No More Restaurant.com!

Last February, I bought a certificate from Restaurant.com. I paid $10 for a $25 certificate to CEBU, a bar & restaurant in Brookly, NY. And being a dreadful nitpicker of details, I checked the fine print before buying a certificate that was such a great deal...

Issue: They reserve the right to change their policies & terms without notifying their customers.
Solution: Okay, that's fine, I'll just read the Terms & Conditions everytime I use the site.

Issue: Certificates can only be used for parties of 2+.
Solution: No problem, I never go out to eat just by myself.

Issue: Certificates expire 1 year from issue date.
Solution: That's fine, I'm using it next weekend.

(If you're a fan of the happy ending, stop reading now, because the good part ends here.)

I wanted to save $15, so I clicked BUY anyway, telling myself that if the company had so many good testimonials from customers,they must be offering something good.

I take the certificate to Saturday brunch for my birthday, and the restaurant is sorry, but they only accept those certificates for dinner. So we pay without using the certificate once. I return to the restaurant for dinner next month and a friend & I share an entree and a few sides. This time, the restaurant is sorry, but they only accept the certificate when you've ordered two entrees. So I pay without using the certificate twice.

Meanwhile, none of these terms are listed on Restaurant.com, so I shoot them an email to the extent of: "Please be aware that this happened...", "I'm not requesting redress...", "Please provide the additional information to your future customers..." and get no response. I re-check their site for CEBU's certificate terms, right after sending my e-mail as well as sporadically even now, and till now, nothing has changed. Restaurant.com continues to sell certificates to CEBU which are not honored by the restaurant, which the company knows about but continues to charge $10 for anyway. Restaurant.com takes no responsibility for their products, and they won't even make changes to their product literature when they know that it is inaccurate!

Now I know better. When a company's site reads:

"NEITHER RESTAURANT.COM, ITS AFFILIATES NOR ANY OF THEIR RESPECTIVE EMPLOYEES, AGENTS, THIRD PARTY CONTENT PROVIDERS OR LICENSORS WARRANT THAT USE OF THE SITE WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED OR ERROR FREE; NOR DO THEY MAKE ANY WARRANTY AS TO (I) THE RESULTS THAT MAY BE OBTAINED FROM USE OF THIS SITE, OR (II) THE ACCURACY, RELIABILITY OR CONTENT OF ANY INFORMATION, SERVICE OR MERCHANDISE PROVIDED THROUGH THIS SITE OR THE MICROSITES...

NEITHER RESTAURANT.COM, NOR ITS AFFILIATES, INFORMATION PROVIDERS OR CONTENT PARTNERS SHALL BE LIABLE REGARDLESS OF THE CAUSE OR DURATION, FOR ANY ERRORS, INACCURACIES, OMISSIONS, OR OTHER DEFECTS IN, OR UNTIMELINESS OR UNAUTHENTICITY OF, THE INFORMATION CONTAINED WITHIN THIS SITE OR ANY OF THE MICROSITES, OR FOR ANY DELAY OR INTERRUPTION IN THE TRANSMISSION THEREOF TO THE END USER, OR FOR ANY CLAIMS OR LOSSES ARISING THEREFROM OR OCCASIONED THEREBY."

Solution: DON'T USE THE SITE!

Hit-or-miss is no way to sell your products or your services...I think from now on, I'd rather spend the extra hassle-free $15 on dinner and skip Restaurant.com altogether!