Originally Posted by HawaiiBound
I don't know if it is true or not as I read it on another board but it said the restaurants don't get paid anything for the certificates bought, that they agree to accept them in exchange for the national exposure they receive for participating in the program.
This is true. You have to agree to offer at least 1 cert per day (if I remember correctly) and accept them when redeemed at whatever terms you agreed to. In return, you get marketing and advertising exposure and restaurant.com gets fees for the sale of the certs. I think it's a fair exchange and good business model. My family owns some restaurants and would do this if they were in more urban locations.
As for the restaurant going out of business, I got this in the email today for a cert I bought at least 8 months ago:
To Whom This May Concern:
Restaurant.com regrets to inform you that XXX in Chicago, IL is no longer in business. Therefore, the Restaurant.com dining certificate that you purchased for this establishment can no longer be used. If you have already used your dining certificate, please disregard this email. We hope that you enjoyed your meal there. If your dining certificate for this restaurant was not used prior to receiving this email, please reply to this email as soon as possible and include ONE of the following (YOU MUST INCLUDE ONE OF THESE):
* Your eBay item number
* Your gift certificate reference number
* Or your order confirmation numbers for any unused gift certificates
In accordance with Restaurant.com policy, once you reply to this email, if you have already paid for your certificate and have not yet used it, you will receive a Mega Certificate which may be redeemed for a Restaurant.com dining certificate of equal or greater value to any restaurant on our program. A $5 Mega Certificate can be redeemed for a $25 off dining certificate.
In the subject line of your reply email, please indicate the restaurant’s name that appears on your unused gift certificate to ensure that your request gets handled in a timely manner. If you have any questions please feel free to reply to me. Please expect a response within 5 business days.
Again, please accept our apologies for the inconvenience.
I thought it was nice of them to send me this email...I would never have known unless it was too late or I had made reservations. This was an Indian restaurant so I would have probably just gone without calling first.