THIS ISN’T GOING TO END WELL: L.A. restaurant Red Medicine uses Twitter to shame no-shows.
Yes, it’s wrong to make a reservation and then blow it off without calling to cancel. It’s far worse for a business to publicly insult its customers. And note this quote from the restaurant’s managing partner:
The assholes who decide to no-show, or cancel 20 minutes before their reservation (because one of their friends made a reservation somewhere else) ruin restaurants (as a whole) for the people who make a reservation and do their best to honor it. Either restaurants are forced to overbook and make the guests (that actually showed up) wait, or they do what we do, turn away guests for some prime-time slots because they’re booked, and then have empty tables.
Are they only assholes when don’t show up, or is he implying that he considers all of his potential customers to be assholes? I know what I’d think after reading the above. And does he still consider them to be assholes if there are extenuating circumstances?
Such as a relative dying:
I’m not on Twitter and therefore didn’t see the post so it has no effect on me but yes, I am that [Name Withheld]. I wanted to take my fiancée and friends out to Red Medicine because I had been before with a friend and loved it. I set a reservation that day at 6:00 P.M. for a 7:30 P.M. reservation (so clearly they weren’t busy). Unfortunately, about 20 minutes after making the reservation, I got a call from my mom saying my uncle had passed away and it was the last thing on my mind to call and cancel our reservation.
They did have my cell phone # and never called to see where we were. If they had called my cell I would have told them my situation which I hope they would have understood.
Not sure why they would try and publicly embarrass me in this difficult time for me and my family. I would not like to be published by name but don’t mind you letting them know I won’t be back at their establishment anytime soon.
RELATED: Earlier in the month on my blog, I collated quotes from “You got served! The hostage drama of dining out in New York City,” from Kyle Smith of the New York Post, and the embittered, intensely angry responses his article generated from Big Apple waiters.
(Cross-posted at Ed Driscoll.com, where you’re welcome to comment on your own dining horror stories.)