Me?

☒ Fer

☐ Ag'in

I mean if a restaurant pisses people off too much, they won't come... Meanwhile non-rude restaurant-goers will be encouraged to show up without a rez, and maybe get seated. (I've cancelled reservations a few times and bet you have as well.)

And people certainly use Twitter to say rude things about restaurants... That's what these media are for, right? Sharing opinions.

I'm for it.

First off calling in to cancel and just not showing up are two separate things.

I really dont care, I'm sure people will love it up until one of the no shows tweets in the reason they missed their res was a five car pile up that killed their wife at which point everyone who enjoyed it will turn en masse to shame the shamers

Personally I view resturants fancy enough to require reservations akin to hotels, and air line tickets.

Leave a credit card deposit that is applicable to your purchase if you show and non refundable if you fail to cancel within the agreed upon window

principle wise, for it...
practically, it's stupid. he'll do it right up until it costs business.

there are other ways to do this, it's basically a temper tantrum.

I don't care. If the food is good, I go. If it isn't, I don't.

I don't have a Twitter account and don't pay attention to tweets. One of the perks of having a life.

This is the place that dissed the LAT reviewer.

Depends. Like looj said, if the reason for not showing is a 5 car pile-up, well, shit happens. On the other hand, I've known people who will make a reservation for the same night at, like, 5 places, and then just go to the one their date wants to go to, and blow off the others, and that's not right either. So, shame on you if you just blow off the reservation and don't at least call to cancel, but sometimes there are extenuating circumstances that should be taken into consideration. But not if you're just being an asshat.

Unless your car is in the five-car pileup, there's no reason you can't call to cancel.

If a restaurant is keeping your table open for you, they're losing money. It's really rude to not at least call and cancel.

Against. The restaurant has no way of knowing why they didn't show. It's just childish to do this. "Oh, they had a reservation at our restaurant, and didn't show, the meanie-heads! We're going to kick and scream and act like a 5-year-old!" I would personally not go to any establishment that acted like this.
I think they forget they are in the service industry. When you shame and demean your customers, they are not going to want to come back to your establishment again. And believe me, once you piss off enough people, who will tell all their family and friends, who then will not come, your business will completely dry up. Not a smart move.

Making reservations & not showing is inconsiderate but calling out your customers can change have consequences.

I read another article on this where one of the people he called out didn't show up because of a death in the family. People don't think of dinner reservations when that happens. That has to happen only a couple of times before people decide you're being a douche.

If I were looking for a place to eat, I'd avoid this place because now I feel I have to please them or risk being publicly humiliated in some way. When I go to a restaurant, I want to think that they're trying to please me and I'm not looking for stress.

I also have to wonder how effective it is. I have a twitter account but I track almost no commercial accounts. I'd never know and probably wouldn't care. If I make a habit of no showing, I probably don't feel shame.

Could they keep a list of no shows and refuse them in the future? Restaurants could keep a group list. What about a policy where they get a credit card when you make a reservation and charge x amount if you no show?

Sure they can say it. Plenty tweet about good bad service, so the shoe is on the other foot.
It makes no difference to me, since I'd probably never notice it.

This can't be good for business.

My husband had a restaurant. Yes, it's true that if you skip out on your reservation, you're screwing the restaurant. We wouldn't have called out the a-holes publicly, though, because it would have bred ill will eventually. Maybe a place could pull this off it they are absolutely the hottest spot in the city that's IMPOSSIBLE to get into- then it doesn't matter if you piss someone off because there's still a line of people who want in, anyway. Of course, you can only be the hot spot for so long.

For large groups, or private rooms, most places DO require a credit card.

Against. Classy restaurants should remain classy. Tantrums are not classy.

Also, I don't twitter and have no desire to start. I cannot imaging following a restaurant tweet feed. What a complete waste of time.

If I were the restaurant, I'd build a list of missed reservations. The first time is a freebie, but a rolling 6 month list of missed reservations then it becomes tweetable on the second or third miss.

So the Kyle Anderson one could have been brought the flowers or a ring and they acted like bunny's.

Another one is to set up a text message system to send reminders to the customer before the reservation and if they don't show up, 5 and 15 minutes after the miss.

I have only done about 5 food reservations in my life.

Oh - this ever happens to me, I'll not dine there again, and I'll blog and twitter about it, encouraging others to not do so.

Mind you, I always cancel reservations when I can't make it. I also call when I'm running late.

But public shaming? Dicks.

I vote bad mojo. I understand what they're trying to do, but if I were a restaurant owner, I wouldn't do it. As luj pointed out, there are too many ways you can wind up ruining your own reputation.

On the other hand, I'll have to admit that in my naivete, I never though of doing what Flynne mentioned. If that becomes a problem, I can see restaurants requiring a credit card deposit in order to hold a reservation.

One more thing: Back in my pizza-joint days, we had a list by the phone of people and addresses that we would not accept call-in orders from, because they were known to call in orders and then not pick them up. In particular, this included most of the hotels in the vicinity. If you were a hotel guest, you had to come to the counter and pre-pay in order to place a take-out order. Why hotel guests in particular would phone in orders and then not pick them up, I never figured out.

