Deal Or No Deal

Groupon, Wagjag, LivingSocial, Koopon, GaggleUp, YourCityDeals....the list goes on. Everyone is out there offering you deals these day. You buy a coupon online that can save you up to 90% off, in some cases. Every deal is different, so you have to read the offer carefully.

 I bought one last summer that got us into a play, 2 for the price of one.  That probably wasn't such a good deal since the play was in Kingston. We spent then night at a hotel, which was more expensive than a second ticket would have been, but it was still a worthwhile weekend, as we went to the Sheep Dog Trails in that same area the following day. Buying that coupon was just a jumping off place to plan a weekend away.

Then, in October I purchased another deal. I paid LivingSocial $15 for up to $30 worth of fare at a local restaurant we had never been to before.  We went tonight. 

We went to the Lock 17 Bistro in Burritts Rapids.  I checked with the waiter to make sure the coupon I had downloaded was good even for the nightly special, and he said, "Oh sure. That's $30 off the top of whatever you want."  We ended up not choosing the specials after all. The waiter brought us a platter of buns seasoned with rosemary while we waited for our meals. I chose the half rack of ribs, with a lovely salad and some really good fries that were cut twice as wide, but regular thickness.  My hubby had a full pound of garlic shrimp, with roasted potatoes and a nice crisp tender veggie medley.  Since we were barely over our $30 at that point, we decided to share a dessert and chose the black forest cake.  I'm glad we decided to share as it was definitely big enough for both of us. It was also delicious!  It was a lovely meal, and we went early enough to have the place to ourselves for the first half of our dinner. That was nice, as I'm rather hard of hearing and a noisy environment doesn't help. The restaurant and bar were filling up fast though, by the time we were ready to leave.

Do I think these deals are worth it?  You bet I do, not only for us, but for the businesses that offer them too.  Buying this coupon saved us $15 off on that lovely meal, and you can be sure we'll be going back. Coaxing us in with this kind of deal,  turns out to be very good advertising.....especially since I'm telling you about it here, and will likely post a review on http://www.411.ca/ too.