By Alexi Knock, Assistant News Editor

Daniella Butler went to Tapas with her boyfriend to take advantage of the Deal of the Day she saw on her Hofstra Portal. Butler was expecting to get a buy one get one half off deal, but what she got was an argument.

“The employees had no idea,” said Butler, a sophomore. “The people in front of us logged on to the Hofstra Portal and showed them, but they still gave them a hard time so I haven’t used [the Deal of the Day] since then.”

The Deal of the Day is a daily discount given by Lackmann and dining services in various eateries across campus. Each month, the days of the week each have separate deals that are changed at the beginning of the next month. In November, one deal students can receive is a dollar off a smoothie at Java Connect every Tuesday between 10-11am. Discounts are based on student feedback through the dining services Facebook page, emails and focus groups, according to Laura Musa, the Marketing manager for Lackmann who started the Deal of the Day in Fall 2009.

“It’s good for students looking for savings and to try something new,” said Musa, who added that promotion for the Deal of the Day has increased since its creation.

“Students and staff are informed via a daily posting on the portal,” said Matthew Quinn, Director of Dining Services at the University. “There are also signs at various locations campus widely publicizing the program.”

In the beginning of the program, students had to mention the Deal of the Day in order to receive their discount. “We didn’t get many people that way, that’s why we changed it to just the general discount that everyone gets no matter what,” said Musa. “Now, the cashier just rings it up automatically. I think a lot of students don’t even realize we do it even though it’s on our website and Facebook and we have signs. But I’ve definitely noticed since the middle of last fall and each month we have more and more people who know about it.”

Although employees are supposed to apply the discounts automatically, some students are still skeptical about the consistency of cashiers. “I’m pretty sure they don’t ring the deal of the day up,” said Sarah Travaglini, a sophomore. “Not going to lie, I got charged $100 for a coffee last year and didn’t realize until after.”

Ajda Ince, a junior, agreed that she does not believe Lackmann employees properly implement discounts. “They are pretty clueless when it comes to that stuff,” said Ince.

On Wednesday, Nov. 17, The Chronicle went to the Axinn Library Café in order to test the reliability of the Deal of the Day. The deal for Wednesdays for the month of November is a free coffee with any $5 purchase between 9-10p.m. When The Chronicle reporter made a transaction of over $5, the cashier said, “you get a free coffee.” No mention of the Deal of the Day was needed.

According to Musa, employees should be well aware of the Deals of the Day. “At the beginning of every month the deal is sent out to the managers and we have a managers meeting every week where we explain it,” said Musa. “They [managers] get with their cashiers and employees and we have signs by each register to act as a reminder.” Musa added that students may not realize they are getting the discounts since they are automatic. “If a student is not given the deal for some reason, I apologize for the mistake and encourage them to ask for a supervisor or manager.”

(Flyer Courtesy of Laura Musa)