Most of the restaurants I go to that accept reservations have a policy of holding your table for 15-30 minutes for your reservation. If you come after that, too bad, you have to wait like the rest of the crowd. I think the tweet-shaming is bad business and will cost them in the end.

Most of the restaurants I go to that accept reservations have a policy of holding your table for 15-30 minutes for your reservation. If you come after that, too bad, you have to wait like the rest of the crowd.

@Kima I think that's a great solution. It'll punish the rude people, but it won't make the restaurant look whiny on a public forum.

I hate eating out with my boyfriend's family because they are aaallllwwwaaayyys at least half an hour late for their reservations (and they'll often invite extra people at the last minute). So, that means they'll make a reservation for 7:30 pm for five people and show up at 8 pm (or later) with nine people. I've always thought it odd that the hostess will then scramble to push tables together and get them seated ASAP -- I think a "no lateness" policy might teach them a much-needed lesson.

Stiffing a restaurant by blowing off a res is akin to skipping a Dr's appt, except that the Doc (at least mine) gets hacked off by it as evidenced by his receptionist's snotty "will you be keeping your rebook this time?" and by levying a $25 fee for no-showing. No argument that it is surely a huge lack of common courtesy not to make a phone call to cancel.

Thanks to KateC for spotting the earlier dustup with this guy and the media.

> It's just childish to do this.

Reservations are free to customers but can cost a restaurant hundreds of dollars. There's a recession on.

> Unless your car is in the five-car pileup,
> there's no reason you can't call to cancel.

This. This is the core sense of fair play that makes it all go.

And by the way, if the restauranteur wanted to goose up his credentials of righteousness, he could name-check/Tweet-thank people who call to cancel a Satnite-at-seven-for-six.

Cranky people sometimes make great food... And run other fantastic enterprises.

I could be wrong, but I think he did this after he had a lot of no-shows. Once in a while no-show would not be a problem. Several at a time hurt owner, wait-staff and bartenders (owner, I assume least of all). Those lost tables cannot me made up, the revenue is gone.

Well, it is the free market and all.

I think the people that this "public shaming" would bother are those that have no sense of fairness and it really is no loss to the restaurant if they don't go there again.

Personally, it would not bother me, because I would not even think about being a "no-show." So, I would have no reason to fear being publicly shamed.

I do support him in this as so many people don't realize how hard others work and screwing them over by not showing up does cost them money.

And this hurts more than just the business owner. In my opinion, there are too many folks who take things out on the wait staff by giving lower tips when the wait staff had no control over the situation.

Yes. But public shamers beware- the restaurants with really good food have no problems filling no show reservations. They have people lining up out the doors who will take the rudenick's place in a heartbeat.

I suspect I'd never eat at this restaurant not because of the public shaming but because it would seem they are too focused on that rather then making their food so awesome they need not worry about loss of income....

(two cents)

I think this is a fabulous idea and can't see any way in which this could be abused!

Let me be perfectly clear; there is no excuse for not showing up for a reservation, or honoring any other commitment you have made.

I think this might be a good way for people to use fake names to cause misperceptions.

Make your reservation in the name of somebody dead. Ronald Reagan, your table is ready.

Actually, businesses that tweet too much, FB post too much, send email too much, etc. are one of my pet peeves.

Dude just because I "liked" you or bought something from you once doesn't mean I want to hear from you three times a day.

About calling in w/the 5-car pileup scenario. Not everyone has a phone on them all the time, and after a major accident, they're likely to have it lost in the debris, or be at the hospital (and/or talking to police for an hour). So, I'd forgive that w/o a call.

I have only ever stood up two appointment. In high school I had music lessons during the summer. A friend lost a relative rather suddenly and I went over to offer condolences in the morning. I kinda got stuck there much longer than anticipated and couldn't manage an "excuse me while I go call my music teacher" while the friend was sobbing (three hours after I arrived). I called as soon as I got back home, offered profuse apologies, and promised to pay for the missed lesson the next week. I still felt badly, musicians don't exactly make a lot of money, but I did the best I could.

The second was a pediatric dentist appointment. I confirmed it the day before, and then both my son & I got horribly ill. I was running a high fever and not lucid during the brief periods I was awake (all of which were spent vomiting). When I finally came around and got hydrated enough to think, I realized we'd missed the appointment. It was after they closed, so I called the next day & told them what happened. They were glad I called, and glad we didn't come in (puking kids do NOT belong at the dentist!). They didn't even charge a no-show. To me, that was classy on their part & I have mentioned it when referring friends there. Kids do things that are inconvenient, and companies that deal with kids & understand that get bonus points in my book.

I'm all for the public market. He'll lose some customers, including the ones listed in his tweets. But he might gain some more just because they love that he did this. I don't care. I wouldn't no show a reservation, so I wouldn't be the subject of it.

You can use fake names, but it's unlikely that you'll use a fake phone number. I remember in high school that Domino's wouldn't deliver to our house because the previous phone number holder (?) had some sort of altercation with them. We couldn't convince them that we had just gotten the phone number. I suggest they use a similar tactic - even emails and email confirmations.

To the level of service, my tips are almost directly correlated to the level of service I've received, and I do take into account factors that are not in control by the staff. You can normally tell if you pay attention. About 10% for bad service, and 20% for good. I don't subscribe to the 15-18% just because they work hard. Don't we all?