***WARNING*** CitySpree is having problems...

[TheLoneGunman]

People have reported various positive and negative things with CitySpree, but at present, there are a number of people (myself included) who have purchased Gift Certificates (and were charged for them), but they were never received.

Further, they have stopped answering their phones and aren't responding to mail inquiries.

Since this seems to be a growing trend and affects a number of people from all over, I would recommend that you don't purchase from them for the time being.

Further, if you are close to the 60 day window to dispute charges from them, I suggest that you do it now (after all, you can always withdraw the complaint if they do come through). Once you pass the 60 days, you permanently lose your chances.

[ski]

Thanks for the heads up. They're offering 90% off the actual price of the gift certificate, which says that they are probably up to something.

[blueberry muffin]

HEED THE WARNING I just mailed out 26 different credit card disputes. That's right...one for each unreceived gift cert (ordered and charged for the week of 6/6 - 6/13). Do you know how labor intensive that is??

[leenga]

The following is a list of places found not to accept certificates purchased through CitySpree.com

Curbside Cafe, 307 East Vista Way, Vista, CA
Tokaj Hungarian House, 1717 East Vista Way Suite 101, Vista, CA
Squished Eyeball Theater CA
Treadmill Outlet CA - All over $100 are being recalled
Monsoon Indian Gourmet - Long Beach, CA
Dalt's American Grill - Burbank, CA
Passage to India - Van Nuys, CA
New Orleans Cafe Huntington Beach CA
Herb's Black Forest Fountain Valley CA (questionable)
New Orleans Steak and Seafood CA
Capones Orange Co. CA
Chin's Chinese Kitchen Orange Co. CA
Entertainment Cafe Orange Co. CA
Ritz Inn Orange Co. CA
Hotel Huntington Beach Orange CA
Indias Tandoori Pico /Fairfax area
Shalimar ( also Indian Rest. ) -Culver city, CA.
Bay City Bar and Grill SF, CA
First Crush, SF, CA
Jianna , SF, CA
The Blue Monkey SF, CA(Went out of business)
Katia SF, CA (May stop honoring anytime)
The Buena Vista San Francisco, CA
Confetti le Choclatier San Francisco, CA (only 10 per mo.)
Riad Decor, Los Angeles, CA
Raintree Florist, CA
Morracan Imports, CA
Mamounia Restaurant, CA (restrictions)
The Groundlings Theatre, CA
California Cuisine, CA
China Grill, Los Angeles, CA
Animal Lovers in Torrance, Los Angeles, CA
Art USA Framing Factory Austin TX
Bakehouse Austin TX
C5 Steakhouse Austin TX (questionable)
Centennial Package Store Austin TX
Wheatsville Food Co-op Austin TX
el sol y la luna Austin TX
Zilker Park Boat Rentals Austin TX
Centennial Liquor Stop Austin TX (512) 478-4646
bark n purr pet center Austin TX
Sambet's Cajun Deli in Austin, TX
Unicorn Bed & Breakfast Orlando FL
Appletons Hometown Cafe Orlando, FL
Insta Jiffy Lube in Tampa, FL
The Melting Pot in Columbia, SC
Hampton Inn West Ashley, SC
Villiage Gourmet in Columbia, SC
La Costa Mexican Restaurant - Knoxville, TN
Mellow Mushroom - Knoxville, TN (questionable)
The Cancun Mexican Rest. on OakRidge Turnpike Knoxville, TN
Goldie's Deli Nashville, TN
Obie's pizza Nashville, TN
Bogeys's Souvenirs Nashville, TN
Steak Around, Nashville, TN
Blue Ribbon Grill,
Prime,
Las Margaritas Mexican
Domenicos - Cranberry, PA
Strride Rite Pittsburgh, Pa
the Fabioulus Cafe , NY
Puttescana, NYC, NY
VOX NYC, NY
Intermezzo NYC, NY
Blondies, NY
Cambria's Buffalo, NY
New World Record, Buffalo, NY (questionable)
Red Cat, NYC, NY
Shakespeare and Co in New York
State Street Candle and Mug in newburyport MA - (restrictions)
Nasturtiums, Boston, MA
Minsky's Restaurant Kansas City, MO (questionable)
Osteria Il Centro Kansas City, Mo (questionable)
Amedeus Portland, OR
Swagats Portland, OR
The Golden Mushroom in Detroit, MI
City Lights, Baltimore, MD

Cityspree Contacts:
Anna Acquisto 888-554-3463 X332 email: [email protected]
Davona Parker 888-554-3463 ext 208 email: [email protected]

When returning certificates send to:
Cityspree
423 Commerce Rd.
Vestal, NY 13850
Attn: Credit Dept.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/cityspree_group

[cratervalley]

Also add:

La Jolla Seafood Co, in Escondido, California.

