A Bar Owner Has Gone Off At A Diner Who Failed To Show Up For Their Dinner Booking
Aimee didn't show up for her booking on the first weekend that bars could re-open. Don't be like Aimee.
Failing to show up for your restaurant reservations has always been a dick move. But failing to show up for your reservation when that restaurant can only serve ten customers at a time? As the owner of Sydney bar Low 302 put it, “there is a special place for you to burn in hospo hell”.
Aref from Low 302 didn’t mince his words when calling out a party-of-four who skipped out on their reservation on the weekend — the first weekend in months that Sydney bars have been able to open.
A booking for “Aimee” made up 40% of his total capacity under the new COVID-19 restrictions — so when they failed to show up, they cost Aref a big chunk of income he’d been counting on.
Aref told Junkee the pandemic has been financially devastating for his business, like it has been for so many others.
“On top of that it has been a very stressful time for everyone involved in the business. Trying to figure out what to do for the best, coming up with alternatives to our usual trade so we can at least stay afloat.”
So after Aimee was a no-show, he dedicated a special Facebook post just to her.
“Hi Aimee. We thank you for making a booking at Low for four people. Right now that is 40% of our entire capacity,” he wrote.
“The thing is Aimee, you didn’t show up for your booking. You didn’t have the common courtesy to call us up and cancel.
“Maybe you have no idea the financial impact this has on a restaurant right now. Maybe you don’t care. You have single handedly set the worst of precedence for our entire industry at this most difficult time.”
He finished even stronger: “Aimee, there is a special place for you to burn in hospo hell.”
Tough Time For Hospitality Workers
Aref told Junkee the last few months had been a stressful as they tried to come up with ideas to keep the business afloat.
“I just wanted people to be aware that by not showing up you damage the venue in a lot of ways, and you are also denying other people a table,” he said.
“We were all a bit upset. We waited for 20 minutes in the hope that they were just running late. In that time though we turned other people away, and then it was really too late anyway because we had another booking coming in after.”
The no-show happened on the first night that restrictions were loosened for bars, cafes and restaurants across the state. Under the new rules businesses can seat 10 patrons at a time.
“Only having 10 customers at a time means we are running very tight margins,” Aref said.
“We never expected that we were going to make some huge profit running like this, but we wanted to reconnect with our customers, try to give everyone who booked a nice night out after being in isolation.
“I think that’s important at this stage, people reconnecting and enjoying some good hospitality in a safe way.”
Low 302 isn’t the only venue that has reported no-shows in the first week of dine-in service. Surry Hills wine bar Poly also had some diners skip out on them, prompting owner Mat Lindsay to write a now-deleted Instagram post about it.
While Aref initially thought about taking deposits for bookings to prevent it happening again, he said they won’t be enforcing that.
“If a person is really sick, cancelling a restaurant booking won’t be high on the priority list, and that’s understandable,” he said.
“I don’t want people turning up because they don’t want to lose their deposit, not if they are feeling unwell. If you’re not feeling well you certainly shouldn’t go out,” he said.
And overall, Aref said they still enjoyed plenty of wonderful customers.
“Everyone was respectful of the rules that needed to be abided by and were helpful, kind and supportive of the staff, and I think we all had a really great time. I think that’s even more important than a no-show,” he said.
Hospitality is one industry that desperately needs people’s support right now, so you definitely should make a booking this weekend — just make sure you actually show up for it.
You can help Aref out by making a booking at Low 302 here. And here’s a list of Sydney bars that have now re-opened.