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I manage a restaurant in Flagler County and have never seen anything like these Palm Coast people. They make a reservation for 5:00 and show up at 4:15. I schedule accordingly, so I don't have servers on when they arrive early. Or they make a reservation for 8 people, 12 show up and they're furious when we can't accommodate them. They make reservations for 16, only 4 show up and they're upset when we move them.
Some of them think they can occupy a table and enjoy our entertainment while having water. Who goes to a restaurant with entertainment and expects to sit there without spending money?
What is with these people? I've been in the restaurant business all my life and have never encountered such rudeness and tightwads!
I worked in the hospitality industry for many years in Florida and found it to be the case in many places. For some reason the transplants (mostly Northeastern suburbanites) have this entitlement thing going on to where it's all about them and could care less about others...and of course when you cannot accommodate them at will whenever or wherever it's all the fault of the tipped employee who makes $2.50 an hour. I certainly hope you provide an automatic gratuity for parties of 6 or more which is standard in most decent restaurants. I would say stick to your guns and perhaps figure out a way to inform guests when making reservations that they're in fact making them for the time originally stated and that you cannot guarantee seating for early arrivals. I also would recommend a verbal disclaimer for large parties, stating to the effect nicely that every effort will be made to create space for last minute add-ons but there aren't any guarantees. Lastly you might also consider a credit card reservation policy for large parties (say 10 or more) with a cancellation charge for those that block off large chunks of seating and either don't show up or downsize by half or more. Make sure whoever is taking the reservation gets the name and phone number of those booking so that you can call to confirm the day of the reservation. That's a common "best practice" of many restaurants these days because of the very reasons you talk about. You're running a for-profit business in less than perfect economic times and anyone with reasonable sense would understand these policies and if they don't...clearly they're not doing your business much good anyway with their behavior.
I knew some high-end restaurants in NYC, Chicago, etc, are charging reservation cancellation fees, but am I legally allowed to do that? Guess we're just like a hotel in that respect, so yes? We've talked about it, but never thought it was legal.
And you're so right-on about the area the trans-plants are from. Blue-collar workers with pensions, social security income and sold their$20,000 tract home for $200,000 and now they've retired to Florida, think we're their servants.
I would love to add gratuity to large parties and it's stated on our menu, but we do not have a POS, so it's damn near impossible, since most of our large parties are separate checks, so according to them, they're
a party of two, even though they're a party of 10 or more.
Thank you so much for your reply. I'm at my wits end with these people and so glad somebody understands and maybe a few diners will get the message.
I knew some high-end restaurants in NYC, Chicago, etc, are charging reservation cancellation fees, but am I legally allowed to do that? Guess we're just like a hotel in that respect, so yes? We've talked about it, but never thought it was legal.
And you're so right-on about the area the trans-plants are from. Blue-collar workers with pensions, social security income and sold their$20,000 tract home for $200,000 and now they've retired to Florida, think we're their servants.
I would love to add gratuity to large parties and it's stated on our menu, but we do not have a POS, so it's damn near impossible, since most of our large parties are separate checks, so according to them, they're
a party of two, even though they're a party of 10 or more.
Thank you so much for your reply. I'm at my wits end with these people and so glad somebody understands and maybe a few diners will get the message.
Yes, you are legally allowed. It's your business and you can do what's necessary to preserve your profitability (and that of your tipped employees making $2.50 an hour) as long as it is in fact legal. I wouldn't make it standard practice on all parties but anytime you have say 12 or more where you're having restructure the dining room and turn away potential diners, I would sure as heck be utilizing it. In terms of not having a POS system I would say that's a cop out, since a $2 calculator can calculate a 20% gratuity pretty darn quickly. It's easy enough in your head....an old trick, add the first two digits in the total twice for 20%....a $160 check for example comes out to $32....adding the 16 twice. Furthermore a party of two sitting with eight others at one table is a party of 10...you had to reconfigure the room and the server worked twice to three times as hard to service it and most likely lost tip money versus having 4 separate tables, so stick to your guns and print the automatic gratuity policy on your menu to cover yourself, or add it in a stick-on. Most restaurants in this day and age have that policy and have had for years, so it certainly isn't anything most people haven't encountered.
Yes, you are legally allowed. It's your business and you can do what's necessary to preserve your profitability (and that of your tipped employees making $2.50 an hour) as long as it is in fact legal. I wouldn't make it standard practice on all parties but anytime you have say 12 or more where you're having restructure the dining room and turn away potential diners, I would sure as heck be utilizing it. In terms of not having a POS system I would say that's a cop out, since a $2 calculator can calculate a 20% gratuity pretty darn quickly. It's easy enough in your head....an old trick, add the first two digits in the total twice for 20%....a $160 check for example comes out to $32....adding the 16 twice. Furthermore a party of two sitting with eight others at one table is a party of 10...you had to reconfigure the room and the server worked twice to three times as hard to service it and most likely lost tip money versus having 4 separate tables, so stick to your guns and print the automatic gratuity policy on your menu to cover yourself, or add it in a stick-on. Most restaurants in this day and age have that policy and have had for years, so it certainly isn't anything most people haven't encountered.
Been doing 20% in my head for years. Stated on our menu is 18% grat included, but since they're all separate checks ....This is not my first rodeo..
Tell you what. You come do this job with these Palm Coast people for awhile.
Make that one Friday night.