They are still selling certs for this restaurant that has been out of business for a month.

[TheLoneGunman]

Brefs, San Francisco, CA

They have a nicely framed sign that says they won't accept them.

Verbally, they say Anne Stanton is a liar and a scam artist.

Anne was upset by this and said that she was a Harvard MBA, took first place in their business plan contest and was certainly not a scam artist. She also said she would sue them.

Brefs laughed.

Anne didn't sue. In fact, Brefs is still featured on the site.

[CEO]

Anne Stanton isn't actually liar and a scam artist. She's just inept! She hired too many over-paid "friends" who weren't qualified to run a business of that size, overspent investors money (like most of the recently dead dot-coms) and when the going got tough disappeared down south somewhere where I believe she has a house.

Too bad it was a good idea.

[TheLoneGunman]

GCs purchased in the past 2-3 weeks were never even charged to my cc (obviously they weren't mailed out either)

I sent in my Reg E claims (I have a debit not credit card)

Will wait and see about the other GCs

[cratervalley]

What are Reg E claims?

[TheLoneGunman]

Originally posted by cratervalley
What are Reg E claims?

When you dispute a credit card charge, but your credit card is really a debit card.

[cratervalley]

Thanks for the clarification! How do you proceed with filing a Reg E claim?

[TheLoneGunman]

I'm in a punchy mood and so I'll write you a sample dialog:

[note that the bad words have been toned down]

{ring, ring}

bank: First Bank of the Gunmen, how can I help you?
Me: Yo. I gots this here charge and like I never gets me my stuff!
bank: I can dig it. Well, we will gets you totally hooked up. How did they do this to ya?
Me: Well I types my credit card number in and they charged it
bank: Credit card? Don't you mean our fine "Visa Check Card"?
Me: straight up!
bank: Well, let's file a Regulation E claim so we can gets you some satisfaction
Mick Jagger: I can't get no satisfaction
Me: Ok, whatcha need?
Bank: just tell us what happened and how it happened.
Me: Well, look here see... I went to this site "CitySpree" and it is run by this biotch Anne Stanton and she like took my money but ain't sending me my gift certificate
bank: straight up. She sounds like a real biotch.
Me: Well, I didn't give her permission to do dat.
bank: I'm down with that. Well, here be the lowdown. In 5 business days we will give you back your green and then we will have 90 calendar days to rap with this biotch and then we will write you a letter and tell you what the hook up is. Ya dig?
Me: Right on.
bank: Peace out.

[cratervalley]

Thanks TLG :)

That was not only informative but interesting too!

[twiggyop]

That was great TLG. When I say LOL, I actually laughed out loud!

[ugotcarrie]

That was like way cood dude!

[Bukidog]

Gunman.... you are correct,,, I spoke to the Biaaaatch...and whoever wrote she is inept...well that is an understatement.

A certain Bidness that shall remain nameless is actually suing her personally...

Can you say...Kaka doodle doo ( I'm sure you can guess the name from this ) They just filed paperwork in The NYC Courthouse, according to my "Liar" friends...

Anne... retreat to that House..and file chapt. 11 but first...get me and lone gunman our Modafaukin certs!

[TheLoneGunman]

According to sources in the know, they ALREADY filed Bankruptcy on July 7, 2001

Since they charged my credit for two purchases AFTER this date, they are NOT protected for those transactions by the bankruptcy and will have to pay me in full. As far as the rest, I will need to try some innovative legal tactics (since you can't sue someone in BK for actions they committed before the filing)

My plan is to go after Anne personally since she did some things that appear to "pierce the corporate veil" (legal jargon for making herself personally liable). I also plan to go after Harvard Business School. Chances are HBS will get the case thrown out, but the costs and the badwill involved will likely convince Anne to pay personally.

