LUZERNE COUNTY (WBRE/WYOU) — Some local restaurants claim to be getting hit hard by a book of coupons. They’re voicing their anger saying they’re losing money from coupons they no longer endorse.

Local Flavor is a common deals site, but many small businesses in NEPA have been coming forward asking locals to stop buying coupons from them.

They tell 28/22 News they thought they were signing up for one deal, but are now paying for another, and now it’s hurting their bottom line.

“They come in they’re like, ‘Oh this is free advertisement, you don’t have to do anything, you don’t have to lift a finger, you don’t have to advertise for these coupons or anything. We do all the work,’” said Richelle Romanczuk, manager of River Road Pizza and Deli.

“Your destination for local savings.” That’s the slogan for Local Flavor, a savings site out of Clipper magazine.

However, several local restaurant managers feel they weren’t fully informed about the deal they made.

“The customers obviously pay $10 for a $20 coupon that they bring in and we basically give away $20 worth of food for free, that we don’t see anything from,” Romanczuk explained.

After being contacted by a Local Flavor sales representative and signing up for one month of free advertising, River Road Pizza and Deli say they were stuck in a contract that went beyond 30 days.

The manager tells 28/22 News they were told their coupons would not be removed from the site until all of the certificates were sold, no matter how long it takes.

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“We never got an answer and then found out that it was over a hundred that you have to sell a month which is astronomical if you added up how much we actually have to give away in order to pay for this page,” said Romanczuk.

The pizza shop claims the sales representative cut contact with them for months, ignoring their efforts to end their contract.

River Road is not the only restaurant that has felt the negative impacts of Local Flavor. Multiple businesses in northeast Pennsylvania tell 28/22 News it’s happened to them too.

“Summer of 2021, sales rep came around and they just really quickly said hey we could put you on the cover of our August one,” said Chef and Owner of Eden, a vegan cafe Christian Pilosi.

Eden, a vegan cafe claims they came to an agreement with Local Flavor to be in the Clipper for the month of August only, but when the month came to a close, the cafe says they were told they had to sell more than 300 coupons to pay for their ad.

“303 certificates at $25 a pop was $7,575 for an ad. If they came in to sell me an ad with that price, of course, it would be no. It’s hard to think we’re all wrong, and their one person is right. They must be doing something that’s fooling and or tricking small businesses into these agreements,” Pilosi explained.

28/22 News did reach out to Clipper magazine and Local Flavor for a comment, but have not heard back.

River Road says they will not be accepting local flavor coupons purchased in 2024 and beyond.

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