Restaurants find no-show diners hard to stomach
A string of well-known restaurants have spoken out recently over people have failing to turn up for booked tables. Here, restaurateurs tell Ruth Mosalski why it threatens their survival...
RESTAURANTS in Wales say people not showing up for tables they’ve booked is a serious threat to their survival.
On Valentine’s Day, Bar 44, one of Cardiff ’s most popular restaurants, had 16 tables not turn up on what is traditionally one of the busiest nights of the year. Owner Owen Morgan said it happened on a “weekly basis”.
Last week, just six of the 26 tables booked in at Arbennig in Cardiff’s Pontcanna suburb turned up.
And Cardiff restaurant Bully’s, the Hare and Hounds in Aberthin, near Cowbridge, and The Humble Onion in Dinas Powys have all spoken out about the problem, which seems to be widespread and damaging.
Of course it boils down to money, but it isn’t as simple as losing out on your table’s bill. There is food left in the fridges, drinks unopened, staff and suppliers to be paid, bills and other overheads.
Then there’s the debate on how to solve it (aside from what you’d expect is the most obvious and decent way of solving it: calling up to cancel). The most common suggestion (from people on Twitter) is for restaurants to charge a deposit. But even that divides the industry. While Heston Blumenthal can charge a full £325 per person upfront for a table at his Fat Duck restaurant in Berkshire, few independents could, or would, expect that from their customers.
That’s partly down to the perception, industry insiders say. People are paying good money to go to a restaurant, they don’t want to feel they are being accused of being untrustworthy as soon as they pick up the phone.
There’s also the commission costs for employing a booking system to save staff time of taking those details.
Some say that where credit card deposits are in place, the paperwork generated by people disputing the charge with their bank takes up so much time they may as well not have bothered.
Beach House restaurant at Oxwich is AA Restaurant of the Year for Wales 2018. Over the four days of Easter, they had 50 tables who did not show up or cancelled at the last minute – costing the business an estimated £3,500. It is only a 50-cover restaurant.
Neil Kedward is managing director of the Seren Collection, which owns restaurants including Beach House and the 54-cover Coast in Saundersfoot.
Both restaurants are being negatively affected by no shows, he said.
Mr Kedward said they operate a booking policy where people receive an initial confirmation followed by a reminder email.
They then call anyone who has not turned up. He said last weekend many of those they called said they had forgotten they had made the reservation.
“Nobody is malicious,” he said, but as the venue is right on the Gower beach front, they do not have passing trade.
“We are a destination restaurant and do not get walk-by bookings. We’re on a beach in the middle of nowhere. If you’re in a city centre or a location surrounded by a population then of course if you have a booking which doesn’t turn up, people may pass and fill that.
“However, they also have more competition so there is a different dynamic.”
At a high-end restaurant, staff are experienced and are paid accordingly. Meeting the expectation of quality comes with a price tag.
“They have got a certain pedigree and experience that means that they are a more expensive resource,” he said.
Beach House takes a £20 per person deposit on Saturday nights, but now they are looking through their calendar and considering bringing in the same policy on other busy nights of the year.
“People forget they have made the booking or feel they can cancel last minute without any implications, but the reality to the business is that it affects the small and destination restaurants worse,” he said.
“Business in Wales is very tough anyway, with business rates, and the living wage. It’s great that the industry is having to modernise and in terms of the living wage, I completely support that.
“But those pressures, along with people not turning up, can have a hugely detrimental effect on businesses. You only need to look at the number of restaurant closures to see how important it is.”
Hang Fire Smokehouse in Barry is a proper Welsh success story.
The pop-up which went round Cardiff pubs has grown to a hugely popular restaurant, street food stalls, a book and now a TV series. But it means they have also been affected by no-shows.
Owners Sam Evans and Shauna Guinn say people not showing up could result in the loss of restaurants.
Sam says: “No-shows have been devastating for us and other hardworking restaurants for many reasons that most sensible people could take a guess at.
“But for those that have discourteously not contacted to cancel a prearranged booking, here’s why you’re killing us with your disregard; we have spoiled stock that must be binned, we still pay for staff wages and amenities to keep a place heated, lit, oven, smokers burning in case you show up.
‘One night we had over 30 no-shows, that’s pretty devastating for a 72-cover restaurant’ SHAUNA GUINN OF HANG FIRE SMOKEHOUSE
“All of these reasons eat away at the paltry 1-5% profit margin that a restaurant makes – and it’s heartbreaking to the staff and owners.
“We work in this industry because we love what we do, and certainty not to make money, but we all have serious bills to pay. Significant ‘noshows’ could eventually take our livelihood away from us.”
Shauna says they were given no choice but to turn to a deposit system.
