting the certificates, are still having certificates sold through the RDC website.
I have come to the conclusion that we have to call the restaurant before we make a certificate purchase or eat at their restaurant.

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Ajjf
Bear, US
Dec 20, 2010 12:26 am EST

Interesting... I've used restaurant.com for over year and never had an issue. From the consumer's position it works well. Perhaps the owners have a problem, but not this customer. We go out more often and never have a problem meeting the cost criteria. I guess this could be a problem for people going to dives, but not for respectable establishments.

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drpaulindallas
Dallas, US
Nov 25, 2010 1:22 am EST
Verified customer This comment was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

My wife and I just left the Dallas restaurant Deli-News where our waiter told us Restuarant.com was a scam and that they had to resort to having their lawyer write them a letter. It seems they NEVER AGREED TO PARTICIPATE but Restaurant.com went ahead and sold certificates in their name anyway! We have been swindled! Why aren't these people under arrest for fraud?

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mohicanito
La Canada, US
Sep 18, 2010 11:38 pm EDT
Verified customer This comment was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

Restaurant.com is a scam for both the consumer and the restaurant owner! They mislead the restaurant owner into a contract that they claim will help them with the business and that they can change the terms whenever they want. That is a total lie. I worked at a restaurant where the manager got dooped into this deal with Restaurant.com. The site was totally screwed up, they were selling coupons so cheap my boss was losing money with every customer that came to redeem them. Then weeks later when he got the password to change the website and terms as he was promised, he found out that he could not change the terms or coupons sold, the "corporate" office was the only ones that could change the terms! He was so pissed. He immediately hired a lawyer and they are sueing Restaurant.com for misrepresentation, internet fraud, identity theft, and damages to his restaurant reputation. Restaurant.com still is selling coupons even though we stopped accepting them for over three months ago. Most consumers get mad at my boss or me when we show them the sings on the doors or cashier area saying "Do not accept Restaurant.com coupons". We always offer them a discount for the inconvenience and tell them to get a refund from the website. Some are happy with the discount, some get mad and never come back. Restaurant.com is a fraud! I hope there could be a class action lawsuit against them by owners who were mislead like my boss and customers who bought coupons from restaurants when Restaurant.com knows that they will not be honored.

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johmclm
, US
Sep 08, 2010 8:37 pm EDT

This company is a bunch of lying dirtbags. They sell hundreds of the copons, and one person can buy 12 or more at a time. If you try to cancel, they ignore you. The only way out is to simply stop honoring the certificates. Then the customer gets mad at you, not them. Biggest Mistake Ever. These people should rot in hell.

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Biting
, US
Jul 14, 2010 8:54 pm EDT

i do have the same problem with you..what a shame..they only tell you what can make you to sign the contact..they dont really care what happen later..even you like it or not..i am so regret to sign up that mess..i am finding a lawyer now see if anything they can do..i will leave a note here if i find out anything..hope will help someone like me..and to the people who just purchase the coupon to eat at the restaurant..before you buy it dont just think about yourself..think about other people too..bcuz you guys being cheap you are really hurting other people at the same time..so if you like that restaurant that you try it..please please pay for the full price..because right now restaurant are very hard to make money so if you dont want to see them close down..dont just want to be cheap...

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SursumTX
Manchaca, US
May 21, 2010 9:24 am EDT
Verified customer This comment was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

Have to say I agree. This is a bad deal all the way around. Customers don't know that the restaurant gets none of the money they paid up front, restaurants get lots of cranky and/or cheapskate customers and have to hire lawyers to get out of the deal.

We're trying to get out of our deal with them now.

The ONLY people making out on this deal is Restaurant.com.

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stockball2000
McDonald, US
May 07, 2010 10:39 am EDT
Verified customer This comment was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

Your complaint is very suspicious - I bought a certificate for a restaurant which begain to refuse to honor the restaurant.com certificate, and I was allowed to exchange it for any other restaurant which participates in the program, no additonal charge. I've purchased several certificates with no problems whatsoever. Wasn't thrilled with all the restaurants I tried, but that's not their fault.

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rmmom62
Louisville, US
Apr 14, 2010 7:12 pm EDT

Use Restaurant.com certificates all the time and I love it. Lets us go out to dinner more then usual and try new places. If I ever have a place close or not except certificates any more. I just call and they give me a code for another place to dine at. Restaurant.com Rocks!

