Gourmet Society, Nottingham

Stay clear, I had a £1 trial membership. I fully understood I had to cancel this membership by a certain date to avoid an auto review and £39.95 being taken out of my account. I cancelled this a week before the deadline by phone and was advised that no monies will be debited. I was very upset when the money was debited, I immediately contacted them, they apologised and said I had cancelled in time and a full refund will be provided within 2 - 5 days, this lapsed and I called them back, they apologised again and said a refund will be issued in my account that day, again it never was !! I have contacted the CAB and they have advised to go to trading standards, apparently they get a lot of calls about them. Stay clear if I were you - Tastecard seems much better in my opinion.

Tried them for a year and they were ok, but have nothing on Tastecard, so was planning to not renew this year. They went ahead and charged me anyway a week before expiry and now refuse to cancel and refund. At no point my permission was asked

The introductory offers are a way to get your credit card details.

They bill you for another year and refuse any refund when you complain.

Don't confuse with Tastecard who are legit.

Don't get hooked with a free trial! You can't use the card in most places Fri - Sun and the free trial locks you in for another year unless you:

Telephone for a cancellation code

Return the card

Chase them up to see they have cancelled before a years membership is debited

All on an 0845 number in a lengthy call wait! All in all, a crooked company - try the TASTECARD which is opposite to them as you sign up for a free trial, and are not locked in, and don't get all this hassle!

Signed up for free trial via telegraph and got sucked in to 3 months for £1. Never actually used the card so didn't benefit from it as didn't realise can't use fri - sun.

The GS sent me a new card telling me they would discount almost £70 from my card - I never agreed to this. Called to cancel card - expensive call, on hold for ages. Eventually spoke to someone with a nasal drawl who mumbled so badly found it hard to understand him, kept trying various things to get me to continue membership ... Said I just wanted to leave - he then got shirty with me(!) I'm the one who has to send back stuff they sent which I never asked for!!!!!! Stuff now sent off - after reading other reviews elsewhere need to keep checking they not charging me.

Avoid, avoid, avoid and stick to free voucher codes.

I got a free trial of the Gourmet Society card and I was planning to cancel the membership after the 2 month free trial like I did with tastecard. However, I was surprised to find that unlike tastecard they actually have some restaurants that take your card at the weekend!

During the trial period, I ate at Cafe Rouge and saved £20, then at a local Indian and saved about the same. The price for the membership after the trial was £40, and as I had already saved about that I thought it was well worth it!

There's no difference between the food you get at a restaurant if you go there with the card, and most of the time you don't have to book in advance (well, everywhere I've been anyway). I like the 25% off the total bill offer the best, makes the wine very cheap! Not so keen on 2 for 1 as usually it's only for 2 people, but 50% off food is a pretty good deal too. As long as you look on the internet at the restaurant details before you go I don't see why anyone would have a problem using this (sad member?)

All in all, I would recommend it, even if you only eat out a few times a year.

I have visited the Red Hot Buffet and Bar in Milton Keynes and Nottingham, and have been extremely pleased with the service and quality of food at both of the locations. The restaurant would be suitable for anyones tastes as there is a massive choice of food, I particularly enjoyed the desert bar, offering bite size tasters of a variety of cakes.

I would recommend Red Hot to anyone who wants to enjoy excellent food in a relaxed and lively environment!

This is well worth having if you ike eating out. get discounts at all sorts of different restaurants - not just chains like you'd find on the internet discount sites. another plus is the card works all over the country which is really useful. if you eat out more than once or twice a year in one of the restaurants offering the discount, it'll pay for itself. I eat out about once a month and it's well worth having. The best offer is actually the 25% off as this covers a few people and includes drinks.

Found it works really well though, because its got some really posh restaurants as well as some unpretentious small places, and chain restaurants too if thats your bag.

Theres loads of restaurants where I live in the Midlands, but think its a nationwide jobbie. My mate joined a few weeks ago on a promotional code, it stuck in my mind cos it was PRETTY

she paid 25 quid and got 14months, she reckons she's already saved that!!!! God, I sound like I work for them but I promise I dont, just think its a pretty good deal!

Anyway it's well worth it!

I think the http://www.thegourmetsociety.co.uk is great if you eat out even just a few times in a year. If you are expecting to get totally free food and drink every time you go out and never have to spend a single penny again it is not for you. However, if you like the idea of finding out about new restaurants and exploring the town and countryside whilst saving cash it a definite must. Finally if you do join I would try and find a promo code as it saves you a bit of cash on the membership fee compared to the normal web offer.