“One night we had over 30 noshows, that’s pretty devastating for a 72-cover restaurant,” she said.
“We decided we had to do something, as being a destination restaurant we get very little footfall from passing customers to fill the empty tables.
“So we recently introduced a deposit system for larger parties. Both us and our customers seem to appreciate the security of the booking and we’ve not received any complaints. It’s certainly eliminated the larger group no-shows.”
Edmund Inkin is joint owner of Eatdrinksleep, the company behind the Felin Fach Griffin near Brecon.
He says while there is “no excuse” for people not turning up, he doesn’t want to turn to deposits.
“There is no excuse for no-shows, spectacularly rude in most cases. I’d hate to charge deposits though or even just take card details.
“Apart from being an administrative pain, it just pollutes the guest’s experience; it’s not for us at the moment.
“Our team prefers to be as professional as possible in taking bookings, sometimes confirming them the day before if we’re due to be really busy. And always check with a no-show to be sure that there isn’t a muddle over dates.
“In the end, I’d encourage our team to trust guests and ultimately we’ll get more from that trusting relationship than from the few charges we’d ever make.”
Cai Pritchard is the owner of Got Beef. Famed for its burgers, it’s a 40-table restaurant on Whitchurch Road in Cardiff. On a busy Saturday they can have up to 100 covers.
When they opened they didn’t take bookings at all, but as the restaurant grew in popularity they began doing so. Now they accept bookings for four people or more.
Knowing they have a full restaurant or large tables booked in, they will order extra food and put on extra staff.
“If a customer rings up for a table and we’re fully booked then they’re missing out”, Cai said. “If another table then doesn’t turn up those people have missed out unnecessarily.
“It’s a bit frustrating as we know the original table have probably gone elsewhere.”
Milkwood is a 32-cover restaurant in Pontcanna, Cardiff.
Losing a booking is a huge issue for them, according to chef Tom Furlong.
“If we lose a table or two that can quickly add up to a quarter of our restaurant”, he said. “It can be a really big impact.”
The restaurant only takes a deposit for groups of more than 15 or whole restaurant bookings, in which case they charge £10 a head.
As a regular to restaurants in London, he says there it is standard for card details to be taken – as they are for a hotel booking – and a charge of up to 50% to be levied if you don’t turn up.
“In London it is pretty mandatory that if you’re going to a decent restaurant you have to give your card details and they can charge up to 50% of your bill.
“I don’t think that’s going to go down well in Cardiff, but it’s something we, as a group of independent restaurants, may have to think about doing it.
“It’s not good for chain restaurants but for independents it’s worse. I have six staff who are all dependant on us as a business.”
Cai says he can’t see deposits working in a restaurant like his.
“I know it would be a complaint on Trip Advisor before we could say anything,” he says.
“Paying a deposit is a bit of a hassle on both sides. If you’re going to accept a deposit you have to be in a position to issue refunds and that all takes time.
“It takes 30 seconds to ring up and give your name and cancel. Unfortunately people just can’t be bothered and they think they’re just affecting a business but it’s not just that table.
“If we have bookings, we’ll order extra food and rota extra staff on. They both have costs and if tables don’t show up, staff will be sent home early and they’re losing out on hours.”
But what’s the reason for so many no-shows?
Tom thinks it’s people making online bookings.
“Because we use online booking, a lot of people book more than one place for the same evening and then don’t cancel the others.”
It may sound unusual, but he says that’s the only reason he can think of: “I can’t see any other logical reason.”
No-shows also affect atmosphere and food, as well as the crucial profit margin.
“Food generally doesn’t go to waste that much as we can use it at other times, but if you’re planning for a busy Friday or Saturday night, and it isn’t used there can be a waste of food and that is, at the end of the day, a loss of money.
“Also, the smaller our turnover, the higher our staff costs. You’re still paying your staff to be here, especially those on salaries, but you need that footfall and that income to pay those staff costs.
“Unfortunately that is what business is about when it comes down to it.
“It can be financially tough and the difference between breaking even or making money on a night or a loss.”
His plea to diners is to let restaurants know as soon as they can if they can’t make it, especially on quieter nights of the week.
“If we’re busy on a Friday or Saturday night, we’ll likely have a cancellation list so we can ring people and that can help a little bit, but that doesn’t really happen on a Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday.”
Hang Fire’s Shauna doesn’t want to put customers off and, of course, cancellations do happen.
“At this point, we would like to thank everyone that has taken five minutes to let their restaurant know in advance that they don’t require the table they had booked.
“We absolutely don’t mind cancellations, life happens and we can’t always stick to plans made – we’ve all been there.
“It’s extremely helpful to get advanced notice as we time to fill that table to another eager diner and it’s business as usual.”