Restaurant.com has a rating of 1.2 stars from 864 reviews, indicating that most customers are generally dissatisfied with their purchases. Reviewers complaining about Restaurant.com most frequently mention gift card, customer service, and minimum purchase problems. Restaurant.com ranks 337th among Restaurants sites.
So you see all these bad reviews of Restaurant.com. I took advantage of a great deal. 100 - $50 cards for $500 from Citi Easy Deals. That $4500 of free food Just avoid these assumptions: 1) It's not off any restaurant. Get a Visa Gift Card if you want that. Enjoy your fees. 2) It's not a free meal. It's up to half off the total bill. You can use the remainder elsewhere. 3) It's one use per restaurant per month. Not getting 1/2 price sushi every weekend. Goto a different restaurant tomorrow. 4) You have to log into the app to find the card to redeem. Yes it shows your name. Got to log in anyway. That bugs me! Lose one Star. 5) Let the server tap the screen to redeem. You will hit one of these the first time through. After that it's discount city. Got my food budget in line through some hard times.
The entire experience was a scam in conjunction with a travel service. Was promised $100 in Restaurant coupons for attending sales presentation. Spent hours on the phone, with email, and online trying to obtain four $25 restaurant certificates. Never received any certificates and gave up.
Avoid restaurant.com (RDC) at all costs. They are the parasites of the food industry as they benefit from, but do not provide any benefit to the restaurants, which is the textbook definition of a PARASITE. Also all should be educated on them. They are the only "VOUCHER/CERTIFICATE" sellers that do not split revenue of the sales with the merchants. There "agreement" is for 1 year in which they will sell as many vouchers as they possibly can with no limit. To cancel with them it is a 90 day cancellation process?!?! They also claim that expiration of the vouchers is governed by state to state laws, yet they print on all vouchers "NO EXPIRATION". That is why there are so many complaints of people still bringing in the vouchers 3-5 years after the restaurants have cancelled with RDC. Common sense should let everyone know that if any business has a product that is being offered up at 50% off, it is just a matter of time before that business will be out of business. It also looks like Jack R. On this site is clueless as to just how much of a cheapskate he is, trying to have everyone get "gift certificates for free". He probably gives "gift certificates" to friends for birthdays, Christmas etc. at no cost to him, WOW! Cheap Cheap Cheap.
I had a restaurant.com gift certificate for $25 off a meal at a nearby restaurant. When I tried to use it they waitress said the 800 number they call show it had already been used. And, the date they showed it used was before the date it was even purchased! I called the 800 number myself and that is what it says when you enter the certificate number. It was so embarrassing! It was an upscale restaurant and the waitress seemed upset for me. I had to pay over $77 for our meal! The restaurant said that's why they don't participate with restaurant.com anymore; too many problems. I then tried to call restaurant.com and there is no way to get a phone number! The validation line is only a recording/computer setup and the restaurant.com website only allows you to email a complaint. I have emailed them 3 times over the past 3+ weeks and have not received a single reply. Through some seriously intense digging, I finally found a phone number to call. After over 30 minutes on hold waiting, I talked to someone named "George". He said the certificate was good (making me wrong or a liar) and didn't know why I had a problem. I explained that the restaurant and I both called (total of 3 calls) and each call said the same thing. He offered another certificate, but all their locations within 10 miles of me are take out or "similar to fast food" (no decent sit-down places at all). Because they are cheap places they only offer $5 or $10 gift certificates. That means I would have to go their 3-5 times to use up my $25! And drive 20 miles each time to boot! I asked for my money back, but of course he said no. George offered no other remedies or solutions; just very quick short repetitive (and meaningless) "I'm sorry's"; making you feel like a number. Which I guess that's what you are to them! I plan to post this complaint everywhere I can find a place too so people dont buy their phony certificates!
Tip for consumers:
Don't waste your time or money or time!! Any company that goes to such great lengths to hide their phone number deffinitely has something to hide!! Too many complaints to handle??
I find this difficult to use it for a singe person, every restaurant has a minimum to spend there is no flexibility for lunch, honestly there are better options for dinning with less trouble I DO NOT RECOMMEND THIS FOR LUNCH or even Dinning!
OMG- Complete BS and waste of time, I have 100 certs and 4 for Kabob Corner2 in Woodbridge VA - I called Kabob Corner2 and they said we DO NOT taking these gift certs and restaurant.com issuing those gift certificate anyway. This website should shutdown and there must be a legal action against this F'd-up gift certificate website business.
