Restaurant owners want to be paid for no shows

A restaurateur charges a no-show fee

Fed up with groups who don’t show up for their reservations, a restaurateur in Magog, in the Eastern Townships, is now charging absentees who haven’t canceled in advance.

• Also read: Restaurant owners want to be paid for “no shows”.

• Also read: Reservations: “insulting” cancellations for restaurateurs

The owner of the fondissimo will enforce this measure like other restaurateurs, since the phenomenon causes them significant losses.

“Last weekend I had a group of 20 people who never showed up for their reservation. That’s 20% of my sales for the evening. This leads to loss of income and food,” explained Jean-Philipe Plouffe.

The retailer has informed its customers via its Facebook page that there will be a fee of $10 per person, which will not show up if a group of 8 or more makes a reservation.

caution

“We make a note of the credit card number and after the evening the costs will be charged unless a cancellation has been made beforehand. It’s really the principle of making people aware of the importance of notifying us if they are unable to attend. »

The Québec Restoration Association warns restaurateurs against this type of practice.

“Currently, it is illegal for a restaurant to charge a customer who does not show up for their reservation. However, hotels, hair salons or dental offices can do this. Therefore, we call on the government to adjust the regulations so that we can do the same,” said the organization’s spokesman, Martin Vézina.

Do you have any information about this story that you would like to share with us?

Do you have a scoop that might be of interest to our readers?