I've had to dump as well and it sucks, even after some masking tape techniques. Trying to make the best beer possible from the start and follow brewing best practices is ALWAYS the way to go.
That said, I would still try and recover from a stuck fermentation, and I probably wouldn't automatically dump a beer that was OK but not great.
I've heard of some people adding honey to a batch to make a sort of mead hybrid, braggot concoction with success. Of course, the better the starting beer, the better the final result.