Reservation no-shows Outed On Twitter
Chic Beverly Hills restaurant Red Medicine may have started a trend that will help restaurant owners avoid losing thousands of dollars in revenue annually due to customers who book reservations at their establishments and then fail to show up. N
Noah Ellis, who is both chef and owner at the Vietnamese fusion restaurant in California, recently listed the names of seven customers who blew off confirmed reservations on Twitter in the hopes of not only shaming them but also warning others who do the same thing that their name could be outed next.
Ellis said that nice customers could thank the people listed for making it more difficult for everyone to get a reservation.
Ellis posted: “All the nice guests who wonder why restaurants overbook and they sometimes have to wait for their res(ervations) should thank people like those below.”
Many people supported Red Medicine’s tactic of using social media to shame wrongdoers, saying that it might help people to realize how important it is to keep their commitments.
“I hope you enjoyed your gf’s(girlfriend’s) bday and the flowers that you didn’t bring when you no-showed for your 8:15 res. Thanks.”
One Twitter user, @Justin_Ot, responded by supporting Ellis’ actions.
“If more restaurants did this, people might be more respectful. It’s like reverse Yelp.”
But one of the customers who was shamed wrote back on Twitter that a sudden death in the family was the reason that they were so upset they forget to cancel their reservation.
The user wrote: “unfortunately, about 20 minutes after making the reservation, I got a call from my mom saying my uncle had passed away…It was the last thing on my mind to call and cancel the reservation.”
Red Medicine hasn’t been adverse to using non-traditional tactics to get people’s attention. In a famous dust-up two years ago, the owner published a picture of a local well-known restaurant critic, ruining her anonymity.
All the nice guests who wonder why restaurants overbook and they sometimes have to wait for their res should thank people like those below.
— Red Medicine (@redmedicinela) March 24, 2013
Source:
Twitter Shame for Restaurant Reservation No-Shows
http://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local/Twitter-Shame-Restaurant-Reservations-Red-Medicine-200232011.html
