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The Coupon Whisperer: Restaurant.Com Review
The Coupon Whisperer ^ | February 17, 2011 | PJ-Comix

Posted on 02/17/2011 5:22:16 AM PST by PJ-Comix

Most of you have probably heard of Restaurant.Com and are probably wondering if the hype lives up to the reality. In a simple word: Yes! However, there are certain things you must be aware of to properly use your Restaurant.Com gift certificates...

(Excerpt) Read more at couponwhisperer.blogspot.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Food; Humor
KEYWORDS: restaurantcom
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To: woodbutcher1963

I seem to remember a minimum charge amount.
***********************************************
Every restaurant sets their own rules on usage of the coupons,most have a minimum purchase excluding tip and alcohol that is about 2x the face value and they usually include the tip (on the pre discounted bill).


41 posted on 02/17/2011 12:51:46 PM PST by Neidermeyer
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To: PJ-Comix

I won a couple of $10 GC to restaurant.com and have to remember to check it out to see if I can use them.

Found a coupon today for Free Pepsi Max 2 Liter with a Doritos purchase if anyone’s interested. I don’t like either LOL

http://coupons2.smartsource.com/smartsource/index.jsp?Link=YRMK5ZAV4DIXE


42 posted on 02/17/2011 3:27:56 PM PST by Trillian
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To: discostu

“I tip well, having them remember me is a good thing”.

Ya, they won’t spit in your food when they know they shook you down and turned you into a lavish tipper...

Seriously, do you know how ridiculous your justification for a large tip sounds?

Want a tip? GO TO COLLEGE AND GET A GOOD JOB and leave the waitressing to kids & students. Sheese.....

I mean COME ONE! It’s WAITING ON TABLES! There is NOTHING wrong with 10% PERIOD!


43 posted on 02/17/2011 3:49:43 PM PST by macquire
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To: macquire

I went to college and I have a good job, which is why I can afford to eat out and not be a cheapskate on the tip. I also did my time in food service along the way, I know how hard the work is, how thankless he work is, and how many cheapskate jerks there are in the world who seem to only go to restaurants to try to ruin the day of the staff.

There’s nothing wrong with paying for good service. If you think that’s a ridiculous justification then you should probably go find someplace with even less capitalism than the US.

There’s lots wrong with a 10% tip, it shows you’re cheap and a curmudgeon. And the fact that you feel the need to shout shows you know there’s clearly something wrong with the behavior.


44 posted on 02/18/2011 7:22:50 AM PST by discostu (this is definitely not my confused face)
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To: discostu

Not that long ago 10% was considered adequate. Then 15% was considered adequate. Now some are even talking of 20% being needed.....

Nothing really has changed in all that time has it, other than meal prices have gone up WHICH HAS AUTOMATICALLY MEAN A RAISE FOR THE WAITERS GETTING 10% OF THE MEAL VALUE!

Face it. When a good meal was $10 not that long ago they got a dollar. Now a good meal is $15 and they get a dollar and a half and YOU think they need three or so... unbelievable...

PS: I waited on tables for a summer also so I know what it is like not to get a tip...but you see the difference between you and me is ..... I NEVER EXPECTED ONE. When I was hired they flat out told me not to count on the tips. If I wasn’t happy with the hourly wage don’t take the job.


45 posted on 02/18/2011 1:28:41 PM PST by macquire
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To: macquire

Actually the last time 10% was acceptable was a VERY long time ago.

the real question is why would you eat food from somebody you have so little respect for you won’t give them another buck or two?


46 posted on 02/18/2011 1:57:15 PM PST by discostu (this is definitely not my confused face)
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To: discostu

Because it is MY money that is why.

You are a perfect example of the people that bought into the idea “we need to tip more” when in fact it was precisely so restaurant owners could keep wages down.


47 posted on 02/18/2011 3:55:07 PM PST by macquire
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To: PJ-Comix
About those restaurants that went out of business. Check and see if they will allow you to exchange them for certificates for active restaurants.

They did for me. I had two for a local Bar-B-Q joint that burned down. They gave me a code so I could exchange them.

48 posted on 02/18/2011 6:40:01 PM PST by Harmless Teddy Bear (When all you have is bolt cutters & vodka everything looks like the lock on Wolf Blitzer's boathouse)
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To: PJ-Comix

There are places like http://www.mypoints.com where you can earn gift cards/certificates for free. I usually go for the bookstore gift cards, but restaurant.com is an option, too.


49 posted on 02/18/2011 9:32:27 PM PST by Ellendra (Profanity is the mark of a conversational cripple.)
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To: macquire

But again, if you have that little respect for them why eat the food they make. The food you ingest is a hell of a lot more important than a couple bucks in your pocket.

You’re the perfect example of the kind of person that makes food service such horrible work. You act like they’re out to get you, that it’s all some great conspiracy trying to steal from you. If your money is that precious to you don’t eat out. Because you’re probably there complaining the entire time anyway, you’re not having fun because you think you’re being robbed, the people you’re with aren’t having fun because you’re grumpy, and your server knows the whole time you’re going to leave a nothing tip so they’re trying to avoid even going near your table.

You forget that if restaurant owners paid more they’d have to charge more. So that precious 8% you don’t want to give would just be in the bill. I’d rather pay it to the server, they’re the people doing all the hard work, and when I give it to them directly they get the option of not giving some to our overreaching government. I consider it that they partially work for me, I can tell because I’m paying them. And I believe strongly that you get what you paid for in this world. You pay very little for crappy service, I pay a bit more and tend to get great service.


50 posted on 02/19/2011 7:25:58 AM PST by discostu (this is definitely not my confused face)
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To: discostu

“And I believe strongly that you get what you paid for in this world. You pay very little for crappy service, I pay a bit more and tend to get great service.”

