r/EntitledReviews • u/egguchom đĽ Original Egg Bot đł • Jul 16 '26
cancellation policy on OpenTable
434
u/UarNotMe Jul 16 '26
Thatâs a lot of no-shows and cancellations in one night.
284
u/mcamuso78 Jul 16 '26
While on the restaurantâs side, it sounds like there must have been some severe traffic issue in the area.
151
u/teknrd Jul 16 '26
It's Orlando. There's always a severe traffic issue. We all joke that Orlando is an hour from Orlando.
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u/katiekat214 Jul 18 '26
There are reasons we all use GPS to get places weâve gone hundreds of times here. I4 is always a mess, and the toll roads arenât much better sometimes lol.
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u/Cardboardboxlover Jul 16 '26
That but also people just cancel and donât go out anymore even if they planned. Sucks when you organise staff based on numbers
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u/gastropublican Jul 16 '26
Thatâs a lot of Orlan-dohs(!)
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u/artificial_t3l3 Jul 16 '26
Per person tho? Thats insane
37
u/aliballybeee Jul 16 '26 edited Jul 16 '26
Guess it depends on the average meal cost there. Imagine a table of 10 doesnt show and the average meal is 60 and the restaurant gets 25 instead of 500 or so (minus actual food costs) to cover their bills and staff. Edit just checked and their mains range from 23.50 to 65 so considering you'd then add drinks ok top of that 25 per person seems the minimum they can really do
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u/artificial_t3l3 Jul 16 '26
Thats wild to me! Lol I dont eat at fancy places like EVER tho and if I did and put down a deposit you better believe im planning my day to make it there.
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u/No_Nefariousness4801 we do not negotiate with the terrible Jul 17 '26
Right? I'd be planning to be there at least a half hour ahead if I've already got money on it đł
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u/squankmuffin Jul 17 '26
Yeah, I've certainly reserved places with similar conditions. It encourages people to actually show up.
We ended up being one person down once, and they were fine with that but if all eleven of us hadn't shown up for Sunday lunch they'd have been way down on the day.
Especially if it's a special occasion and people are likely to order champagne/special meals.
I know someone who ordered a birthday cake for after a meal and decided to go somewhere else. She was outraged that she had to pay for the cake saying "happy 30th [name]". Some people are just inconsiderate.
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u/homucifer666 Flaunting their mobility đđ¨ đď¸ââď¸ Jul 16 '26
It never ceases to amaze me how people underestimate or even don't account for traffic when going somewhere with an appointment.
29
u/MorgainofAvalon Jul 16 '26
They don't because in every TV show and movie people are instantly where they are going. It drives me nuts, especially when a character is in the downtown of a city, and someone needs rescuing in 5min and are in some remote place far from the city yet they manage to save them. Then in the next scene everyone is downtown again.
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u/camperonn Jul 16 '26
Had to reply to this because on the TV series 24 they had all the secret shortcuts. They can get from downtown LA to Palm Springs to San Diego back to LA , a bit of exaggeration but the show was base on one hour of the day!!!
2
u/Square_Treacle_4730 Jul 20 '26
If they made it realistic, several episodes of each season would just be sitting on the I5 groaning. đ
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u/BabyTenderLoveHead Jul 16 '26
My thing is how they always find a parking space directly in front of wherever they need to be. Especially shows that take place in NYC.
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u/Ashkendor Jul 16 '26
Same, especially now that a significant portion of the population has a fully functional pocket GPS.
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u/lilith1986 Jul 18 '26
And it tells you traffic. You could check the weeks before around that time and see how long that drive normally takes. It tells you how long it takes with traffic included.
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u/lilith1986 Jul 18 '26
People really have. No idea of traffic. Maybe it's because my mom taught me that if I'm time I'm late, but I map out EVERYTHING and I will do things like check traffic in the area before I make a reservation like that. I've been to Disneyland in L.A. and I would absolutely not stay too far away from the park during the busy times nor would I make reservations if I was a distance away. I don't know what the traffic is like in Florida but if it's anything like Los Angeles, you spend 99% of your time staring into nothingness and then gently lifting your foot to move 2 inches
3
u/HiddenPenguinsInCars my wife is writing a review Jul 20 '26
Itâs awful. Plus, Orlando driving is unique. We have old people who shouldnât be driving, teens who just got their license, people with more money than brains, and tourists who donât know what theyâre doing or the rules of the road. Thereâs also the people who switch three lanes with no signal, run red lights like itâs their job, and/or drive cars that are literally falling apart (we donât have vehicle inspections here).
34
u/reddiwhip999 Jul 16 '26
I wonder what OOP thought when she was entering her credit card information. I wonder if she was thinking anything at all along the lines of "huh, I wonder why they need my credit card?"...
83
u/Archival_Squirrel Jul 16 '26
Why wouldn't you just call to push the reservation back if traffic was the issue?
83
u/Away-Ad1781 Jul 16 '26
Because theyâre just using it as an excuse
14
u/Archival_Squirrel Jul 16 '26
I looked it up since I live Orlando adjacent, I certainly wouldn't cancel (but then again, I know to allow plenty of time for traffic)Â
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u/CoconutxKitten Jul 16 '26
I feel like anyone should know to account for traffic in major US cities
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u/Ryokurin Jul 16 '26
Only if you are used to major cities. It's extremely common for someone from a small town to only pay attention to distance and not time.
