Mighty Bargain Hunter

80% off Restaurant.com – now with a side order of disclosure!

September 29th, 2009 | by mbhunter |

Restaurant.com is running an 80% off coupon through the end of September, 2009.  The coupon code is CHEF.

I think largely that people are happy with the deals that they get through Restaurant.com.  I’ve used the service, and I’ve been quite happy as well.  But to avoid any misunderstandings this time around, I’ll play the skeptic and try to explain as many caveats as I can so that you can see the other side of the plate.

• Restaurant.com dining certificates are more like coupons than gift certificates. Dining certificates may be applied to your meal purchase at participating restaurants, but only if the restaurant’s restrictions are met.
• There are usually restrictions on redeeming the dining certificates. These may include one or more of the following:
  • Minimum purchase amount
  • Minimum number of entrees
  • Exclusion of certain purchases toward this minimum, like drinks, tax, tip, etc.
  • Restriction as to which hours of the day, or days of the week
  • Mandatory tip of X% on the pre-discount amount
  • Dine-in only
  • Cash only
  • Possibly others
• I’ve heard that there is an additional restriction of one dining certificate per month per restaurant, but I don’t know where this is stated.
• There is the possibility that your favorite restaurant could drop out of the program in between the time you buy the certificate and when you go to redeem it.  This has happened to me, and it is a risk.
• You can search for participating restaurants before you purchase. On the home page of Restaurant.com, at the upper right, you’ll see a box that says “Step 1:  Find a Restaurant.”  Not all areas of the country have a wide selection of restaurants.  You can check before you buy.
• A particular restaurant’s restrictions are shown directly below the corresponding “Add To Cart” button. The restrictions should not be a surprise.  Here’s an example restrictions clause for a $25 dining certificate: “Valid Sunday-Thursday for Dinner Entrees only with a minimum $50. Not valid with any other offers. Excludes Alcohol. 20% Gratuity added. Cash Only.”  This is restrictive, but it’s anything but unclear.
• It never hurts to verify with the restaurant before buying. Restaurants should honor their word, but they might not.  This is not the fault of Restaurant.com, though; it’s the fault of short-sighted business practices.
• You do not need to sign up for recurring charges for either individual dining certificates or the Dinner of the Month Club. Both of these purchases are one-time purchases.  Some people have been hit by a third-party offer at checkout that results in a recurring charge.  This is not a charge from Restaurant.com.

Now, having said all of this, 80% off brings the cost of the 12-month Dinner of the Month Club down to where you can recoup the cost of the entire year with the redemption of just one of your 13 dining certificates.  The regular price is $120 (again, billed just once) for $300 worth of dining certificates plus a bonus $50 dining certificate.  With coupon code CHEF, the price is 80% off of $120, or $24.  So, by redeeming just one of the dining certificates — good for $25 off of qualified dining expenses as outlined above — you’re ahead of the game.  The rest of the dining certificates are gravy.

Anyway, I hope that this presents you with a well-rounded picture of Restaurant.com so that you can purchase wisely and with full understanding of the service.

Questions tagged credit-card at Cash Commons:

• Anybody have sucesss with 0% Balance Transfers on Credit Cards?
• When entering credit card information on a website, does the billing address have to be correct?
• Two of my credit cards got hit with fraudulent charges the same day. What gives?