My opinion on half price gift certificates.

[Kimberlyfamilyfv]

I just wanted to tell you all about my experiences at motown this past week.


We went to Motown twice last week because we had those lovely half price gift certificates.

First time we went to Motown it was about 5:00pm in the afternoon. I made the mistake of showing my gift certificate to the waiter as soon as he presented himself to the table. From the minute he saw them he tried to sell us on the most expensive items on the menu. No sale. We ordered our drinks, appetizer, and the our dinners. The total came very close to 50.00 dollars. But thats not truly what i want to talk about. The waiter all but ignored us for the time we were there. We sat in a chair next to us with his back to us talking to the couple next to us. Our drinks were empty for nearly ten minutes and he was busy chatting with the couple next to us this made me mad. Finally, when he did get up he ignored us for another 5 minutes still empty drinks folks.
All though as you can see I was very upset with the service, I was very pleased with the taste of the food. It was very good. I would highly recommend the philly cheese steak. It was big enough for two with amble fries to share as well. My sons said the chicken fingers were very good on the childrens menu.

The second time were there we went about 12:00pm. A little smarter and wiser this time , I did not show the gift certificate until after we had eaten and the bill was presented. I feel this made all the difference in the service we received.


I just thought I would interject this idea for those of you who have the gift certificates. Don't offer that you have them until you pay with them. While they are a great deal, I did feel like I was being treated as a second class customer if they knew that I had them from the beginning. Where as, if I presented them at the end of the meal I feel like I got better service. This happened to me at all three restaurants. I had six of the certificates one for each day of my trip : 2 Hard Rock, 2 Nascar, 2 Motown in total. I don't think the level of service that you receive should be based on the method of payment. Because in the end the waiters still receive their tips based on the total amount spent and the level of service that they provide. I am a good tipper for good service and an excellent tipper for excellent service. Just because I paid with the gift certificates did not mean that I would not tip well.

These were my experiences just last week.


Kimberly

 

[Motherfletcher]

Thanks for the info. I see the Kitchen is the next 1/2 price cert. available. They will probably try to trap you for 2 meals too.

 

[JoniGirl]

Originally posted by Kimberlyfamilyfv
The waiter all but ignored us for the time we were there. We sat in a chair next to us with his back to us talking to the couple next to us. Our drinks were empty for nearly ten minutes and he was busy chatting with the couple next to us this made me mad. Finally, when he did get up he ignored us for another 5 minutes still empty drinks folks.

Kimberly

You should consider writing a letter using http://www.planetfeedback.com - they will send the letter for you, to the appropriate person at corporate. The company should know that this waiter could be losing them business.

 

[Prince Eric1]

Thanks for the tips and sorry they were like that. We've bought some for our August trip which unfortunately I feel that I have to show them when I go in because they have the letters from clear channel attached to them extending the expiration dates. I don't want to get done eating then have them say the certificates are expired even though we have the letters.

 

[AaronX]

Yeah, all this is true. Some of the places here don't let you use both of the certificates, which sucks. One place we used 4 of them, and it paid for the whole diner!

 

[adanpry]

Thabnks OP~

I will not show my 1/2 GC until the meal is over on my next trip. I normaly show coupons and Gc s before I place order in restaurants and occasionaly it does influence the service we receive. Shame though...

 

[BarbaraMB]

Do you think these certificates are worth getting? Can you use more than one? If I have a family of six eating I would like to use as many as I can. does this include drinks?

 

[Kimberlyfamilyfv]

Just wanted to say thanks for listening or reading as the case may be.


The certificates are a great value no doubt. And the food was great. That being said it was the service I received that I am most upset about when they knew I had the certificates before hand.


If you have them use them. If you want to save money buy them. They saved me a lot of money. For approx. $80 dollars I got 250 dollars worth of food. I never could of done a meal out every day without them. And with the knowledge that I now have I know how to get the best service, by simply presenting them after the meal.


Kimberly

 

[zaxmom]

I really doubt you got poor service because of the gift certificates. In my restaurant experience, the less someone pays for the meal, the more they tip. When we visit other restaurants and "friends" comp our meal, we always tip around 35-40% if not more. That is really the standard with restaurant employees. I ordered one of these certificates for a restaurant here at home and you could not tell that I paid 1/2 price for it. It was just a $50 gift card. I could have used it over a couple of visits. Maybe I was lucky. Did your CityWalk ones say they were Clearchannel? It is my guess you just got a really bad server.

 

[SpideyHulk24]

I have to disagree. When some servers see that you have a "special"certificate like the clear channel ones, they think you are cheap. AKA- Not a good tipper! That is wrong to think that way, but I think that is why Kim experienced that.

Thank you for sharing! It really is unfortunate that servers react that way.

 

[themepark]

I am sorry you had that experience. I have used the Clear Channel certificates a total of 5 times at Citywalk restaurants and didn't have any problems. I did not present it until time to pay though. That's unfortunate that servers choose to treat customers that way. They are only hurting themselves. I tend to tip more than I might normally when I have less to pay on my bill, but only if the service was good.

One thing I did notice about using these was that it seemed to take much longer for the servers to process our payments than normal at every meal. Maybe that had nothing to with the GCs, who knows.

 

[Aimeedyan]

I havent used those certificates, but have eaten out with my mom, who used to work in the hospitality business and get LOTS of gc's for sending people to diff restaurants, and the first thing they taught her in training was when redeeming those, wait until the check is presented before pulling them out - that you will receive less service.

She made a mistake one time I was with her, and had it out, and the waiter immediately changed his attitude towards us...

So I agree that its a common thing with restaurants. Now when I use them out, I wait until the end to present it...

Just a word to the wise - thanks for sharing it with those that may not have used them before!

 

[zaxmom]

Well, that just stinks. My husband is a restaurant manager, and I will have to tell him to make sure he tells the servers not to act this way. Like that will work, huh? I guess the certificates have Clear Channel on them or say something about 1/2 price. The one I got looked like a gift card. well, if I get my Kitchen one tomorrow, I won't pull it out untill we are paying. Thanks!

 

[jalex0831]

Thanks Kimberly. Sorry, you had to experience that. I appreciate the info. The one thing that I hate more than paying full price, is getting bad service. I'll be showing mine at the end of the meal. This is great information! I would have definitely complained to management.