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cafemezza
Houston, US
Apr 14, 2010 9:33 am EDT

To put things in perspective, the ONLY 2 victims of Restaurant.com are the restaurants and the consumers that are tricked into the certificate SCAM... As consumers they sell you certificates with all kinds of restrictions that are made up front to you and others you find out when you get to the establishment. All of these restrictions are known well in advance to Restaurant.com but not to you(the consumer). As a restaurant they promise so many things to get you to sign on the dotted line and then the real drama unfolds. They sell as many certificates as possible knowing their own stipulations and also knowing in advance restaurants that no longer participate or are not willing to honor certificates with no regard for the consumer. They only care about selling as many certificates as possible and letting the consumer deal with the headache. After all, they already got their money from thousands of consumers. If they sell a minimum of a 1, 000 a day@ $10.00 per city nationwide times 365 days a year. Well, you do the math... I'm sure it's way more than that. So when a consumer calls to complain I'm sure they are not too terribly worried about losing you as a customer. This Restaurant.com scam has got to stop. The only one laughing all the way to the bank is Restaurant.com.

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luka425
, US
Apr 12, 2010 12:56 pm EDT

I've always got a refund on the ones where the restuarant went out of business. I do not understand why you wouldn have got one.

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Restuarant_owner
Bell Canyon, US
Mar 04, 2010 3:15 pm EST

I am a restaurant owner who has dealt with Restaurant.com and I am still dealing with the mess of restaurant.com. He is correct. They are a sham. Unfortunately I signed a one year contract with them without reading the entire over written mess. It states that R.C can use my images, logos..etc for any use whatsoever as they deem fit. Which means blasting the coupons all over the internet with no responsibility of taking them down when I cancel my membership. Simply...it's a bad business practice. They don't care because people still purchase coupons. I was the stupid one for signing up. It's a horrible business and you will know when you speak to anyone of their representatives.

Here's the sham of a contract http://www.restaurant.com/gcp/

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NYAnge
Bronx, US
Feb 04, 2010 3:06 pm EST

RDC has ALWAYS given me credit for restaurants that no longer accept coupons so I just buy another one from the site.

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jjjkkkk
Midl, US
Jan 30, 2010 10:03 pm EST

We've used them without the problems you have mentioned.

Unfortunately, you need to purchase such high amounts of food 50 dollars on a 25 dollar certificate, 25 dollars on a 10 dollar certificate that you can't actually spend the amount without friends. So much for a date night.

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MaxsKansasCity
, US
Oct 08, 2009 4:21 pm EDT

Hey Headphonz, Max is an idiot because it worked out for him well? Really? You're the idiot.

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karleebarlee
New York, US
Sep 30, 2009 7:54 pm EDT

i always thought it sounded a little fishy considering you get a giftcard for such a low price. thanks for the info.

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headph0nz
, US
Jul 28, 2009 11:38 am EDT

Max is an idiot. restaurant.com is a total sham. Never give someone a gift card from that site. It's not a gift if the receiver has to spend double the amount of the card. WHAT A JOKE! It IS a scam. Cannot believe they still exhist, what a joke. I totally agree with you. I wanted to take the stupid paper and shove it up the restaurant managers you know what. Any restaurant that deals with them I will never go to either. Because they are obviously ###s for working with them, so I doubt I can trust the cooking from them as well.

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goodtimes
Beverly Hills, US
Apr 04, 2009 12:40 pm EDT
Verified customer This comment was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

I went to a restaurant that we frequent occasionally and saw a sign on their door that indicated that they will no longer accept restaurant.com coupons after a certain date. They had the sign posted for several months before the end date. I think that restaurants that stop participating in the restaurant.com program should post a sign to let patrons know when they will stop accepting coupons because you could have purchased the coupon months before you used it and in that time the restaurant may have stopped participating in the restaurant.com program. In that case it's not restaurant.com's responsibility or problem. They don't sell any GCs to restaurants that aren't currently participating. That isn't to say that a restaurant couldn't cancel their membership with restaurant.com a day after you bought a coupon from them. But why would that be restaurant.com's fault? I would never buy a restaurant.com coupon for full price. Always find a discount code to buy at 70 or 80% off that way the worst you will be out is a few bucks if for some reason you don't end up using your coupon.

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Max
Carmel, US
Feb 23, 2009 1:23 pm EST

Sorry to hear you had problems. I had none. Used 3 coupons, no problem. Great restaurants. No, I don't work for Restaurants.com.

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