The whole point of making a reservation at a restaurant is to be sure that you’ll have a table to sit at when you come and to avoid waiting if the place is full. But apparently a reservation is not set in stone, as it was evident from a Redditor’s experience.
She made a reservation for 10 people months in advance to celebrate her father-in-law and mother-in-law’s birthdays, but when they arrived, they found out that their table was supposed to be outside and because it was raining, they weren’t seated, which ignited a revenge plan.
More info: Reddit
Woman's response to a restaurant accepting her reservation but not honoring it makes them regret not trying harder to accommodate her
Image credits: Cátia Matos (not the actual photo)
The author of the post made the reservation months in advance and because it was raining, the restaurant couldn't seat the group of 10
Image credits: Jim, the Photographer (not the actual photo)
There wasn't an option of outdoor or indoor reservation, so the woman didn't feel it was her fault and expected the restaurant to find a way to seat them
Image credits: Diylion
When the restaurant refused, the woman went on Google reviews and left 10 different 1-star reviews for each person of the group, bringing down the overall rating
The Original Poster’s (OP) father-in-law and mother-in-law had their birthdays coming up in a few months and she wanted to plan something special, which was a weekend in wine country that usually includes hiking along farm trails, admiring scenic views, visiting a winery and other countryside activities.
There were 10 people coming and on a Saturday evening, the woman wanted to take them to a nice restaurant. To make sure that they could seat such a big party, the OP made a reservation for 6 pm.
The restaurant was also a winery, so the group came 2 hours early and first of all asked if they could be seated earlier. When they were told to wait until their reservation, they went to drink some wine and enjoy live music.
When the reservation time came, the group were expecting to be seated, but the hostess and the manager told them that their reservation was canceled because it had started to rain. That irritated the OP because upon reservation, there was no option to choose if they wanted to stay outside, and also because the restaurant didn’t even try to find a solution.
Not only that, but the restaurant refused to compensate the group in any way, so the woman decided to teach them a lesson by creating 10 different Gmail accounts, one for each person of the group, to leave a 1-star review.
Those 10 reviews made the Google rating drop by 2 stars and the restaurant figured out who they were from and contacted the OP offering a compensation, but only if the “group” took down the reviews.
The woman refused and people in the comments thought that the restaurant deserved bigger consequences for their attitude and customer service, because how can you reserve a table outside when you can’t control the weather, which we know they are aware of?
Image credits: L.C. Nøttaasen (not the actual photo)
However, even though some outdoor seats are weather-dependent, that doesn’t prevent restaurants from reserving those tables for their guests. Although reservation as a whole is a very convenient system.
Of course, there is a risk of no-show guests. Touch Bistro says that 20 percent of reservations in the US are not honored by the guest and it leads to a loss for the restaurant both in personnel costs and loss of revenue, but there are ways to prevent it by providing a window of time, asking for a deposit, sending reminders of the reservation, etc.
It might be worth it because the benefits are also very valid. According to Touch Bistro, “When managers know how many guests to expect through reservations, they can better schedule staff and resources in case of no shows. Plus, an influx of reservations clues managers in on giving servers extra training on busy nights.”
It is also easier for hosts to anticipate waiting time for walk-in diners and avoid overcrowding in waiting areas. The system benefits the servers too because if they are given information about the occasion of the dinner, they can “anticipate customers’ needs, they can go above and beyond customer expectations from the beginning, and convert occasional restaurant-goers into lifelong regulars.”
Open Table adds that having a reservation system also leads to less food waste because the food purchasing decisions can be made according to the data of reservation history looking for patterns and predicting when less food is needed.
It also allows them to predict revenue and in general the restaurant may face less surprises and ensure that as few guests as possible are disappointed at being turned away because the place is full.
But it’s not a good idea to promise a guest a table and not give it to them when the time comes because of factors they cannot control, and on top of that not offer them anything in return for the inconvenience. Would you get your revenge if this happened to you? Do you think the restaurant learnt their lesson or should the OP have been more strict? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.
Readers believed that the restaurant deserved much more for their service but applauded the woman for making them rethink their actions
