Re-using Restaurant.com certificates?
 

I just bought some more to get some qualifying partners, and while I was in there, I saw that there is a list of my older certificates. And it shows the status.

Several I have used; several, of course, I haven't. Such is life.

But the ones I think I "used" all show "not used" in the righthand column. This seems like it must just be a mistake since not a single one shows "used." But I'm tempted to print them out and go again. Maybe I had two and I only used one? Certainly possible, but I'd hate to get caught double-dipping here.

Has anyone tried this? Do they just tell you "no, it's been used" and you just pay in full?

Fraud fraud fraud fraud fraud. Even if somehow the idea was tempting to me, the certs are nearly free with some of the frequent discounts, and I'd really not want to screw the restaurant participating in the program, who is going to suffer from accidentally taking a cert with the same number twice. Do you also return a rotisserie chicken carcass to Costco after you've eaten almost all of it, asking for a refund because "I didn't like it?" (People actually do this.)

Used status
 

Used status is self managed. Restaurant.com provides a tool for you to track your certificate usage, but the status will never be updated by restaurant.com.

Fraud, if I've used it. Yes.

But what if I haven't but it's not in my stack?

But the answer of it being self-managed is the key, I guess. If I lose it, it's gone.

This certainly should get nominated for an "overreaction of the year" award.

To the OP, maybe email restaurant.com with a list of the ones you're not sure about?

I like the idea of emailing them.

In particular, there was one that they unilaterally canceled due to a problem with the restaurant, and I don't think I ever got credit for it.

OP..check your PM. I sent you the name of a customer service rep with Restaurant.com.

In most states, they state a 1 yr expiration except where prohibited. In CA, there is no expiration on these. I have a few I'd bought a few years ago but never used.

Correct - you would have to update the status online (one can also say "gifted to XXX", if I recall correctly). If one tries to re-use a certificate, I would hope the restaurant calls the 1-800 number as per the instructions to verify the certificate, then confronts the customer. I simply print them out and keep them in a desk drawer - if I can't find it, I assume "used".

Not necessarily. If you still have the e-mail they sent you when you purchased the certificate, with the link that you used to print the certificate, the link is still good and you can print off another one. I've done that when I've misplaced the original certificate but haven't used it.

Always save that e-mail until you've used the certificate(s).

One way you can tell if the restaurant called the 1-800 number to validate your certificate is if you get in the next day(s) an email asking for a review of the restaurant.

I live in California so I could care less about reusing a certificate. I do know which ones were not called in (rarely). So many restaurants leave the system or go out of business but I have a lifetime to get replacement certificates so I buy a lot of them.

Slightly off topic but I believe I've only had one restaurant that was listed in the system ever reject its use. I always present when ordering to avoid this problem. When I go out of town, I will pre-call or email the restaurant(s) to make sure they will accept them.

Gimme a friggin' break. :rolleyes:

One of the things that bugs me about the Restaurant.com website is the "self managed" certificate status. Why they can't simply add an automatic status update is beyond me. I have pages of unused certificates and I always forget which ones are used. Some of them are multiples from the same restaurants I like to visit.

Sometimes I'm heading to a place that I know I've used certs before, but I don't know which ones. So I print several that I know have some valid ones and head to the restaurant. Once, when paying the bill, the server came back with the certificate and said that it had been used. No problem, I just pulled out another one and said try this one! They had no problem with it and it worked fine. If the certificates are validated (used) they are no good anymore, it's as simple as that.

At the same time, I have no problem using a certificate that was never validated. If they fail to call in and validate it, it's certainly fair game to use it again. It's not my fault if they forgot or didn't care too. And as I explained, most of the time I don't know if I've used it before or not.

So, even if you know you used it, it is still OK for you to use it againt, if the restaurant makes an error. Would you contact the restaurant if they accidently charged your credit card $1.00 instead of $100.00, since after all, it is their fault for not checking.

While I dont agree with the "fraud fraud etc" part, I do agree that the certs are so cheap, why bother screwing the restaurant?

At the moment, an offer for 80% off (Code SPECIAL) up to may 25th.

So a $25 cert for all of $2

Just getting to know this forum - and I am sure this must be mentioned elsewhere - but you can buy one of these certs for a partner activity with Delta and NWA for their Pile on the Miles promo.

Make sure to go through the shopping portal on their websites

Of course, the implication of both your and Eastbay1k's "morality" is that it should be practiced only when it is convenient/inexpensive to do so.

Of course not. It's not my job to audit the company's books to find money they have thrown away. But watching my own money is my responsibility, so if they charged me $100 instead of $10 you bet I would.

I use the $25 coupon occasionally. I got a few for a local Italian restaurant and the waiter told me they were phasing them out and this would be that last time. I have two more printed for the same place. :confused:

The ones you already bought shouldn't expire. Just remember that most, I think, are limited to one per month.

Also, as far as I'm concerned, that's a good sign for the restaurant when they stop with these insane deals. That means they're probably healthier, financially.

Does anyone know the economics behind these? What cut of the coupon price, if any, ends up at the restaurant? Is restaurant.com just banking on a huge non-use amount?

Correct, 1 per month, expire in one year, good Sun-Thurs.

While I totally agree that one should not intentionally try to reuse a certificate that has already been used, it is not the restaurant that gets screwed. The money one pays for the certificate goes to restaurant.com, not the restaurant itself.

Every time I have used a certificate, the restaurant has kept it. I print the certificates right when I buy them and put them in a folder. That way, if I have a copy of the certificate, I know it has not been used.

There is a serial number on the certificate that is reported to Resturaunt.com. It can only be used once.

If the restaurant drops out of the system, they will no longer be valid unless the restaurant wishes to redeem them. If they don't want to redeem them, contact restaurant.com and they will give you two codes valid for 2 other certificates of your choice.

These are promotions, advertising for a restaurant. It has nothing to do with the health of a restaurant. A good restaurant that is doing well knows it has to expose itself to new customers and different segments, such as price sensitive customers. This is a great avenue for restaurants to do so in a very cost effective way.

As previously stated in this thread, Restaurant.com gets all the money from the certificates. The restaurants even have to pay to be part of the service and agree to be in it for 1 year minimum.

I didn't think of that. Thanks.

The once per month rule is tough as I now no longer give them as gift certificates. One month we tried using one and were told that we used one a week prior, which wasn't true. We didn't argue with the waiter, we just didn't use the cert. I then checked with a friend who used I one I got him the prior week.

I now only give them as GC's for either other cities, or restaurants I don't go to.

Restaurant.com works a lot like the Entertainment Book discounts. It's another form of advertising or promotion. Entertainment keeps what you pay for the book and the restaurant pays by giving you the discount. In many cases the restaurant doesn't even have to pay Entertainment for appearing in the book. In fact, the more restaurants Entertainment can recruit for the book, the more valuable the book is and the more books Entertainment can sell.

These are really excellent forms of advertising, since it allows the restaurant to measure quite precisely how well the advertising is working. With standard types of advertising, it is much more difficult to measure the effectiveness of an ad.

So same thing for RewardsNetwork? The restaurants just eat the discount for the advertising?

Yes. It's just like they were issuing their own coupon but through a different avenue.

The best thing is if you can match up a Restaurant.com participating restaurant with a RewardsNetwork.com participating restaurant. Although technically against the rules from each, I have double-dipped with both promotions many times by paying with a registered credit or debit card, of course.

Today especially if your restaurant isn't promotion minded, with few exceptions, you'll be closing forever soon.

I've had almost all these issues... Being in California, my certs don't expire.

I didn't know they don't expire, good info.

BTW, I'm in OC too, just got a few Jack Shrimp certificates.