It was also rumored that local merchants are being sent bankruptcy letters and so they will stop honoring the GCs.

[alyosha]

Not so fast, I just (7/22/01) used a $25 GC at Dominico's in Cranberry, which is on the list, no problem. Over time I used two there with no problems. I also used about $300 worth of them so far with a 100% efficiency, I always leave a good tip and never try to use two at a time. I highly suspect that a lot of those reports that some certificates are not accepted are from those who overbid, or didn't get GC as cheap as they thought they could and now those biotch's are trying to cut down on competition. I think it is plain wrong. It was a good deal for me so far, I don't want to contribute to demise of this deal by spreading lies. It always took cityspree about a month to mail the cert's, so if you don't want to wait, that's fine, but I highly suspect that they might reapply the charges once they send the GC's and will provide the proof to CC company that they sent you them. CC companies do have the right to reverse the credit after investiogation.
Anyway, i am torn apart on one hand, the more rumors that cityspree is bad out there , the easier it is to bid on the cert's, but on the other hand if nobody will buy them in other cities than mine, I think cityspree will go out of business, good bye good deal.
I am sorry for those who truely had problems with cityspree, but I can imagine that there could be problems with some of the merchants, since the enterprise is huge. I think that big cities might be more prone to problems, since when people got there hands on those GC and all showed up in a short period of time, they could bankrupt some smaller businesses and scared them in stopping relationship with cityspree.

[cratervalley]

I am even on sentiments towards CitySpree.

The only problem I see is lots of people getting freaked out and disputing 10-20 $4-5 charges on their credit card bills and thus hitting CitySpree with $200-400 in just dispute charge fees along (most merchant accounts charge anywhere between $20-25 for chargeback fees).

This will surely put them under quicker than them just doling out $2 gift certificates in volume.

[Bukidog]

Lone Gunman....if you can get the Biotch someway...do it!.

I have never gotten a credit she "Personally" promised me back in February.


I myself, will be sad, as I've used these certs in the past without a problem at Koo Koo Roo ( over 500$ worth ) in the past 4 months...

I wonder why they just dont print the damn certs and send them...


To all those that were screwed.... Try talking to Kathi Wurtenberg...she works there.. call the toll free and ask for her personally.... good luck.

BrainFreeze..----Mountain Dew slurpee with Coke is the Shiznit!!

[TheLoneGunman]

Originally posted by cratervalley
I am even on sentiments towards CitySpree.

The only problem I see is lots of people getting freaked out and disputing 10-20 $4-5 charges on their credit card bills and thus hitting CitySpree with $200-400 in just dispute charge fees along (most merchant accounts charge anywhere between $20-25 for chargeback fees).

This will surely put them under quicker than them just doling out $2 gift certificates in volume.


Everyone that I am personally aware of who is disputing charges has suffered directly because of CitySpree. Either they have not received the certificates (weeks after being charged for them) or they received the certificates and they were dishonored (even though the rules were followed).

Banks do not immediately honor these disputes, they actually investigate them and if the company is successful, then they charge the customer (I have been on both sides of these disputes a number of times). If the business is at fault, then it is their own fault for any extra fees. If they shipped the GC and then the customer changes their mind, the bank won't give you credit.

CitySpree personally called each merchant that I had a problem with and verified that they wouldn't accept the GCs. They know there is a problem and only after they refused the promised refund am I complaining.

I have probably lost about $500 on GCs that I received but now won't be honored (and it is too late to dispute)

[alyosha]

Hocket smockey- $500- are you talking in the GC value or the price you payed for them?

[alyosha]

Hockey smockey- $500- are you talking in the GC value or the price you payed for them?

[johnnymk]

Who has the money I sent to Cityspree? Is it in escrow until I use the gift certificate or has it already been paid to the merchant?
I have spent around $70 in the past several months and have received all of them but haven't used any of them yet. Does that mean I am out of luck if they have filed for bankruptcy?

