http://consumerist.com/379467/raleigh-restaurant-requires-credit-card-for-reservation-then-charges-20-per-person-who-doesnt-show

Quote :

"It's common for restaurants to not seat a party until everyone has arrived, but here's something we've never seen before: requiring a credit card to make the reservation, then charging $20 per person who doesn't show up—but still refusing to seat an incomplete party. When Matthew tried to get his party of ten seated without two of the people—basically saying he'd pay the $40 to get out of the bar and at a table—management refused. We think this restaurant doesn't like its patrons very much."

4/15/2008 8:24:19 PM

wtf

4/15/2008 8:34:07 PM

somebody needs to let these people know that we are in RALEIGH NORTH CAROLINA. This isn't LA or NYC.

Anyhow, i know a certain restaurant space that will be available pretty soon if this keeps up

4/15/2008 9:01:08 PM

isn't that illegal?

4/15/2008 9:59:54 PM

^^ I agree, the best part is they advertise on the front cover of those shitty pamplets they leave in all the shitty bars throughout raleigh.

I can understand why a lot of places don't take reservations (they make more money with a small wait or don't risk space ending up in no shows when they're pretty popular). Not seating reservations early is common in many places, as is a fee per person or per table for large groups. But damn not seating a group because 2 people are missing out of 12 in raleigh at a place that just opened, not getting much recognition, not in a real town, etc.... wow

[Edited on April 15, 2008 at 10:25 PM. Reason : .]

4/15/2008 10:05:37 PM

i boycott them and i've never even heard of them. people like that deserve to go out of business.

4/15/2008 10:37:16 PM

^^^^can't say that i've ever been to a place like that here in the city. that's bad for business anywhere.

4/15/2008 10:53:08 PM

I would tell them to kiss my ass.

4/15/2008 10:57:57 PM

So if your entire party doesn't show up, they charge you for the missing people and then tell you to leave? How is that even legal? They haven't even provided any service to you at that point...

4/16/2008 8:23:39 AM

yeah, i dont get the overcharge and no service deal but it is very common in large cities for restaurants to charge parties for no shows in a reservation and seating parties all at once.

i remember we were at this really nice chinese rest. in chicago and they didnt seat us until everyone showed and when i made the reservation they took my CC info and told me of the charges for no shows and what not. i didnt have a problem with it but again, this was one of the most fancy places ive ever dined at.

4/16/2008 9:21:20 AM

i walked by this place yesterday, didn't look that nice, and the menue doesn't look particularly special

4/16/2008 11:23:37 AM

Hey, ThatGoodLock, don't eat at Sono!

4/16/2008 11:29:15 AM

if they did this to me i'd call the cc company, they almost always side with the customer

4/16/2008 11:47:16 AM

$20/person is pretty steep but i do not see the problem if they just charged a complete party for a no show. The issue is simple if you make a reservation then SHOW UP.

However, it is pretty fucked up imho that they would charge for an individual or two from a party not showing up. Shit happens and if i am the host i should not get dicked over because person X was some kind of emergency or other event pop up unexpectantly

4/16/2008 12:18:03 PM

the not seating a group until the entire group is there is really common

hell, even the diner i go to for sunday breakfast every week with friends does it

4/16/2008 12:46:58 PM

I think more places need to start doing this. It will keep wait times shorter at restaurants. When I hosted we'd have people call into to make resos and say crap like "well it could be like 20 or 30 people" I'd keep asking for a final number or for them to call back with a final number. They'd end up no showing 30 people (no call no show) + credit card # + $20 charge = $600. No restaurant would do that but it would scare a bunch of people.

The other thing it would prevent is people making resos at a bunch of places on Friday night and then deciding where they want to go, after they talk to their friends. It's the new cool thing to do with the older North Hills crowd.

4/16/2008 1:11:43 PM

well. what you're describing is not what happened. this guy paid the $40 bucks and they STILL didn't seat him.

4/16/2008 1:17:21 PM

My grandma gave me a $50.00 AMEX re-loadable card for Christmas this year. I have used it at least three times to secure reservations over the phone. There is ~$9.00 on the card, but it protects against shenanigans like this. Would probably work in many other situations too.