I had a 25 gift certificate. All the restaurants listed i never heard of. I had to purchase 5 seperate $5 certificates for a restaurant onlyvto find i can just use ONE PER DAY! RIP OFF!
Restaurants closed before I could use
Certificates. No help from their robotic email help line
Lost $$$
Wish they had a -1 rating option.
I'M TIRED OF BEING RIPPED OFF, WHAT CAN WE DO THOUGH?! IS ANYONE INTERESTED IN FINDING OUT HOW TO START A CLASS-ACTION LAWSUIT?! THIS IS FRAUD AND FALSE ADVERTISING AT ITS FINEST!
I have 8 unused certificates, 2 of the places have closed and all are unable to exchange.
Total Scam - don't waste your time or money.
Have had several that I purchased to different places and none of them belong to this web site. So lesson learned will never buy another!
Use this site only if you have unlimited money and time to fit into their slender little window of opportunity. BAD service... run to Groupon.
All $25 gift cards crossed out and only worth $10. A total headache and waste of time!
Stay away, scam, nothing but aggravation.
Never had a problem with them. I always
Use my certificate without any issues
I like this program, very convenient for dining out.
Went to 3 Sheets at Sorrento Quay on Friday night, they weren't taking any more bookings so we took a chance and walked in and they managed to seat us - four people. Sorry to say that it was a little disapointing and not up to their usual standard. The service at the bar was good, size of wine was generous. The food arrived pretty quick considering they were busy. The Thai beef noodle salad was mediocre with soggy mixed salad leaves and very little rice noodle - not worth the $25 price and would have been nicer if the beef was warmed not cold. The rump steak was a bit tough but was cooked as requested to medium rare, the Halumi burger, Arincini and pizza were good. While we were eating four different wait staff came to top up the cutlery and serviettes at the table and several others passed by our table on their way to the kitchen yet not one of them stopped to ask how our meals were nor did they ask when they cleared our plates from the table (I find that very unusual). Three of us had a Simmo's icecream form their icecream cart which we had takeaway and it tasted like it had been in the freezer for a while. We come here fairly often and up until now have always had a good experience, would probably try somewhere else next time.
Products used:
Arincini, Thai beef noodle salad, Halumi burger, design your own pizza (hawaiian), rump steak and salad, icecream and drinks.
Don't waste your money or time! I like coupons, but these are not worth the hassle. Do not patronize this business.
Worse business I have ever dealt with! Purchased $150+ in vouchers several years ago. I used a few at a
Local restaurant until they quit taking them. The problem with the remaining $100+ that I had can not be used anywhere! In the area where I live, they are VERY FEW choices! EVERY single time I have tried to use one, the establishment tells me they don't accept them anymore. I have called Restaurant.com numerous times to advise them of this and that they should update their web with accurate information! I asked for a refund since this is a normal occurrence with this company but they denied it saying, hold
On to them, we are always adding new restaurants! Well, just this past summer a new restaurant opened in our area, Grill and Garden Cafe in Niles, Ohio. In October, I received an email from Restaurant.com advising of this new establishment. I placed an order and went in to pick
It up. I was greeted with, oh we don't know anything about this voucher ($25 worth of food for $10) and would not accept the voucher! I called Restaurant.com and they advised that this company wasin fact added by their store manager in June 2020! I am still to this day getting emails that this business is still in Restaurant.com's specials! I called the business again recently to inquire again and was told the same, they did not approve for their business to be added! They mentioned, maybe the owners would know someone about it. I said, your a manager and you don't! Needless to say, neither owner ever called me back and I will not visit the place again. I am so done with all the back and forth, lies and garbage that Restaurant.com has caused and will write off my remaining balance. Please save yourself from going through what I did! Complete rip-off!
They offer "gift cards" to restaurant that don't except them. And when you reach out for an exchange they disappear.
Misleading terms and no response when complaining and requesting a refund. Restaurant will stop accepting these certificates in the future
Follow up to review by Cass R. (on specials@ restaurant.com offering the Hotelandresortcard.com discounted e-gift certificates ($40.00 for $400.00 worth of e-gifts)
Hey wish I had read your review before I bought. It gets worse for me... I stupidly booked a hotel room thru them & they immediately charged my cc. I read & looked at the fine print on the page of my confirmation and it said it could be cancelled within 72 hours. I cancelled and after a few days my credit came thru on the cc BUT minus $25.00. Contacted HotelandResortCard & they referred me to their terms which said may charge a $25.00 fee. You would have thought that it would have been spelled out on the booking page wouldn't you. I too have requested a refund from specials@ restaurant.com but haven't heard back. So it looks like I may be out of $65.00! BTW, I was suppose to receive a $30 credit on booking by their standards but only received a discount of $18.72! HRAC indicated that the hotel charged the fee, I called & they looked@ my cancellation and said they did not charge a fee~ Totally bummed...
