Be careful of buying through "deal" sights

[LoveBWVVBR]

We have a deal site locally where you can get restaurant gift certificates for half of face value. They only sell so many per deal, and they sell out fast. I always buy the same place when it comes up, never have had any problems. Well, another place (a well-known chain) came up and I bought $100 worth for $50. I got the gift certificates which were location-specific, and less than 2 weeks later the place randomly went out of business. They HAD to have known that they were going under when they sold the gift certificates on this site. Since they were location-specific, I couldn't use them at another location of this chain. I emailed their corporate and never heard a thing back.

The good news is that the site had me send in the unused gift certificates and gave me a credit towards another restaurant. The bad news is that they flat-out said they can't vet the solvency of places that offer deals on their site. It makes me very wary of ever buying a "deal" for this type of thing again. Buyer beware I guess.

 

[Anthony1971]

This has always been a problem even on the well know sites... Let's just say if you are buying these certificates know where you are eating as the majority of places that come up are those that are starving for business... and there is usually a reason for it.... I have heard many similar stories but from the well known sites and even more stories about how bad the food and or service was...as above KNOW where you are eating and stick to that....

 

[LoveBWVVBR]

This has always been a problem even on the well know sites... Let's just say if you are buying these certificates know where you are eating as the majority of places that come up are those that are starving for business... and there is usually a reason for it.... I have heard many similar stories but from the well known sites and even more stories about how bad the food and or service was...as above KNOW where you are eating and stick to that....

ITA. A lot of the places on those sites are not places I'd even consider because they are starving for business (maybe for a reason). The one I always buy sells out in minutes because it is popular and isn't offered too often. This other place that I bought that went under was a chain (but probably franchised??). DH had eaten there and loved it, and my friend and her husband also raved about it. It came up and sold out fast as well. There weren't red flags at all, but yet it went under really quickly after selling those certificates. They had to have known that they weren't solvent even when they were on the deal site. I'm going to stop buying even from the "popular" places that show up on those sites now because of this experience.

 

[scrapquitler]

We have a deal site locally where you can get restaurant gift certificates for half of face value. They only sell so many per deal, and they sell out fast. I always buy the same place when it comes up, never have had any problems. Well, another place (a well-known chain) came up and I bought $100 worth for $50. I got the gift certificates which were location-specific, and less than 2 weeks later the place randomly went out of business. They HAD to have known that they were going under when they sold the gift certificates on this site. Since they were location-specific, I couldn't use them at another location of this chain. I emailed their corporate and never heard a thing back.

The good news is that the site had me send in the unused gift certificates and gave me a credit towards another restaurant. The bad news is that they flat-out said they can't vet the solvency of places that offer deals on their site. It makes me very wary of ever buying a "deal" for this type of thing again. Buyer beware I guess.

Check with the Department of Consumer Protection in your state. There may be some sort of state law that can help you in case there is an issue, or at the very least, they may have some consumer advocates who can intervene on your behalf and help find a solution.

Another idea would be to dispute the charge with your Credit Card issuer...they don't like when these things happen and often side with the consumer.

 

[Sagginit]

I had an issue a few years back with a deal on Amazon with a restaurant I went to all the time. They offered a meal deal but the restaurant swapped out the regular menu for much cheaper items than they normally sold. This was stated no where on the deal and wasn't even food they normally served. A manager came over and when we explained we were regulars so this was very underhanded of them to do something like that she apologized and basically said that the owner set up the deal so as the staff they had to follow the instructions but she agreed it was not actually a deal at all. She told us they had several other serious complaints and that Amazon would refund no questions asked if it was our first complaint to them. We did so but it left a very sour taste in our mouth.

I had previously bought similar deals with no issues but then found out sometimes the deal websites won't pay the restaurant out for months, and will sell over the amount agreed upon on top of it. So basically the business has to be able to afford to fulfill all offers for several months without the money for the supplies and labor. This can lead to them refusing to honor the deals after a few weeks or even going out of business if they try to keep up. The deal sites are often a broker and have no interest if the deal is legitimate, or even if the business is legitimate. I had a friend who was buying groupons for mani/pedis. She would buy them as they came up and use later. She went to one salon that flat out refused to take it. They told her that groupon oversold and they were not accepting any more of them. She had quite the fight with groupon to get a credit as they kept telling her the deal was legit. She had the same issue with 2-3 more salons in the area. The worst that I have heard of is sometimes the sites sell goods that are counterfeit and can be dangerous, such as beauty products.

Those deal sites became so popular that they quickly filled up with businesses taking advantage of people, or them taking advantage of businesses. I stopped using them except when I go on vacation and I want a museum or tour deal that I can't find elsewhere.