4/16/2008 1:22:19 PM

^ no he didn't. he offered to pay the 40 bucks and asked if they could then seat him, but he let on that the other couple was still on their way. they said they couldn't charge him if they were still coming. read the article

4/16/2008 1:26:10 PM

just another white guy with a false sense of entitlement

4/16/2008 2:27:39 PM

I would love for this to happen and me have to call American Express. I can almost bet with policies like that, American Express would be laying down the law... and I'd so have my money back that night.

4/16/2008 6:52:57 PM

read the article, folks

Quote :

"just another white guy with a false sense of entitlement"

4/17/2008 7:22:38 AM

So after reading the article, the guy is just bitching because they staff didn't listen to his opinion of how they should manage the restaurant.

He wasn't charged, and he was seated when the other couple showed up. Therefore, this doesn't deserve a thread or an article.

Quote :

"We received a call from the missing couple saying that they were having trouble parking..."

I'm guessing that no one here is surprised?

4/17/2008 7:38:01 AM

So apparently the dude who owns Sono also owns Pi Bar.

No wonder it's a half-assed establishment.

4/18/2008 3:10:15 PM

It's in Raleigh

it's a half-assed establishment either way

this particular one seems to be quarter-assed

4/18/2008 3:12:55 PM

I just read their menu on line. It honestly looks like they lifted every roll from Mura's menu.

4/18/2008 4:54:46 PM

He owns Mura, too.

Same statement as above.

4/18/2008 5:39:44 PM

who has trouble parking at night downtown?!

there are FREE parking decks all over (and they've never been full when i've gone to them)

4/19/2008 1:31:25 AM

I am glad the guy wasn't black. Jessie and Al would have a field day with this place.


And in the end the party was seated and he wasn't charged $40, so I really dont see the issue.

[Edited on April 19, 2008 at 1:42 AM. Reason : .]

4/19/2008 1:37:59 AM

Quote :

"It's in Raleigh it's a half-assed establishment either way "

where besides Raleigh have all of you Raleigh haters lived?

I've lived in 4 states in the last 4 years (NC, VA, FL, and WA) and have travelled around the country a pretty good bit--to include driving from FL to WA (hell, i've been to two different places in CA in the last month and am going to Canada in the morning).

Raleigh is a pretty damned decent place to live, and it is definitely a "real" city. No, it is not NYC or San Diego--but it is a fairly major city and pretty decent one, at that.

4/19/2008 2:25:18 AM

No, Raleigh sucks

Its the David Carr of cities

4/19/2008 2:34:49 AM

dude, i lived there and in durham for 24 years. i know it pretty well and am well aware of the shortcomings. i'm telling you, though, it's way, way better than a lot of you give it credit for.

4/19/2008 2:38:31 AM

While I love Raleigh, I never have and probably never will consider or refer to it as a "major city"

4/19/2008 4:54:24 PM

what other places does this guy own?

4/19/2008 5:32:35 PM

i would really think something like that was illegal if they didn't tell them up front about it...

4/19/2008 7:38:48 PM

illegal.... you mean like theft ?

4/19/2008 8:10:36 PM

Quote :

"i would really think something like that was illegal if they didn't tell them up front about it... "

DO YOU PEOPLE KNOW HOW TO READ? READ THE ARTICLE. HE WAS TOLD UP FRONT ABOUT THE POLICY AND WAS NOT CHARGED $40.

4/20/2008 11:46:27 AM

Quote :

"No, Raleigh sucks Its the David Carr of cities"

LOL

4/20/2008 12:28:41 PM

but for real though

are their chicken tenders on point or what?

4/20/2008 12:30:47 PM

Mura does the same thing
(same owner apparently)

we had a girls night (my first night out after having Madison) there a few months back and we made the reservation for 6 girls. We had to leave a CC#. 1 girl was running late and we couldn't be seated until the entire party was there.
There was a wine tasting in the bar area that a few of us decided to partake in while waiting on the last girl. We told the hostess that our friend was running late and that we'd be in the bar area tasting the wine. She said okay, no problem. When the last girl arrived we let the hostess know and said we were ready to be seated. It was ~ 20 minutes after our reservation time.

