Does anyone here have the inside scoop on how/why restaurants participate, or how much the restaurant receives (or pays) for the certs and how prices are determined???


Over the weekend I talked to the new owner of a restaurant.com restaurant--- turns out said restaurant is currently closed for the chage of ownership, but he had no idea the certs existed until I told him-- and mentioned they were still available for purchase the day before. (Good thing I only had 1 and didn't buy more!)

I'm sure he can find out details on the certs as the restaurant owner, but I myself was curious about the benefit and cost to the restaurant.

If someone does, they may not be in a position to discuss it.

Your best bet would be to talk with the restaurant owner about what his situation is with them, but I'd guess it's beneficial to everyone involved or they wouldn't do it, like the Entertainment book coupons.

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.

How often do the rules change?
 

In the two days since I purchased a $25 gift certificate for a local restaurant, they changed the requirements! Now you must spend $35 and 18% gratuity will be added. Must be for dinner only and cannot take advantage of any specials. Oh well. Perhaps those who have used this a while will comment . Thanks.

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.

I'd ask the restaurant whether they would agree to honor your cert as purchased. If they insist on the new terms for everyone, I'd seriously consider asking restaurant.com for a refund.

That's exactly what my earlier complaint was about. It seems as though restaurants have the capability of changing the terms at their whim, even though they add enough legalese on your cert to make it look like a contract.

From what I read on the T&C on the restaurant side (to join restaurant.com), the legalese on the certs are binding and one may be removed from the program for non-compliance. Don't know if they enforce this.

Saying that, I'd call restaurant.com and complain. There does not seem to be arbitrary T&Cs so seek relief from restaurant.com.

A couple of interesting terms on the cert:

"The issuing of restaurant credit is at the sole discretion of the merchant unless otherwise required by law."

Sounds like the merchant can change the terms arbitrarily to me.

"No refunds after 90 days."

Huh? I thought that there were never returns from restaurant.com. Does that mean that if they change the terms after this period (or the restaurant refuses to honor it), they still don't have to give you a refund?

Besides, I would be too embarrassed to raise a fuss at the restaurant if they refused to honor the certificate's terms. I wouldn't be too embarrassed to dine-and-dash, though. :)

After I made a purchase of a cert, I got an email from Restaurant.com informing me that the requirements of the restaurant had changed. They offered to exchange the cert for another restaurant of my choice or refund my purchase or accept the terms. I opted to select another restaurant. A new link to the new cert was emailed in a couple of days. We have redeemed 4 certs with no problems whatsoever. An awesome deal! ^ ^ ^ ^

It seems that last night they raised the price of a $25 certificate for many restaurants, at least in Los Angeles, from $5 to $7.50.

Guess they're getting too popular. :)

Has anyone tried redeeming more than one cert within a 30 day period at the same restaurant? If so, was it accepted?

Just tried the code today (I know, where have I been?) and it said it's expired... Hopefully it'll come back around soon!