So did you make an intellectual decision that 20% gets you the maximum value you can possibly get or are you not following your own advice and getting even better service for 25%, or 30%, or 35%, etc... Get my drift? You made the decision that 20% is the breaking point between your desire for good service and what you would be willing to pay for that good service.

I made the decision that I will not get one bit more better service at 10% than I would at 15% a long time ago and to date I believe I am right and you are wrong.


51 posted on 02/19/2011 7:56:29 AM PST by macquire
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To: macquire

In my line of work I interact with a lot of restaurant owners. Few are wealthy. Most restaurants just get by.

I brought up the subject of tipping to one local owner. Told him I didn’t like it. He showed me his books, how much he was currently paying his wait staff and we calculated how much his $8.00 hamburger dinner would cost if he had to pay them all the regular minimum wage and the extra taxes that go along with it. It came to just over $10. Then we calculated what the same dinner would cost if he were paying the wait staff what they currently earn in hourly plus tips. It was over $12 per dinner.

The tipping system is actually a pretty clear form of capitalism, as long as you truly participate. I will pay less to a poor performing server and hopefully they will realize this is not the work for them and find another job. I will reward a good server who will hopefully keep up the good work. If d-bags under tip and do not reward good behavior, who do we have to blame for surly wait staff who feel under appreciated and treat customers poorly?

You, sir, should NEVER eat out again until you fully understand this concept. Leaving a 10% tip is the equivalent of telling someone they have done a poor job. A 15% tip is for good, if not necessarily inspired work. I tip 20% when the waiter or waitress has gone out of their way to make my evening a pleasure. This is the way it is. If you do not agree with this system DON’T EAT OUT!


52 posted on 02/19/2011 8:15:26 AM PST by Crusher138 ("Then conquer we must, for our cause it is just")
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To: Crusher138

“You, sir, should NEVER eat out again until you fully understand this concept. Leaving a 10% tip is the equivalent of telling someone they have done a poor job. A 15% tip is for good, if not necessarily inspired work. I tip 20% when the waiter or waitress has gone out of their way to make my evening a pleasure. This is the way it is. If you do not agree with this system DON’T EAT OUT!”

So tell me oh enlightened one, who decided that what was a good tip just a couple of decades ago is now an insult? Do you not understand that, with comparable service, when that hamburger cost $5 20 years ago and the waiter got 50 cents, he now gets $1 for a $10 hamburger; an AUTOMATIC RAISE?

We eat out frequently. I leave 10%. That is more than enough and your restaurant friends should be ashamed for not paying decent wages, instead leaving the compensation up to customers who may leave from 0 to 20%.

In fact, maybe I will start up a web site to encourage more americans to fight this stupid belief that 10% is not an adequate tip for superior service...!


53 posted on 02/19/2011 8:23:36 AM PST by macquire
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To: macquire

I made the intellectual decision to be the kind of guy that improves the day of the service industry people I deal with periodically. So I’m nice to them, I don’t look down on them, and when tips are involved I tip well. Today I went to lunch and tipped over 25%, it was a $35 bill and I paid 45, I generally aim for a nice convenient number to pay, not a hard percentage. Service was good, and the food was good, and in spite of the fact that the place was very crowded everything that should be fast was fast and everything that should be slow was slow. See I walk in being nice and I get good service.

You made the decision to be a cheapskate and have an adversarial relationship with the staff. Everything else you’ve said is just excuse mongering for you being the kind of customer everybody in the service industry dreads. you’re partially right in that it really doesn’t matter how much YOU tip, because you think they’re out to rip you off and spit in your food. When you walk in with that kind of attitude everybody that’s worked in food service for more than 6 months can smell it, and they will give you crappy service because they don’t want to be around unpleasant people that act like they’re the enemy. No amount that you tip afterwards will fix that. But if you decided to be more generous in both attitude AND money, and walked in more friendly you’d get better service.

And if you actually had worked food service like you said you would know that, you would know the smell of a PITA cheapskate customer and you would know that you reek of that. You are the customer you hated most. Congratulations.


54 posted on 02/19/2011 2:13:50 PM PST by discostu (this is definitely not my confused face)
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To: discostu

I love you too.

Cheers.


55 posted on 02/19/2011 3:31:10 PM PST by macquire
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To: macquire

Just remember, anything bad that’s happening to you at a restaurant you’re earning and deserving with your crappy attitude and cheapskate spending. You should try going in and being the kind of customer you enjoyed serving. It’s a whole different world, a lot more fun for everybody.


56 posted on 02/19/2011 3:46:16 PM PST by discostu (this is definitely not my confused face)
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To: mplsconservative

I always tip 20%.


57 posted on 02/19/2011 4:00:38 PM PST by Conservativegreatgrandma
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To: discostu

The service I get is wonderful 95% of the time we eat out.

The food is near perfect 95% of the time we eat out.

I feel good about being a generous guy when that happens and leaving 10% of my hard earned money.

Let’s see, where shall we eat out tonight...?


58 posted on 02/19/2011 4:02:57 PM PST by macquire
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To: macquire

The service and food I get are wonderful almost all the time. I maybe have one loser experience a year. You’re not a generous guy leaving a 10% tip, you’re a cheapskate when you do that. It’s a simple fact, and you even know it, that’s why you’ve shouted so often when “defending” your position.


59 posted on 02/19/2011 4:14:44 PM PST by discostu (this is definitely not my confused face)
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To: PJ-Comix; RummyChick

Actually found an Arnicare Gel and one last Diabetes mag this morning.
Not crazy about this weeks Wags, but next week looks interesting.


60 posted on 02/20/2011 8:40:38 AM PST by Holen1
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