Find a 2023 update on the shocking number of UK restaurants that are now charging for no-shows at the end of the article!
It’s a sensitive topic for us restaurateurs. These days, we are encouraging our guests to book tables in advance, as we must watch our numbers thanks to the capacity restrictions. Most of our lovely customers honor the bookings they make. However, regularly we encounter no-shows. Thankfully, these are very much in the minority here in Lagos, however our friends with restaurants in the UK are reporting increasing numbers of people failing to turn up for their reservations. Whether people are changing their minds last minute, making multiple bookings before deciding where to eat, or going for ‘pre-dinner cocktails’ that turn into ‘cocktails for dinner’ we will never know.
The problem is not just one of good manners – although, this is certainly on the list of reasons we get pretty upset about no-shows. We believe what customers fail to realise is that every restaurant prepares for your booking – whether you are a party of 2 or 12. We have ordered in the stock that we believe we will need for the evening – which will largely depend on how many people we have booked in. Our chefs will have prepared a certain number of items, using fresh ingredients, that will need to be used that evening. Again, depending on how many people we assume will be dining with us. We have planned our staff rota accordingly. We may have felt confident enough to give our part-time staff some extra hours. Our team were ready to take care of ALL of our guests.
And while we are saving a table for you – we will likely be turning away customers who have walked in, eager to spend their money at our venue. A party not showing up often means we lose out on revenue from that table twice – on top of all the wasted stock/hours as mentioned above.
One option would be to ask for a non-refundable deposit when booking tables, although here at PIE Lagos we feel very reluctant to ask for this. It is a step that we hope we never have to resort to.
What we ask from our customers is this. Please, continue to book with us if you can. You can book over the phone, via our website, or on social media. We try and make it as easy as possible! We will always get back to you to confirm your reservation. If you’d like to cancel your booking that’s absolutely fine. We understand that sometimes unexpected things come up, plans change, and we honestly don’t mind! But please, please get in touch and let us know. Even if it’s 10 minutes before you are supposed to arrive – just give us a call, or send us a message or an email.
The same applies if you are running late for your booking. Again, this is normally not a problem if you just give us a call to let us know! Our policy with holding reserved tables is as follows. We will hold your table for 10 minutes after the time you have booked for. After the 10 minutes, if we haven’t heard from you, we will consider you to be a no-show and will give away your table at the next opportunity.
Lastly, a brief note about the time of your reservation. Sadly, not everyone can eat at 8pm. Sometimes (we know this is upsetting) we may ask you to choose either 7.30pm or 8.30pm. HOWEVER why not use this to your advantage? Take the 8.30pm table, arrive at 8pm as planned, treat yourself to a sneaky pre-dinner cocktail at our bar, and before you can say “raspberry mojito” you’ll find your table is ready!
2023 Update!!
Recently, a study by The Observer found that almost all top UK restaurants are now charging their customers for no-shows and cancellations. Apparently, more than 90 out of the top 100 UK restaurants are now charging a cancellation fee ranging from £25 to £375 per person, if a table cancels late or doesn’t show up at all.
Restauranters report that the process of being able to book multiple tables online, meaning customers can effectively choose the venue they fancy at the very last minute, has driven restaurants to demand that a credit or debit card is required to make the reservation, to which the fee will be charged if the booking doesn’t show.
For us, this year, around 50% of our bookings have been no-shows. As we’ve mentioned above, we are VERY reluctant to ask for a deposit or start to impose these fees. Hopefully it doesn’t come to that. But, please do let us know whether you are going to be late for your booking, or have changed your mind and decided to eat elsewhere. We really don’t mind! We’d just appreciate the heads-up so we know we can let somebody else use the table!!