'Free' meal coupon came with strings

Written by my colleague Lora Pabst. While visiting a D'Amico & Sons location recently, a customer was enticed by the following offer: In exchange for providing his e-mail address, he would get a free entree. But that's not what he got. Instead, the restaurant sent him an e-mail with a "buy one, get one free" coupon. When using the word "free," businesses must disclose any conditions, according to the Federal Trade Commission. When informed of the rules, D'Amico & Sons revised its coupon so that it no longer requires a purchase. The customer was also offered a gift card. "D'Amico & Sons was not aware of the FTC disclosure clause so the language they used was an inadvertent mistake," a spokesperson said in a statement.