Heated Exchange Over a $250 Restaurant Cancellation Fee (Boston: hotels, calculating)

[lrfox]

Originally Posted by GrampaNurgle

True beef is with charging $125 (+30/40/50/don't you dare hit custom %) for what looks like Costco sample station specials. Go to Europe and that will get you a Michelin-starred tasting menu with caviar, foie gras and truffles.

Yeah restaurant prices in the U.S. are out of control. It's amazing how much better you can dine for less money, even in "expensive" cities like London, Paris, Tokyo, etc. This is as true for quick serve/cheap eats as it is for a meal at a restaurant with 3 Michelin stars.

Originally Posted by msRB311

I'd be weary about booking a dinner reservation at a place that required my credit card up front AND stated they would bill me $250 if I cancel without giving 2 days notice. The f*ck?

I mean, this is exactly why a restaurant would enact this type of policy. They want the people who take reservation slots to be serious about showing up for those reservations.

$250 is the cost of the tasting menu for 2 people at Table. They only have 32 seats and only have 2 seating sessions per day. It's not the type of place walk ins are hanging out waiting for a table. So if you don't show, they're automatically out the $250+ drinks and tip. And with just 64 customers per day, that's a significant chunk of their revenue. Considering that it's a tasting menu with a set number of people each night, ingredients are sourced specifically for the number of guests. So in this particular situation, I can absolutely why they have such a strict cancellation policy and steep cancellation fee.

If it was a larger restaurant with a typical menu that seats guests as they come, typically goes on a wait, etc. Then yeah, $250 is nuts. But I totally understand it for a tiny tasting menu spot and I understand the owner's frustration with losing out on that deposit. But she was entirely out of line in how she handled it and the ire should have been directed toward the credit card company for (presumably, based on how she responded) issuing a chargeback. The customer presumably pays an annual fee for a card that offers travel insurance. Like any insurance policy, part of that annual fee acts like an insurance premium to help offset costs incurred by the insurance company (i.e. paying you out retail value for a totaled car that's only worth scrap). So there's really no reason they should be issuing a chargeback to the restaurant if this truly was part of a travel insurance claim.

[bostongymjunkie]

Originally Posted by msRB311

Well maybe they should ask themselves why so many people were just blowing them off...I'm sure all restaurants have had people blow them off at one point or another...but if it's happening that much ask yourself why. $250 for a reservation you didn't show up to because you couldnt make it is a lot of money. Maybe they forgot.

There are a lot of restaurants out there but these days you do need a reservation in most cases. It's actually aggravating that it's nearly impossible to walk in anywhere these days without one. If I make a reservation to go out to eat, I'm there.

People blowing off appointments and reservations is a common occurrence now, and it costs money for businesses and employees. It costs lots of money to do business in this town. If you don't want to make the reservation you're free not to. But real document-able personal health emergencies don't happen everyday and I'm sure the credit card company has its own standards of proof for reverting the charge.

[msRB311]

If a restaurant is reservation only and they do not take walk ins then ok sure...people booking appts and not showing up will hurt their business.

[bostongymjunkie]

Originally Posted by msRB311

If a restaurant is reservation only and they do not take walk ins then ok sure...people booking appts and not showing up will hurt their business.

We're talking about a place that has a Sunday supper at $98/ seat. Yes, they only take reservations.

[msRB311]

The restaurant owners response was pretty nasty. Owning a restaurant isn't easy, even if your location is Hanover st, north end. A restaurant owner telling a customer they screwed over her and her staff is pretty classless. She went into the business, there will be disappointing customers at times who don't come through, but calling them pathetic is just poor form.

Every business owner is all about profit these days and her response speaks volumes of what it's all about. It isn't really about the customer, she also probably could care less about her staff...she's just mad that she lost money. The customer is right that empathy is gone.

[westender]

The real "issue" here is between the payment processor (probably AMEX) and the restaurant. The customer filed a travel insurance claim for transport (Amtrak), hotel and this non-refundable reservation fee because he got ill and could not make the trip.

Travel insurance is fairly run-of-the-mill nowadays, meaning many people have done this many times. These are advertised as benefits of the credit card programs. Presumably why people pay an annual fee, sometimes exceeding $1000 annually.

What is hilarious is that the merchant aka the restaurant reacted to their own payment processor by publicly attacking the customer (!). This was not a customer chargeback, but instead something like an offset charge, probably noted in the payments contract signed by the credit card and the merchant.

[redplum33]

She's getting death threats.

https://www.today.com/food/restauran...ble-rcna140596



"According to the Boston Herald, Royle’s attorney Michael Ford says she is “getting bombarded with death threats,” and the official Instagram, X and Facebook pages for Table restaurant have either been deleted or set to private. Table is listed as permanently closed on Google, and reservations are currently not available to book through Resy. But, according to Ford, the restaurant remains open.

“The false statements, the defamatory statements, the death threats, the abusive comments, they hurt and she doesn’t want to be hurt anymore,” Ford added."

[redplum33]

Originally Posted by redplum33

"Table is listed as permanently closed on Google"

I'm not seeing that.

[newenglandgal123]

Her restaurant nets $1.5M/year and she couldn't accept one patron's cancellation....really? Chef Jen Royle Will Cook, Say, Tweet, and Do Anything She Likes (bostonmagazine.com)

[msRB311]

Originally Posted by newenglandgal123

Her restaurant nets $1.5M/year and she couldn't accept one patron's cancellation....really? Chef Jen Royle Will Cook, Say, Tweet, and Do Anything She Likes (bostonmagazine.com)

Exactly. Anyone who has a restaurant in the North end is doing quite well and her she is calling a customer pathetic and telling them they inconvenienced her staff over $250.