A restaurant reservation was always a promise, not a preference, and the fee is simply what happens to a promise once enough people stop keeping it for free.
28 percent of Americans booked a table last year and never showed up, so the manners got written into the software.
- Pizzata charges fifteen dollars a head, after a twenty-minute grace window, three texts, and a courtesy call
- OpenTable now adds its own 2 percent charge on no-show fees and deposits
- Torrisi asks fifty dollars a head, refundable in full if you cancel twelve hours out
- Don't want to hand over a card? Call the restaurant, the last free port in this storm
A no-show was never victimless. Somebody's thin margin was standing behind that table.