[alyosha]

Originally posted by johnnymk
Who has the money I sent to Cityspree? Is it in escrow until I use the gift certificate or has it already been paid to the merchant?
I have spent around $70 in the past several months and have received all of them but haven't used any of them yet. Does that mean I am out of luck if they have filed for bankruptcy?
FWIW:
Cityspree has a contract with every merchant featured on its site. The contract is to provide web hosting for the merchants ad and info page on cityspree. The contract provides for cityspree to sell gift certificates on its auction site with the face value of the web hosting services provided. One other (highly disputed issue) is that cityspree has the right to sell at any time up to the one year worth of certificates, which I believe flooded some of the smaller merchants in the bigger areas (NYC, SF). So to answer your question directly, as far as I understand, merchant does not get paid the money you paid for the GC, nor does they know how much you paid. You can get this certs cheap and cityspree can still make money because this web hosting cost to cityspree is low and gets smaller the more merchants they can subscribe. But look at the other side- it doesn't cost a restaurant 25$ to prepare a $25 dollar entrie. So it is like this scheme lets you to pay the cost of the dinner rather than a full price.
The bancrupcy issue- I am not a lawyer, but from what other people said, and what makes sense to me - they are in chapter 11, meaning restructuring- which means they still have the same financial responsibilities as well as the merchants they have a contract also have the same responsibilies. I can imagine that some of the merchants decided that this bankrupcy filing is a good time to back out of the contract with cityspree, but what do you expect they are chefs, not lawyers. (don't tell me they could hire ones- they didn't do it to check the contract with cityspree :) I also suspect the the GC should be honored even if the cityspree goes out of business- cause they are payment for the services cityspree rendered to the merchant.
All I can say I had only one problem with a cityspree certificate and it was one for the fitness club, and they took it without problem but it took them months to post it on my account, but that's their fault, not cityspree, and I resolved the problem after meeting with a manager.
All my certs were honored so far, many after the bankrupcy filing.
Now if there is no sign about certificates posted in the restaurant I think you don't even have to make an issue about it, have your dinner, get the check, put the GC and the amount sufficient for the tip, tax, alcohol in the order in cash, and leave. If they think cityspree defrauded them, let them deal with cityspree (they have legal insurances, unions and associations and such protecting them), when they refuse to take the certs the merchants put the blame of their bad business move on you.
Now at the end of the long post- analogy, remember cyberrebate- well, it could be the same happening here, there were always people warning about them and people saying that they made money on them, blah blah blah. Use yor own judgement, don't expect it to be a free lunch, it is just what it is -a cheap lunch from time to time. Don't buy too many GC's so that you can't sleep at night worrying about cityspree going out of business.

[alyosha]

Another thing- about the merchants whining that the deal turned out to be more taxing on them than they thought when they signed on with cityspree- why don't they go on the web and bid for their own certs- they'll get them cheap, and save themselves from having to loose money on waiting on us :)

[TheLoneGunman]

Originally posted by alyosha
Hocket smockey- $500- are you talking in the GC value or the price you payed for them?

Money I paid out. I have a few high dollar GCs (ex. $250 and $400) and this is back when I was paying 25% instead of the present 10%

[alyosha]

Originally posted by TheLoneGunman

Originally posted by alyosha
Hocket smockey- $500- are you talking in the GC value or the price you payed for them?

Money I paid out. I have a few high dollar GCs (ex. $250 and $400) and this is back when I was paying 25% instead of the present 10%
Yeah, I forgot about those. I passed over on those deals since it seemed that the businesses could just jack up the price before applying the certs and motivate not giving you the quoted price - because the offer can not be combined and blah blah blah...
I hope you credit card dispute will work out in your favor.

[Bukidog]

LoneGunman,

do you have Anne's personal number or extension ??

I had it...but Lost it...

I figure if we talk to the source she might actually get off
her ass and print these phuucking certs and mail them to us ???


If anyone has any contact info...that they find effective...give it over to us all here in the
"We hate CitySpree forum" !!

Bukidog.

[CEO]

The money that cityspree was receiving from bids in April and May was "scraped together" to pay the remaining employee salaries and whatever else they were doing with it. AND those employees weren't *always* paid or reimbursed for their operating expenses.

Many employees were left without insurance and unreimbursed medical, cell phone and credit card bills. Stanton personally promised that they would be reimbursed but they never were.

