This really isn’t acceptable: reserving a table and then not showing up
What really makes chefs furious? People who reserve a table and then casually fail to show up. No-show, as it’s known in the industry. This article is a warning: never (ever) do this again. ‘That crazy mentality is destroying our beautiful business.’
A no-show is a very common problem in the hospitality industry. Research shows that this costs restaurants an average of €1,800 per month. And for business owners, that can mean the difference between profit and loss. Hospitality businesses do, after all, schedule staff and purchase supplies for a certain number of reservations. Yet it happens very often that people make a reservation but fail to show up. ‘People with that kind of mentality are destroying our beautiful business,’ top chef Joris Bijdendijk once said.
A table for six
It happened to chef Jeroen Prins of wine bar Ferro: a table for six, one person with a gluten allergy and another with lactose intolerance. ‘It was half past eight: nobody. Quarter to nine: nobody. The restaurant was already nearly empty, as Sundays always quieten down earlier. But we had to wait; the reservation was on the books. A special diet always requires a little extra work, too. And we couldn’t start cleaning the kitchen yet.’
You do cancel the dentist
Tables that remain empty all evening because guests who reserved them fail to show up: this is happening at more and more restaurants. And they are not happy about it. Jeroen: ‘It costs us money—about fifty euros per guest, to be precise. And it costs us customers, because we have to turn away walk-ins while we keep the table available. It’s bizarre, really, because you do call the dentist and physiotherapist to cancel if you can’t make it, right?’
Deposits: increasingly common
So what do you do? Some restaurants call after every reservation, but you need to have the time for that. Asking for a deposit with each reservation? ‘For some business owners, that goes a little against the idea of hospitality,’ says Jeroen. ‘And besides: how much would you ask?’ In the higher-end segment, asking for a deposit when making a reservation is becoming increasingly common. The most usual amount is a deposit of €25 per person, but paying €50 or even €100 per person at fine-dining and Michelin-starred restaurants to prevent no-shows also happens.
Incidentally, restaurants aren’t the only businesses suffering from no-shows; Wouter Aalst, owner of award-winning Wijnbar Paskamer in Amsterdam, now also asks for a deposit with reservations: ‘It’s crazy how many people simply fail to show up. We can’t afford to keep holding tables.’
A bunch of assholes
What are all these no-shows about? ‘There can always be an emergency that makes you completely forget about your restaurant reservation,’ says chef Jeroen. ‘Or a mistake: you thought you had reserved for March 1, but it was actually January 3, something like that. But surely that can’t happen that often? Other than that, apparently there are a lot of assholes who do this.’ Do people reserve at several restaurants and then decide on the evening where they want to eat? ‘Could be, but that seems strange to me. Then again, not showing up when you’ve made a reservation seems strange to me too.’
Fake number provided
So here’s a call to all restaurant lovers: never do this! Can’t the dinner go ahead? Then politely call to cancel. And that group of six? Never showed up. ‘I called them,’ says Jeroen. ‘Fake number. That tells you all you need to know.’
Read more:
- Going out to eat with your dog? You can at these restaurants
- 8 things you really need to know before starting a restaurant
- 5 plating presentations that really aren’t acceptable anymore
