We hear the coupon biz isn’t doing so well.  People are tired of the daily emails, and customers are not returning to pay full price once they’ve enjoyed their bargain.  So merchants are unhappy too.

Nevertheless, when good friends said they had bought a cut-rate brunch coupon for a local hotel, we agreed to join them. 

It was not a flawless experience.  When our friends didn’t come by to get us on time, we thought they were held up in traffic.  Eventually, we called. They had forgotten. 

I called the restaurant, and they told me they could take us later, implying (I thought) that although they were jam-packed, they would seat us.  When we arrived, the restaurant was nearly empty.  We wondered why.

Although we always have a great time with our friends, the food was mediocre and the service wasn’t much better.  Peter summed it up, “When we came in, we wondered why the restaurant was so empty.  When we left, we wondered why it was so full.”

So we saved some money at a restaurant we really didn’t want to go to and didn’t like. 

No wonder the coupon biz isn’t doing so well.