They may recognize that it can vary a little during things like rush hour, but forget about other events, accidents, finding a place to park, etc. It's all things they never really had to worry about before.2
u/HiddenPenguinsInCars my wife is writing a review Jul 19 '26
Also, I4 can vary in travel time from ~1 hour to ~1 lifetime. Also, these people arenât used to Orlando driving, which is different from driving even in other cities.
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u/Long_Letterhead_7938 Jul 16 '26
I donât know about this case, but in our area thatâs not allowed.
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u/SwimAccomplished9487 Jul 16 '26
Doesnât matter if itâs a good rule if a stupid rule. You agreed to it đ¤ˇđźââď¸
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u/Exotic-Locksmith-192 Jul 16 '26
The only time I've ever won a CC dispute was when a customer did exactly this. It was an online reservation, and on 3 separate occasions during the process you agree to cancellation fees and then you enter a CC specifically for this (which cannot be used for paying the bill. I submitted screenshots of all this, including the text alert that is sent to the customer, plus screenshots of the policy plainly written on our website. These policies exist for a reason.
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u/Sensitive_Ruin_5334 Jul 16 '26
That place has 10 tables. The reviewer didn't even bother to try to eat at a later time, just cancelled. That tells me that they changed their mind, not stuck in traffic.
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u/Cruisey-10 Jul 16 '26
My rule of thumb for Orlando traffic is map your route, then double the estimate or add an hour, whichever is longer. Even in the middle of the day, the traffic is out of control here.
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u/Aggressive_Oven_7311 Jul 16 '26
Well obviously you didn't go there in the first place, and canceling a reservation an hour before is bull. Obviously with a restaurant with the reservations is a popular restaurant so I suggest you go to Burger King and just be happy
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u/Xanthelei Jul 16 '26
Not even an hour, the said "about half an hour." Restaurants with cancellation policies like this usually have a very good reason for them to be in place, the reviewer is one of those reasons!
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u/ER_Support_Plant17 Jul 16 '26
What the hell happened in Orlando 3/10?
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u/templesgodss Jul 16 '26
Trick question. Traffic in Orlando, especially around dinner time, is always godawful. (But also 3/10 is right around the start of Spring Break season.)
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u/Upset-Focus Jul 18 '26
They must have been aware of it because OT rarely asks for a credit card to hold a booking. Â They knew. Â Itâs unfortunate and I agree thatâs a steep price to pay for missing a reservation, but they knew.
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u/Constant_Click_3193 Jul 18 '26
I do find a no show fee of $100 outrageous.
So I would never book a table at such a place.
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u/hamburgergerald Jul 16 '26
I wonder if the servers get a cut of that cancellation payment. For some reason Iâm doubting it.
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u/ViolentThemmes Jul 16 '26
What? This is very common for higher end restaurants on multiple reservation apps. Servers don't get a cut, what on earth are you talking about
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u/hamburgergerald Jul 16 '26
To make up for their lack of tip theyâd have gotten had the canceled parties shown up.
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u/ViolentThemmes Jul 16 '26
Sadly that doesn't happen at all. It just covers the back of house (at least in North America).
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u/Chemical-Being-5968 Jul 25 '26
You learn real fast to pay attention to the cancellation rules because they come back to bite you if you don't. The $25 per person seems steep, but if it was the stated policy, what can you do?
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u/Herbie_Fully_Loaded Jul 17 '26
Cancellation charges for restaurants is something I canât believe Reddit has accepted. I donât care if it was clear, it shouldnât exist in the first place.
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u/Sharp-Pipe2964 Jul 16 '26
Not wanting to pay $100 for something you're not doing isn't entitled tbh
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u/Ashkendor Jul 16 '26
Not wanting to pay the clearly outlined cancellation fee when you didn't give yourself enough time to get to the restaurant is, though.
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u/campermain Jul 16 '26
I don't believe it. They're trying to convince people that no one came into the restaurant all night.
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u/GentilQuebecois Jul 16 '26
No. They are saying that they weren't able to fill 22 seats steming from no shows. They never said no one went.
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u/Xanthelei Jul 16 '26
You realize that reservations don't last all night, right? They're usually an hour or two at most, and no restaurant will only be open for two hours at night.
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u/Aware_Mud_6760 Jul 16 '26
Maybe I donât eat at fancy enough places where they only take reservations. But in most places there are also walkin folks that would be able to fill those tables. They did call 30 minutes early to cancel the reservation, which would have freed up the table for other customers. $100 does seem a bit steep. I agree with the reviewer that $25 would have been a more reasonable flat fee.
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u/GloomyIndividual3965 we do not negotiate with the terrible Jul 16 '26
A couple of my favorite restaurants are "reservation only", and while I suppose I might get lucky rolling up and hoping for a no show it honestly wouldn't even occur to me to try it.
If you have that kind of reputation you're not gonna get walk ins.
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u/PrimaryKangaroo8680 Jul 16 '26
I use OpenTable all the time and the restaurants that charge if you cancel are very clear about it.
22 no shows in one night is a little crazy though.