The hostess had given away our room and she was a bitch about it saying we were late and said the creditcard left had been charged for a no show.
We spoke to a manager and explained. The manager yelled at her (she looked like she was going to cry), apologized and bought us a bottle of wine. cancelled the charge. We thn only waited 10 minutes or so before getting a room. All 6 of us have bartended/served/or managed in restaurants and we knew a few staff members (may have played a part).

I don't understand this whole policy. You can turn tables faster if you seat incomplete parties rather than making them wait to be seated. Charging for incomplete parties is stupid. Good luck getting return customers. perhaps for no shows on busy night...
The food was okay. nothing spectacular.

our situation worked out in the end but it was frustrating when the hostess said she gave away our room and was going to charge us.

4/20/2008 3:50:26 PM

^ and that he yelled at her in front of you all...

4/20/2008 4:25:28 PM

lame

4/20/2008 4:32:43 PM

Quote :

"When the last girl arrived we let the hostess know and said we were ready to be seated. It was ~ 20 minutes after our reservation time. The hostess had given away our room and she was a bitch about it saying we were late and said the creditcard left had been charged for a no show."

I went to a restaurant the other night and there was a party of 15 waiting (they hadn't made reservations). They were told that they would be seated in about 10 minutes because a party of 17 had no showed (their reservation was at 5:30 and it was well after 7:30). They called the party of 15's name and everyone stood up and were literally seconds from being seated and the hostess looked out in the parking lot and was like "oh nvm, there's the party of 17. You all wont be seated for another hour or so." That was a scenario where I think their reservation should have been cancelled.

4/21/2008 9:37:53 AM

it's all the fucking dumbasses making stupid reservations

4/21/2008 3:20:27 PM

Shit, I might just go eat there so I can get in on the class action when they sue those pieces of shit

4/21/2008 7:52:49 PM

ate there last night, no issues etc. Was great... as Mura but closer to Downtown.

4/22/2008 12:48:50 AM

Quote :

"I don't understand this whole policy. You can turn tables faster if you seat incomplete parties rather than making them wait to be seated. Charging for incomplete parties is stupid. Good luck getting return customers. perhaps for no shows on busy night.... "

Bingo. Badly run restaurants forget that pleasing customers is a good way to stay in business.

4/22/2008 1:22:25 AM

Quote :

"My grandma gave me a $50.00 AMEX re-loadable card for Christmas this year. I have used it at least three times to secure reservations over the phone. There is ~$9.00 on the card, but it protects against shenanigans like this. Would probably work in many other situations too"

i like where you're going with this, but i'm honestly surprised they've never tried to authorize double digits on there.

and i didnt read the article, but based on my hot button opinion of this, i think it's perfectly fine as long as 2 conditions are met

1) they warn you about this ahead of time
2) they actually lose revenue because chairs sat empty that otherwise would have been earning 20 bucks per head for that hour.

not to get into the whole WAITER/WAITRESS/SERVER/BARTENDER/TIPPING thing.... but a no-show on a big party can cost the server (and the restaurant) a decent chunk of change. when 3-4 of their 5 tables sit empty during the busiest part of the night, that just sucks. kinda like how everyone here who has waited tables (especially at lunch) absolutely HATES campers. hahaha, yeah yeah, i know... if you dont like it, get your shit together and a real job blah blah.

but if you dont like their reservation policy, then either get your shit together or go eat somewhere else

i've actually been with groups who reserve at like 3 different places, for example at like 7, 7:45, and 8:30... and i always felt like i was being a total douchebag for being a party to that.

just cause its in little ole raleigh doesnt mean they dont deserve to hold tables for you and lose hundreds of bucks in revenue just cause you guys ditched.

my 2 cents i guess.

and DAMN I wish i could sleep on weeknights

4/22/2008 3:37:42 AM

Went there Saturday night with a huge party. The reservation had to be for around 15-20 people. They seated the party without everyone being present and the girl who made the reservation was not charged anything to my knowledge, although I'm reasonably sure everyone showed up.

The food was excellent, and the service was quite good.

I was skeptical because of this thread and the links, but the place really impressed me. I'd go back.

[Edited on April 28, 2008 at 2:41 PM. Reason : ]

4/28/2008 2:40:55 PM

Set em up.

4/28/2008 2:46:56 PM