I had two reservations for 20 in addition to our regular business. Both were hours late and were parties of 12. I turned down another party of 20 to accommodate them.
Gonna have to start taking credit card deposits for large parties or quit taking reservations, like the chain restaurants have done.
Been doing 20% in my head for years. Stated on our menu is 18% grat included, but since they're all separate checks ....This is not my first rodeo..
Tell you what. You come do this job with these Palm Coast people for awhile.
Make that one Friday night.
I had two reservations for 20 in addition to our regular business. Both were hours late and were parties of 12. I turned down another party of 20 to accommodate them.
Gonna have to start taking credit card deposits for large parties or quit taking reservations, like the chain restaurants have done.
Thanks!
No thanks, I did it for 20+ years including the first 5 years in Broward County in a community with a heavy concentration of Jewish NY transplants who could (and did) make grown men cry. Since you don't have a POS system I sure as heck would eliminate the practice of separate checks. You also seem to be punishing yourself by allowing parties to show up whenever they want to. Most restaurants hold reservations 15 minutes for late arrivals, and not sure why you would hold for being "hours late"...especially on a Friday night. Most restaurants will not seat large parties until all guests have arrived in order to prevent what seems to be happening at your restaurant. As mentioned before I would call to confirm any reservation with the guest earlier the day of (in the afternoon) as a reminder which can help to adjust number of seats required or provide cancellation if something came up and they forgot to call. It would appear you're allowing the customers to dictate your policies which is going to make it very unpleasant (and unprofitable) until you make some changes.
I knew some high-end restaurants in NYC, Chicago, etc, are charging reservation cancellation fees, but am I legally allowed to do that? Guess we're just like a hotel in that respect, so yes? We've talked about it, but never thought it was legal.
And you're so right-on about the area the trans-plants are from. Blue-collar workers with pensions, social security income and sold their$20,000 tract home for $200,000 and now they've retired to Florida, think we're their servants.
I would love to add gratuity to large parties and it's stated on our menu, but we do not have a POS, so it's damn near impossible, since most of our large parties are separate checks, so according to them, they're
a party of two, even though they're a party of 10 or more.
Thank you so much for your reply. I'm at my wits end with these people and so glad somebody understands and maybe a few diners will get the message.
Best I know - it's legal to charge a cancellation fee. FWIW - the highest end most popular restaurants in the US today are now treating a restaurant reservation like a theater ticket. You pay in advance and your "reservation" is non-refundable. That's too much IMO for the vast majority of restaurants - but a 24 hour change/cancellation policy isn't for most - especially when it comes to weekend bookings/bookings for larger parties.
I make a lot of reservations on Opentable. I haven't run across a restaurant in JAX that has a 24 hour cancellation policy/requires a credit card yet - but I just made some reservations in Houston where those are the rules. Perhaps you ought to look into something like Opentable?
I dine often at the TPC here - and an 18% gratuity is added to all checks - regardless of the size of the party. So that's possibly something you can consider too.
Of course - you can lead the proverbial horse to water - but can't make him drink. Perhaps the demographics/mindset of your potential clientele just don't work in terms of the restaurant you're trying to run. It's possible. Old people tend to be cheap. When my father would pick up an occasional check when he was dining with us - it made us cringe - because his normal tip was 10% (ours is 20%). We finally put our foot down - and - even if my father picks up a check - my husband computes the tip. Note that my father has money. I can only imagine what old people without money do. Robyn
...Gonna have to start taking credit card deposits for large parties or quit taking reservations, like the chain restaurants have done...
Considering your clientele - the latter may be the best option - assuming you can estimate your food purchasing appropriately without taking reservations. I've seen a lot of restaurants that won't take reservations for parties of 4-6 or fewer. And - for the larger parties - credit cards are required to make a reservation and a mandatory gratuity is added to the check (or checks if members of the party get separate checks).
Another issue is people splitting food. I used to dine with women's tennis/golf groups. And it was common for like 2 women to split a salad and then leave a 10% tip. Made me cringe - so I stopped dining with them. Note that these were women who had money - but had no understanding of restaurant dining etiquette. So you might have to think about a "food splitting" charge (or a food minimum for the water drinkers). FWIW - my husband and I do at times split dishes. But it's always along the lines of each of us having a main - and splitting an appetizer and desert (we don't have the world's largest appetites). Robyn
Thanks so much! I am instituting a new policy whereby any party over 10 has to contact me personally and give me a credit card #. I'll charge them $5.00 a head for no-shows. Maybe that will stop the problem.
Can't eliminate separate check policy. God forbid our customers, who arrive in their Mercedes, Cadillacs and Beemers would pay for each other's dinners. These people quibble with the servers over an up-charge of $1.50 for fries!
Our daytime golfers get a discount and get upset when maybe 20 of them show up at the same time and can't get their food all at once. Some of them spend a whopping $4.55 for a small order of fries and a Pepsi. And want to exchange money from the bartender to settle their bets. But they're regulars, so we deal with them and some of them actually spend $12 for lunch!
Gratuity not the problem and we have a split plate charge.
It's the thousands of dollars we lose holding tables for people who think "their friends" will join them and don't.
I hope your changes work out for you. Let us know what happens. I am honestly interested. I've observed that many diners in this general area are both ignorant of good food and cheap. A pretty toxic combination when it comes to a decent or better "restaurant scene". Robyn
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