UPDATE: Since posting this morning regarding my experiences. I have had responses from someone at HotelandResortCard and another email from their supervisor indicating that they would be refunding the $25.00 fee in 4-6 weeks.
I wanted to update this site to let all know that they were willing to listen to problems/complaints and deserve a kutos in doing so. I appreciate their efforts in making me a satisified customer.
Tip for consumers:
Rely on your gut feeling...it's 99.9999999% right most of the time.
Um. If you do the math you are only saving a few bucks at most, so its totally not worth the trouble. Just don't even consider it..
DONT BUY GIFT VOUCHER FOR ANYTHING ITS A SCAM (ITS DOSENT WORK)YOU CANT USE IT ALL. I BOUGHT HOTEL TRAVEL GIFT VOUCHER FOR $100 FOR $60 YOU CANT USE IT ITS PER HOTELS HOW MUCH DISCOUNT THEY WANT TO GIVE YOU MAX THEY WILL GIVE YOU $5 YOU CAN GET MORE THEN TAHT ANYWHERE NOW ADAYS YOU CANT USE YOUR VOUCHER AT ALL ITS JUST AS SCAM
I got a $50 gift cert and the only restaurant in our area where i want to dine only accepts it at $10 per month for 5 months! What a rip off!
Owner came out and said she had no idea what it was even though it is a fairly new restaurant and newly listed on restaurant.com
My certificates were no longer valid at the restaurant but could not exchange on website or reach any one for help. Not worth the time.
Here's the thing, the customers complaining about restaurants not taking the certificates, that's not restaurant.com's problem, that's the restaurants. They obviously signed up for the program, aren't following the guidlines, and did not read the contract. At my restaurant, I accept certificates, no problem and have happy customers and have seen a lot of business come through my door. Secondly, I'm sure I'll get a lot of **** for this but the bigger issue for a lot of other friends/owners in the area I know on this program who have no been as successful on this program as I have as been the customers. Read the guidlines. There is a minimum, spend the minimum and spend above the minimum. We aren't you're food slaves, we want you to have an enjoyable experience, yes, but spending $35.17 is crap.
The point is to eventually come back without the coupon. We don't want to just give away free food. We are running a buisness here. If there's certain days the certificate can't be used, don't come in on those days. If it states there's gratuity added, be ready to pay gratuity. The rules state one coupon per month at our restaurant so don't come every week. Bottom line, read the rules. The rules are stated before you buy our coupons.
Overall I like restaurant.com it has done great things for my restaurant over the past 8months. I guess it can go both ways. Anytime ive had an issue they have always been able to work with me. Good luck to all of you
I received a $100 restaurant.com gift card as a gift (of course); what I am getting at is that I never personally paid for the gift card or a certificate through restaurant.com. When I saw all the restaurants that were listed on the website/app, I thought it would be neat to check out so many mom and pop restaurants as well as cafes. My first two restaurant experiences/uses of the gift card went by without incident. On my third try, the restaurant owner claimed his restaurant just ended up on the website, he did not recognize/honor the certificates, and he never came to any deals with restaurant.com. Moreover, he claimed that restaurant.com would not respond to his inquiries. I went to another restaurant after this without incident. Noting that several restaurants from the website/app no longer existed. At this point, I was thinking the website/app was not up to date and the owner's situation from the third try was a one off incident. I recently traveled to the Dallas/Fort Worth area, where I came across several restaurants that reiterated what the owner from my third try stated. In addition, they verified that, aside from receiving the forced/surprise advertisement on the restaurant.com website/app, they received no monetary benefit at all from restaurant.com. One restaurant owner went so far as to give me my $10.00 discount without using the certificate. After I experienced multiple incidents like this, I decided to leave $25 on the card and throw it in the trash. This idea is good (certificates for mom and pop restaurants). I appreciate the idea. However, after digging into what restaurant.com does, its business practices are so shady that I want nothing to do with it.
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