Paying with a gift certificate?
 

One of my friends got back from a date with a boy and was complaining how the date was a mess... he showed up 45 minutes late, wore jeans and a jersey and paid for dinner w/ a gift certificate.

I was just curious what you thought about the gift certificate part. Bad to pay for dinner w/ a gift certificate? Better to go to a fancier restaurant and pay w/ a GC or go to a lesser restaurant and pay with cash/cc etc. How imp't is this for you? What about coupons.. ?

Just curious ;)

Shit! A man who pays with coupons? My mother would be proud!

No I have no problem with it. It shows that he knows how to manage his money and still show a girl a good time. What does it matter how it gets paid for, as long as the bill gets paid.

My bf (of 2+ years) and I use coupons and GCs whenever we can get them! (we even dug up a GC to Ted Drewes that his mom had gotten in 1993 -- and it was still valid!)

I might have gotten a weird vibe if he used a coupon on our first date.. but then again maybe not. I looove getting bargains and if it means he's money-conscious then who am I to judge him for that?

However, my advice to guys would probably be to hold off on the coupons for the first few dates -- it might make you look really cheap (especially if it's a "buy one dinner get one free").

I paid for part of my boyfriend's birthday dinner with a gift certificate. Dinner was over $200, and the gift certificate was for $100. I have no problem with it.

wow, you are girlfriend material. too bad you live far away.

btw, my mom is from pittsburgh

She must be a very nice lady! :)


Seriously, while the date mentioned sounds like an all-around loser, I don't have a problem with a gift certificate either. I think I'd prefer if the man involved said, "I have a gift certificate to this place - hope that doesn't bother you," first, though. At least for the first or second dates, anyhow.

I'm impressed that she waited that long for the guy.Unless he called her cell and had a good excuse, I would have been gone by 15 minutes.

A gift certificate is the same as cash. No big deal.A coupon shows the guy is frugal. If over time, he only goes to certain places that only take coupons and refuses to spend any money then it's time to bail.

Optimist:

If you're the son of a Pittsburgher, you're a Pittsburgher by proxy ;). And everything from Pittsburgh is awesome.

Did I also mention that I firmly believe in women paying on dates sometimes?

I think its tacky. On a first date? late and gift cert? NO 2nd date, this does not bode well.

Now, like honeychile said, if he'd mentioned he had a gift cert to the restaurant and hoped she didn't mind using it--that would be OK and show some class.

Nah, I think it's pretty douchetastic for a first date no matter how you spin it.

I thought most gift "certificates" nowadays were gift cards which don't really look any different than credit cards. (i.e. unless she was being nebby she couldn't tell)

This really depends on what kind of restaurant it is. If it was someplace nice, I don't think there's anything wrong with it - however, if you're at Long John Silver's and using the coupons from the Sunday paper that's a little different. We have those entertainment books here and I know some people are really anal about not going ANYWHERE that doesn't have a coupon attached. Also, did he say "is so and so restaurant OK" or just go there? I mean, if you like (example) Morton's Steakhouse anyway, who cares how they pay for it? But if he made her go somewhere she didn't like that's bad, GC or no GC.

Personally, I'd be more bugged by the 45 minutes late than the gift certificate.

Agreed. And frankly, if a guy used a coupon, I'd run for the hills -- not because I expect a guy to pay for everything, but because it's a sign that he's cheap.

A coupon might be a little weird but a gift certificate is fine!!!