Entertainment Book a scam?

[travel-mum]

I recently purchased the 2015 Entertainment Book because of some of the coupons I knew I could use.
I called Milano's Pizzeria to order some pizzas for my grandson's birthday party last weekend, and I was told that the coupons in the book were put in there fraudulently. The book says the coupons are valid at all "participating" Milano's Pizzeria's, however my local restaurant told me that he personally knows the owner of the franchise, and the owner has been asking the Entertainment Book to take the coupons out for years, and that he had never consented to having them in the book. I was SOOOOOOOOOOOOO embarassed being told that I'm trying to use a fraudulent coupon. I e-mailed Entertainment Book with my complaint, but I never heard back from them.

I don't think I'll ever buy a book again. Why would I pay money for coupons and take the chance that the coupons I really want might be fraudulent?

I'm so disappointed with them.

[travel-mum]

I just received this e-mail from Entertainment.com

Thank you for contacting Entertainment and for bringing to our attention the fact that this merchant is not honoring the Entertainment program correctly. Please accept our sincerest apology for the difficulty you experienced. Please know that issues like these are not common occurrences. Entertainment takes complaints such as these very seriously. The Rules of Use state that Entertainment will not be responsible if an establishment refuses to honor a coupon, however, we will attempt to secure compliance. Entertainment will investigate this matter and try to resolve it as quickly as possible.

In order to pursue this merchant issue, we need some additional information from you. Please supply the following information:

Merchant Name:
Address, City, State, Zip Code:
Name of the staff member you spoke with:
Date you attempted to redeem the offer:
Offer you are attempting to use:
Reason they did not honor (if provided):

Many times, the best source of information regarding our merchants comes from our members. We appreciate your comments! Our staff will investigate and make changes to our database as needed.
Thank you for contacting Entertainment and we look forward to hearing back from you.

Kind regards,

Michael C.
Customer Service Representative

I responded to them with the information they requested.

I'll let you know if I ever hear back from them again.

[Zonny]

Wow, I've never heard of that happening! It's been a few years since we've bought one, but never been refused the use of one of the coupons. However, sometimes the coupons for car rentals and such, they aren't a deal; coupons are not normally good with any other promotion, and you can usually find sales/discounts better than the coupons in my experience.

Really though, wouldn't it have been in their best interest to accept the coupon anyhow? Not like you're going to ever go back there after that!

[GatineauGirl]

What a let-down for you. They shouldn't be allowed to get away with this.

I gave up buying the Entertainment book a few years ago because I found I found it was good for nothing. Sorry that you're being given the run-around. I would have felt embarrassed too.

[FallenPixels]

There are quite a few of these stories floating around where a single area participates and they put them in all of the books or they took part once and it appeared in future books. Most places just honor them bc they don't want to lose a customer

[travel-mum]

The pizzaria gave me a 10% discount, but that's far from the B1G1 in the book. And I ended up spending almost $60 in pizza.

[xlxo]

The only declines I've personally encountered was inconsistent "holiday" weekends policies where one restaurant would reject and another would accept. My thoughts...

• I never buy the Entertainment books in the summer. I wait for under $20 offers after Black Friday/Boxing Day.
• I walk into hotels/car rentals and ask what offers are best (AAA, Corporate, Entertainment) and use the book as leverage.
• Best score I did was at a restaurant that had a $40 coupon, they allowed me to stack an offer on my Blackberry Entertainment app. $80 savings paid for the $20 book. Then again, I was at a table with with 8 people and I was the only one with the Entertainment book.

[Dan in Canada]

Weird.....I have used coupons from the Entertainment book for years and never had an issue. I think if a vendor refuses to honour a coupon they'd be violating the terms of agreement with Entertainment (I would assume)

[FallenPixels]

Weird.....I have used coupons from the Entertainment book for years and never had an issue. I think if a vendor refuses to honour a coupon they'd be violating the terms of agreement with Entertainment (I would assume)

Except the vendors are saying they have no agreement with the Entertainment Book who are giving coupons without the vendors permission

[saidtecont]

I'm mixed up with something else

[shopperwho]

I tried to use one a few weeks ago and I called the number for the restaurant on the coupon and the person told me he closed the restaurant years ago.

[shopperwho]

Is there a trading post for the Books here on SC?

I have one for 2015 and would love to do some trades. I get these books every year and feel the guilt when I recycle so many at the end I haven't used.

Thanks