All of this begs the question, "What do they teach at Harvard Business School and what did she learn"?

I imagine there are places that might still honor the CGs but I would still be very wary of still buying them. There are many rumors at ****edcompany.com about their impending demise.

... oh yes and Anne still isn't responding to anyone. There must not be phones in Alabama...

[Bukidog]

Anne Stanton ( yes I'm talking to you!!)

do you not care that your .com is withering away...all because you simply have not been able to do two very simple things!!
1.Print Certs
2.Mail them (in a prompt manner)

I would if I were you at least care, as this forum builds momentum!! and the word spreads fast...
if you do read this and you have something to say, Do it!!
and for gosh sakes.... put in place a Regional Cert. Printing/distribution system! it's more sensible!!

I just want my Certs!! and If I dont get them, I'll start exercising my connections, one of which still works for you.... do you want me airing out on this forum what you write to your Investors/Employees ??? he..hee.. I'm just kidding...( or am I ? )

[johnnymk]

I will bet that a lot of the Bigshots from the failed Dotcoms were Harvard graduates, too. From what I can tell, the main thing they teach you at Harvard is how to scam America.

[TheLoneGunman]

Originally posted by johnnymk
I will bet that a lot of the Bigshots from the failed Dotcoms were Harvard graduates, too. From what I can tell, the main thing they teach you at Harvard is how to scam America.

Since Bill Gates is a Harvard dropout, does that mean he only knows how to scam a little?


Monopoly -- It's not just a game anymore (Microsoft)

[blueberry muffin]

aw shoot.......just had my first rejected certificate experience!!!!!!! Radio Free Italy in Alexandria, VA is NOT accepting City Spree certificates and there is no sign posted anywhere!!!! The Manager refused to even consider accepting one. He was really PISSED at City Spree and the words "fraud" "bankrupt" "scam" kept popping up!! I really didn't press the issue, I just paid the bill and made a hasty exit!!

[brainsmile]

this sucks

[johnnymk]

I can't believe it!!! I just got an EMail from Cityspree saying that they have a promotion for 10% of the face value for their certificates!!
Is this legal, considering that they have filed for bankruptcy?

[wrkngirl]

I got the same email. I sent the following reply:

You've GOT to be f**king kidding me.


Somehow, I don't think they'll be responding... :)

[CEO]

Anne Stanton - CEO of Cityspree aka Metro Cash Card
Carrie Bailey - VP of sales (last role was as a waitress!)
Corinne Musser - Acting CEO when Stanton is in hiding, originally acting as VP of business development.
Andre Haykal - VP of something or other - He never could figure it out! (Stanton's brother-in-law)

Believed to be operating out of the Metro Cash Card offices in Vestals, NY

next episode - Stanton's cell phone number and Previous investor name and contact information

... stay tuned for more

[leemaj]

Originally posted by cratervalley
Also add:

La Jolla Seafood Co, in Escondido, California.

They are still selling certs for this restaurant that has been out of business for a month.

do you live in escondido, cratervalley?

[LinT]

Sorry to say that Samrat Restaurant in Syracuse, NY has never received a dime from Citispree. Needless to say, they didn't take my certificate, either.

[cratervalley]

I don't live too far away from Escondido, California -- about 15 minutes south.

[TheLoneGunman]

Originally posted by LinT
Sorry to say that Samrat Restaurant in Syracuse, NY has never received a dime from Citispree. Needless to say, they didn't take my certificate, either.

As an aside, CitySpree DOESN'T "pay" anyone. They create a webpage for the business and then charge them $3-10,000 a year to host and maintain it.
They pay for this by issueing GCs up to that amount.

Stores would complain because CitySpree would sell like $8000 worth of GCs the first couple months and then the store would be flooded and couldn't make any money.

Also, some stores felt like the websites CitySpree created weren't worth it or weren't driving them the promised traffic.

[Emoocow]

Ordered certificate on 7/16/01 for Holiday Inn/915 Cafe in Pittsburgh and received it today 7/30/01. I just hope they accept it. :-)
__________________

[cratervalley]

I also received about 15 gift certs I ordered 10 days ago yesterday. You'd think they could throw them all in one envelope rather than charging you $2 to mail each one. Somewhere a small forest is dying ...

