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Groupon: worth the indignity?

Groupon, the coupon-selling site that hit big in 2010, is a wonderful way to save money dining out – about 5 per cent of the time.

I write this from a well-studied position. I’ve used dozens of Groupons and experimented with several of its 500 or so imitators, and about half the coupons are for restaurants. For the uninitiated, the idea of Groupon is that enough people buy coupons (group + coupons = groupon) for discounts at a local business, and the volume of sales makes the transaction worthwhile for the vendor. (Read my column about the site after it landed in Toronto this past summer.)

But from my experience, there are only three outcomes when using a Groupon, and two of them end up costing you money.

Paying to be there

In Groupon scenario number one, I was lured into buying a $30 Groupon for $50 off at a sushi restaurant in north Toronto – a saving of $20, or so I thought.

We arrived at the dingy spot to find lovely service and a cheap menu. The food, however, was wretched. We ended up putting back about $32 worth of sashimi and Sapporo before we couldn’t take it any more.

With Groupon, you often pay the tax and tip, which we did here. That cost about $10. Add that to the $30 coupon (you can’t go back for the unused $28) and I paid $40 for about $42 worth of food and service, a saving of $2 – not even the cost of a single token – for going to an out-of-the-way restaurant I would normally never go near.

Unexpected, not inexpensive

The second situation Groupon put me into was a soaking by surprise. I bought a Groupon for great grub at a classy place, I was certain. And $25 for $50 was a nice saving for a higher-end tapas restaurant.

But “tapas” is Spanish for “scam” in this town. Portions were so minuscule, my $50 was a drop in the bucket. I racked up a $150 tab when I’d only budgeted, based on the menu, for $80. And I still had to face the indignity of using a coupon at a restaurant. Again, I would’ve steered clear if I hadn’t been sold the illusion that it was a deal.

Real meal deals

I’ve saved plenty of bucks using Groupons to eat, but it’s unpredictable. To consistently save, I have to curb my appetite for trying new restaurants or just use Groupons less often.

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