Welcome to City-Data.com Forum!
U.S. CitiesCity-Data Forum Index
Go Back   City-Data Forum > General Forums > Shopping and Consumer Products
 [Register]
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
View detailed profile (Advanced) or search
site with Google Custom Search

Search Forums  (Advanced)
Reply Start New Thread
 
Old 08-31-2011, 12:40 PM
 
Location: NC
2,905 posts, read 5,919,154 times
Reputation: 2152

Advertisements

So there's a restaurant that we've been eating at since it opened. We love it and the food is reasonably priced, plus they offer reward cards and sometimes toss in a free dessert or something for us. We have become friendly with the owner and her family and staff, and want to see the restaurant do well. Lately they offered a GroupOn discount, which is great, as it means we can eat there a bit more than we would have otherwise, but the question for this post is as follows:

Now that they are offering a Groupon "Now" offering (instantly redeemable coupons) and since that offer seems to be available every day lately, is it moral to use this essentially 50% coupon every single time we go in there (at least once a week) or would it be more acceptable to stick to the reward program and pay full price to the owners so that you can help them succeed? What do you think?

Generally three responses I expect:

1) Heck yes, use as many coupons as you can! You're not responsible for what amounts to charitable contributions to a restaurant and if they are offering the deal to the general public, you deserve to use them as much as they are available

2) I'm not sure - I hadn't come across this before and/or thought about it

3) No, it's not right and in the long run it will hurt the business and your new friends you want to see succeed

As an aside, we went there for lunch today and I decided against using the GroupOn for now, but I love eating there and would probably eat there more. I might discuss it with the owner, but she's so nice she'll probably say "Oh, I don't mind if you use it each time" or something like that.

So, C-D hive mind, give me your thoughts, please.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message

 
Old 08-31-2011, 01:46 PM
 
3,307 posts, read 9,377,607 times
Reputation: 2429
I see no problem with this.

The "Groupon Now" site is similar to restaurant.com, which has been in existence for a long time. You see a lot of people use those half-price gift certificates every time they go somewhere.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 08-31-2011, 01:49 PM
 
Location: NC
2,905 posts, read 5,919,154 times
Reputation: 2152
Good input, keep it coming. I thought for sure there'd be more opinions by now. Maybe people haven't run across this and/or had to think about it before. It's really bugging me.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 08-31-2011, 02:10 PM
 
Location: southwestern PA
22,557 posts, read 47,614,734 times
Reputation: 48143
If the restaurant does not limit the offer (once per moth for example), then there's no reason for YOU to self-impose limits.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 08-31-2011, 02:34 PM
 
23,587 posts, read 70,358,767 times
Reputation: 49216
Once per moth??? "Waiter, there is a fly in my soup!" "Shhh, all the other moths will want one."
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 08-31-2011, 02:35 PM
 
Location: NC
2,905 posts, read 5,919,154 times
Reputation: 2152
Quote:
Originally Posted by harry chickpea View Post
Once per moth??? "Waiter, there is a fly in my soup!" "Shhh, all the other moths will want one."
I've been called worse!
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 08-31-2011, 02:58 PM
 
Location: Southern California
3,113 posts, read 8,376,539 times
Reputation: 3721
As a former waitress I say go ahead and use the coupon, just make sure you tip your server well!

I was always very grateful to have customers who thought it through, and made sure they still tipped me as though they had paid full price for their meal. 50% off on the meal shouldn't mean 50% off on the tip, you know?
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 08-31-2011, 03:02 PM
 
Location: NC
2,905 posts, read 5,919,154 times
Reputation: 2152
Quote:
Originally Posted by bouncethelight View Post
As a former waitress I say go ahead and use the coupon, just make sure you tip your server well!

I was always very grateful to have customers who thought it through, and made sure they still tipped me as though they had paid full price for their meal. 50% off on the meal shouldn't mean 50% off on the tip, you know?
Of course - I have never, and will never, tip on anything other than "what the total would have been" before deals and coupons. I usually tip 20% unless service was just average, then it's 15%. Has to be pretty poor before I'll do 5-10%.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 08-31-2011, 05:32 PM
 
Location: Alexandria, VA
15,142 posts, read 27,760,706 times
Reputation: 27255
I thought when you purchased a Groupon coupon, it was for a one time use? How could you used it endlessly?
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 09-01-2011, 09:09 AM
 
Location: NC
2,905 posts, read 5,919,154 times
Reputation: 2152
Quote:
Originally Posted by Flamingo13 View Post
I thought when you purchased a Groupon coupon, it was for a one time use? How could you used it endlessly?
Yes, but if they make the same offer available every day, you could just keep buying them over and over again. I'm not referring to using the same one you bought multiple times, I'm referring to buying the same offer whenever you go to the same restaurant.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.

Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.


Reply
Please update this thread with any new information or opinions. This open thread is still read by thousands of people, so we encourage all additional points of view.

Quick Reply
Message:


Over $104,000 in prizes was already given out to active posters on our forum and additional giveaways are planned!

Go Back   City-Data Forum > General Forums > Shopping and Consumer Products
Similar Threads

All times are GMT -6. The time now is 06:41 AM.

© 2005-2024, Advameg, Inc. · Please obey Forum Rules · Terms of Use and Privacy Policy · Bug Bounty

City-Data.com - Contact Us - Archive 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 - Top