[TheLoneGunman]

In the interest of fairness, I must point out that although Ms. Stanton and others have ripped me off for several hundred on bad GCs, they just sent me one the other day for Flavor of India in Redwood City, CA.
I ate there last night and it was great. The staff was very cool about the GC and I was therefore generous with the tip.

Too bad that is the exception and not the rule.

[Bukidog]

You know , I just "STUFFED" my fargin face with Koo Koo ROO chicken and Creamed spinach..

I bought about 10 of these cert's from CitySree.
though it took a while to get them, I did! finally.

Now Anne according to some I know is Trying hard to fix these issues!
Unfortunately shes overworked, and does'nt have resources to fix these issues in a prompt manner..

as Far as the other issues... Find the Certs that do work and stick to those...

I have had lunch at http://www.Fabiolus.com for three days in a row, eating like the Godfather!! for about 5 bucks a day!..

My Girlfriend uses the Chan Dara certs in Pasadena. and she has no problems...

pleeze if your disgruntled and can't find a solution simply email Anne Stanton , she'll solve your wows... I was pissed and now Im stoked...Anne helped me out...and even issued me a refund..

her email is..

[email protected]


She takes at least 24 hours to respond...but shes actually a nice person that tries her best!!... Anne I hope things get better for you , and Cityspree.com stays alive!!

[cratervalley]

We used our first cert at RedFish. I asked before we sat down to eat and they had no problems with it. Service was first rate, and so was the food. We'd probably never eat there before and now that we have we'd recommend it to others.

[alyosha]

This is what I was talking about, it is the psychology thing- people post warnings left and right, but those who are happy don't care to respond, so it turns out that only negative experiences are posted.
It was always a long waiting period for certs, they always take long to refund money. They lowered the starting bid but added the mailing fee, I think to discourage people sending certs back, because they were not happy (it is an auction - which auction site takes back the goods and refunds your bid in full?).
It is so far a good bargain with usual disclaimer of using caution that any dotcom can go belly up any time. Specifically I am sceptical about huge savings to big chains of hotels and travel services, since I don't understand their motivation to go into contract with cityspree- they get enough advertising exposure, unlike small little merchants (who are also easier to bully into following the contract, once they sign it :))
Good luck to everybody.

[CEO]

Too bad all of the former cityspree employees who were hit with big insurance bills because the company never paid its premiums - including Cobra payments made by employees to cityspree - never got enough certificates to pay their doctor bills! We all know doctors love to eat out and maybe they would have taken cityspree certificates in lieu of payment.

Cityspree destroyed a lot of people's live adn is definitely in trouble. Just because some people have had certificates accepted doesn't change the facts. Once again beware of all things related to Cityspree, Metro Cash Card and Anne Stanton because you are dealing with lying, cheating thieves.

There are better ways to save money.

[alyosha]

Where did you get info on the company and why do you make it your personal vendetta to make the company pay?
Also isn't it goind to destroy the company faster if we all by BAD GC's and start compaining then if you warn us, we'll boycott the auctions, won't get hurt and won't care about what happens with the company?
I just think we should get the bargain when we see it and manage the risk by not stepping in with both feet, only risk 15$ worth of certs, or whatever amount you think you can risk. have a good day.

[CEO]

Originally posted by alyosha
Where did you get info on the company and why do you make it your personal vendetta to make the company pay?


From personal experience!

It's your money...

[blueberry muffin]

alyosha - just wait until it happens to you...then you will change your tune. I have 26 seperate charges on my credit card for gift certificates that were never received. I wasted hours of my time trying to contact cityspree, both by phone and email. They never responded to me in any way. I have over 15 certificates in hand that were ordered in March and April that I need to use ASAP, because the list of resturants in my area that still accept them is SHRINKING FAST!!!! There is basically no way to get a refund anymore for certificates that are not honored. Why shouldn't this type of information be shared with others? Apparently, my expereince is not an isolated incident and is becoming more and more common everyday. Just because their server is still functioning and chugging away, doesn't mean that they are a viable company.

