Red Sauce
 

Went to Red Sauce on sat 9/19 with my wife for dinner. We had a gift certificate that we won at the soup kitchen fundraiser, for a dinner for two. It was issued by Red Sauce in 5/09. Before we ordered I showed the certificate to the waitress. She went over to the owner/manager to inform him that we were using same. He told her to tell us that they would not honor the certificate for a dinner for two. He said that the manager who issued it was no longer with the company, but he would give us a credit towards our meal of $50. As we had no choice in the matter I accepted it. When I got home I realized that the manager who refused the terms of issuence on the certificate, had in fact put his business card in the envelope when it was donated to charity. Seems to me to be a pretty poor thing to do, make a donation and then change the terms when somebody tries to redeem it.

Complain!
 

Just out of curiosity, how much was the dinner?

Red Sauce
 

Not real sure I understand why this is such a problem. How much more than $50 can you spend at a Spaghetti and Meatballs joint anyway. Why not just say thanks for the $50 since you started with nothing. Be gracious and don't make a big deal about it!

WHAT? (Are you the owner of the restaurant trying to mitigate your unthinkable actions) You think it's okay for a restaurant (or any business for that matter) to issue a gift certificate then not honor it? It's like winning the lottery then having the state refuse to pay up. Or your employer giving you a paycheck then having the check bounce.

It's no wonder why so many people are taken in by scammers.

Don't be a doormat. Shout it from the rooftops if you are ripped off. TOTV is the rooftop.

Respectfully request that you read between the lines of my original comments. The initial Post clearly indicated "Dinner for Two". Based on my knowledge of Red Sauce there are virtually no 2 dinners that cost more than $50. Only way $50 might be a problem is if items were added to "dinner for two" such as expensive starters, a couple of Martinis or perhaps even a bottle of expensive wine. Any such add on items , in my opinion, would constitute excessive spending over and above "dinner for two" which might be construed as taking advantage of a good thing. If you feel that these add on items should be included in a "dinner for two" offer then I stand corrected.

Please hold your horses until we get the whole story here.

Maybe it's just the Libra coming out in me (although I don't buy into horoscope stuff, it is kind of fun sometimes) but when I read this I felt like we needed a little more info.

The obvious question to me was could this have been a $50 gift certificate? It seems like that would have been a nice amount for a gift certificate and would have covered two meals.

Also, I cannot imagine that a restaurant would give away an open-ended amount gift certificate. My goodness. Human Nature being what it can be sometimes, just think what could happen if an open-ended gift certificate fell into the hands of some really tacky person who brought a giant purse full of plastic bags. I just don't think open-ended amount gift certificates would make sense for a restaurant owner to go around giving away.

There had to be a value on that gift certificate. Surely? Was is worth 50 bucks maybe and we are just into semantics here?

Before this thread gets turned into a spaghetti western, complete with a showdown and shootout, please tell us what the certificate was worth in the first place.

Just trying to get all the facts here before I factor this in to decide how I feel about Red Sauce.

Judge Judy Boomer

'79-

While I hear what you are saying, dinner for two is dinner for two. Frequently gift certificates not for a specific dollar amount do limit the drinks/wine and rarely include a gratuity.

c6 -

I still think of a meal out as a treat. The refusal to honor the certificate had to dampen the evening for you a bit. I also would call or stop by to chat with one of the owners. They can't fix a problem they are unaware of...

Please post the resolution here. Red Sauce is one of the best restaurants around and I would hate to see it slammed if they remedy the situation.

k

I believe the original post said that conversation was had with the owner/manager. That was the person who made the wrong decision.

Could you imagine winning a "cruise for two" then finding out after you are on the ship that it wasn't really a cruise for two, it was just for a maximum of $200 or so.

JLK

This seems a bit like a tempest in a teapot.

If the bill wasn't over $50, the OP's receieved their free dinner - Maybe it was just a misunderstanding on how the certificate was/should have been handled by the restaurant?

Please re-read the post. The certificate was presented "before" the meal. That was when they were told that they didn't have a gift certificate for "dinner for two". They were told they had a $50 gift certificate.

All that aside, it's isn't a tempest in a teapot. You can't let this stuff get a foothold. I can't imagine a situation where it's okay to say, "oh, my gift is less than you promised, oh, that's okay, I don't want to create any problems. You do whatever you want to me."

If there was no limit on the certificate, then they could have ordered a $100 entree if they wanted.

Jan,

Owner/manager could indicate that the poster was unsure of which was correct or that the person was in fact both. Personally, I would want to speak to that person myself - not via a waitress...

Bob,

I agree that the free dinner may have been received - but what is right is right. One appetizer, a shared salad, two dinners and a shared dessert plus a glass of wine each could cost well over $50.

Boomer, I agree that most gift certificates like this do have limits - such as up to a certain amount, excluding alcoholic drinks, etc.

k

Limitations
 

The Great Mystery of the Red Sauce Gift Cert
 

There has to be more to this thing.

Why on earth would a restaurant give away an open-ended gift certificate? It makes no sense to me. Even if it were the case because the intention was to do this only one time, other charities would be lined up fast, expecting the same kind of donation. It would turn into a no-win for the restaurant. Geez. Put a limit on it. What was this thing? A bad plan? An oversight? A DUH factor? A passive-aggressive employee who wrote the certificate? What's wrong with this picture? Did that gift certificate really come without limits?

But if the bearer of the certificate did indeed hold in his hand a ticket to a completely free ride, I would hope that the owner would honor it and that reason and class would prevail on both sides of the certificate. (and I would also hope that the tip would be given by the diners to the server based on the stated costs from the menu)

And I also have no idea why I have developed such a fascination for this thread this morning. I am not even there yet. But I will be and I know I will need a pasta fix sometime during that time and I have read that TOTVers really like Red Sauce and so I am trying to solve this great mystery and I feel like some clues are missing. And I think without those pieces of information, the besmirching should not begin. (Or dare I say The Ransom of Red Sauce with a nod to O. Henry, of course, and an apology for a hideously lame pun.)

Also.....I know deep in my heart that my fascination really comes from the fact I am just plain goofing off here, like I have been for almost two years. -- Geez. Double-Geez -- when I should be getting some work done.

So I really am going to go get some work done now. But I hope when I return to look back in at TOTV, there will be more clues here about this mysterious gift certificate.

Miss Boomer Marple

One never has to apologize for doing the right thing. Doing the wrong thing haunts you for a long time, sometimes forever.

PS It is my notion that the "former employee" is a "former employee" partly because the "former employee" did such things as hand out open ended gift certificates.