A BBQ place near me a couple of summers ago seemingly decided unilaterally to stop accepting purchased certificates. However, they posted a sign in the restaurant about 90 days before the deadline.

In my case the change did not hurt, but I suspect there were some unhappy people. When I asked the cashier the day I used my remaining cert what caused the change, she had no clue, nor did the manager on duty.

I have had a few restaurants stop accepting certificates as you experienced Craig.

In every case, I was actually informed by restaurants.com of the change... and they offerred refunds/credits.

I also believe the OP misread the conditions of the certificate.... there is no certificate that I have ever seen at restaurant.com that you could get a $75 certificate for a $35 purchase. Or else there was a typo in the online certificate.... and restaurant.com notified to fix.

I am not sure I understand.

Where do you see "a free $35 meal" if I paid for the cert?�

The cert says "minimum $35 food purchase" so I assumed it's to prevent us spending all the cert on drinks.

Didn't see any other $75 certs in the area so don't know what is "typical". As far as I've learned the certs are quite restricted (can only be used once per month, only on dinner menu) so it seemed reasonable to give such a discount for first time visitors to lure them in.

Now I understand it most likely was a typo but IMHO they should honor the cert anyway�.not holding my breath though.

Old news.

Restaurant.com ALWAYS has promotions. ALWAYS. I get promo e-mail from them EVERY SINGLE DAY. (Yeah, I know. I should remove myself from their e-mail list. )

I still have credit with restaurant.com from a purchase I made years ago. I find them EXTREMELY difficult to use -- too many restrictions on the coupons; restaurants that I'm not interested in patronizing. On those rare occasions when I actually can make use of one of their coupons, I feel very lucky.

Obviously, YMMV. Some people use them regularly. I think they're just kind of a pain.

1) Well, made you look...

2) Thank you. I "rushed to press". Also was rushing to purchase a few for very low dollars at places I will eat. We'll see...

3) How does what you said above work? I didn't see that part.

4) Did you try the OpenTable "trick"?

there is a running thread in the SPAM forum on restaurant.com. not sure if any restaurants on restaurant.com serve spam, but ymmv (your meat may vary).

These are a great deal... we have used them for years.... especially when the 70% and 80% discounts come out.

We have a few local restaurants that we frequent who are part of the program... and use a $25 certificate each time we go.

I was about to ask how long these are good, then actually looked it up - on one of the certificates. I'm happy to see that it's a year "except in California". Cooool...

Unfortunately, I'm not seeing any overlap with RewardsNetwork. (How much can a restaurant "give back" at once to promotions?) Though some do also participate in OpenTable, making possible the 2,000 OpenTable point $20 promotion -- unless the combination can be detected and noncombineability invoked.

I tried my first $25 coupon I purchased for $2 and it worked!
This amazing offer was extended 3 more days...so jump on it!
BTW...If I was supposed to just add this to the other Rest.com posts and not start a new thread..please let me know...and I apologise in advance.

Bought a few g.c. from this site.Any one else get the 90% off deal?Ellements Bistro in fll ,Lava Tiki bar and grill in Hollywood,Banyan inWeston FLL.Any comment?And is liquor included in this?

I keep thinking if I worked a little harder on this, that I could make good use of the restaurant.com coupons, but so far, I have used none of the 6 or so that I have bought. One try, and the restaurant was closed down. And to their credit, all it took was a phone call to restaurant.com to get a new one issued, but, as other have said, it can be a struggle to find one I want to go to. I am sure that I have let a few expire. I only buy at the 70-90% discount rate.

Also, little overlap with Rewards Dining programs, as mentioned. One thing I have used them for : to make the least expensive possible purchase from a mileage/point mall, to fulfill a promotion to make online purchases from several sources, in order to get more points/miles.....

What is this 'trick' you speak of?

I am in California. The restaurant.com coupons regularly state that they expire within one year from date of issue, except in California or where otherwise prohibited by law. So, I California, are they good indefinitely?

I was in a restaurant with a certificate that was over one year old, and the restaurant owner called restaurant.com who said that they did not have to honor it.

Which is correct?

Suppose it depends on if it is a gift certificate or coupon?

Gift certificates seem to not expire.
http://www.dca.ca.gov/publications/l...des/s-11.shtml

Also, look at fn12 which specifically says restaurants are not in the perishable food exception. Maybe the unaffiliated exception comes into play, but they are not redeemable at more than one place.

So here's my question: do these gift certificates work for singles? I received a $50 credit by making UA MP Premier Executive elite status and as I have a trip planned for NYC in May was online tonight finally putting something to good use, or so I thought. I spent a bunch of time finding what seemed good restaurant options that didn't state in the certificates special instructions that it was for a minimum part of two so confirmed two choices yet when I printed out the certificates I found under the standard restaurant-specific gift certificate terms & conditions that it states "valid for parties of two (2) or more unless otherwise stated. Does that mean if I follow all tne other rules these certificates could still be declined or not honoured by the restaurant? Or is that just a standard comment that print on all certificates and I shouldn't bother with it? It's not like I'd personally be out anything if they weren't honoured but still would like to get something I was given for crossing an elite FFP level.

I'd be curious to hear some feedback if anyone can address the solo diner question. Thanks