[alyosha]

I hear you muffin. My condolences- I see your point 15+26=41 gifts certificates - that's a lot of money involved, I can see anybody worry about it. At 25% it was with average value of 25$ per cert supposed to be a bargain- about 300$ payed for about 1200$ in services, I can see you pain if that plan doesn't work out. I can also see if it is a huge city and in the same week every customer comes in the restaurant and asks them to provide 1200$ services for free- that will make them take measures. So if you want to help out other people- state which restaurant in which city doesn't take them. I saw the list on cityspree yahoo group and the restaurant in my area mentioned there as not accepting GC's in fact took mine the two times I was there, once before that list posting, once after, since I was concerned with having a potentially bad cert. They took mine, were nice about it, even with a big tip it was about 50% of the price of the dinner, I call that a deal. Now why it was in the list of non-takers- I can only guess- somebody was not using it as directed- didn't want to pay tax, or alcohol charge separately, or tried to use two at a time, or wanted to unload a lot of them in a short period of time, or just plain wanted less people bidding on it next time around- your guess is just good as mine. After I posted my experience, nobody contacted me saying I was wrong.
It may very well be that the effect of bargain boards killed this bargain, there were more customers than cityspree business plan allowed for , they became a burden for merchants, merchants cancelled contracts, a lot of certs were to be returned, cityspree choked on that. I hold about 6 more certs to the restoraunts I know honor them, and so far got more than I expected from this deal. I must say that certs for services (not food) didn't struck me as a good deal- like hundred dollar ones for hotels and travel. I bought one to the fitness club I had a membership and waited about 6 months untill they posted it on my account, but I knew that they were lying about it- first about not knowing what cityspree is, then by claiming that they didn't receive it from me (I had a copy), then by saying it is only for new members (it is not so, as stated on the cert). So I cancelled the credit card they were billing my membership, the manager called about my account being passed due, we talked, she made research, talked to the owner who signed the contract with cityspree, then honored the cert. Was it cityspree's fault, I got my run around? No.
I think I wrote too much already, even though I got advantage of that deal I don't owe it to the company to protect them, so if they need it they should step up next time, I am done.

[Dar67]

Alyosha--------Hi ya neighbor!!
(near Pittsburgh here)

They were going chapter 11 in Jan.-Feb(getting organized but still allowed to conduct business etc.)
I have used 2 of my 8 GC's for same restaurant hope it still works!

[Bukidog]

Here is the CEO's number...

205-936-3215.

according to the area code search its in...
(Northern) Alabama

Good luck to all that are SOL'd.... If I were you! I'd contact my Issuing Credito Bank/ or Institution(s) and Demand a charge back, ask to speak to Supervisors etc.

Bukidog...( I'm available for help if need be :) )

[alyosha]

DAR67, shhh...
Don't tell anyone where you from ...or they'll buy all the certs in our area which seems to be the only one without any problems. With all these posts I begin to worry about the certs I already used, what if the restaurants decide to bill me now for all those dinners :)

[INeedAVacation]

I have used dozens of certificates and have only had a problem once, I didn't call ahead and make sure they accepted the certificates and after I ate, I gave them the certificate and they said they didn't accept them anymore....but would for me this time. That was the only time I ever ran into a problem and I won't be going back to that restaraunt anyway, the food and atmosphere wasn't all that, especially considering the dining area was outside near a busy road.

[blueberry muffin]

R.I.P - officially in the dot.com graveyard!!! They finally unplugged the server, and not a minute too soon!!

[overama]

Maybe they were down for "maintainance" (or figuring out other ways to make some quick bucks).

I must get 2 emails a week from them "reminding" me about their latest sales - how could I forget. I'm waiting for the "Blowout sale - all cityspree GC's free - just pay shipping and handling". That's about all that's left for them to do.

[blueberry muffin]

ooooops..my bad...and did you know that Dewey won the election?

[INeedAVacation]

down again

[Grimm]

Originally posted by blueberry muffin
ooooops..my bad...and did you know that Dewey won the election?

Or was that Dopey?

[INeedAVacation]

up again

[INeedAVacation]

down again

[Bukidog]

Caveat Emptor!!

[cratervalley]

Just checked into CitySpree's site and they have NO AUCTIONS for anything. Seems odd since they just recently dropped an email about the 15% of face value certs promo.