To think this is poor customer service?

[Thistledew]

Tonight DH and I tried a restaurant we had not been to before. Small-ish place that seats maybe 60 people. They do not accept table reservations.

When we got there at around 8pm the restaurant was packed apart from one table with four seats. We were told that there were no tables for two available. We decided to wait. A couple of minutes later, 3 people came in and were seated at the table for four.

I was a bit pissed off at this and was discussing with DH if we should leave/where else we should go, when a table for 2 became available so we were seated and had a nice meal.

I get that they want to maximise their profitability, and that they are obviously busy so can afford to be choosy about their customers, but AIBU to think it is poor customer service and ultimately counterproductive? What if for the next hour only couples had come in? The table would have remained empty rather than half full.

Yeah it does seem a bit poor.

Managing top 4s is the difference between a restaurant making a profit or going out of business. How long did you wait in total for an available table?

Their way ended with 5 new covers, giving you the 4 table would have been 2 covers and 3 people who may not have waited.

They will know if a suitable table is likely to come free soon though won't they. If they've just served after dinner coffees to a couple chances are they will leave soon after?

The events sort of proved them right too, if they had sat you at the table for 4 then they wouldn't have had space for the party of 3.

It's annoying to wait but sounds like they got it right in this instance

Sounds like you weren't waiting much longer and they would have known that a table for 2 was going to be available very shortly so seems reasonable to ask you to wait. Frustrating for you but they have to manage their tables.

I have run a couple of no reservation restaurants. 8pm is prime time for dining out, even in January.
The restaurant know they will get 3/4pax walk in ASAP around that time, and will fill the table. Prime locations charge prime rents. It’s a given if it’s a popular spot and I wouldn’t have seated you either.

Waiting people get seated in table size order. I went to a place in Soho on Wednesday. We waited for 50minutes for our table, but had drinks and nibbles while we waited.
To get a guaranteed table at a place like that, go early, go late, or be prepared to wait!

Tables turn all the time, and to make a profit these days you need to put people on the right tables. Me putting you on a 4 top, at our average spend per head would mean me losing out on £160 that I know I could get when 4 people walk in 5 minutes after you.

I don’t think it’s counter-productive. They need to maximise profitability and it seems like they did that.

Saying that, I don’t wait for tables. Where I live, there is an abundance of choice. I’d just go elsewhere. If you can’t do that, the restaurant would be well aware of that.

Yeah, I probably wouldn't be arsed to wait for a table in that scenario.

That's not really bad customer service. I've had that happen more than once in a restaurant and it makes perfect sense from a business point of view. Customer service does not equal getting what you want to the expense of their business. I work in customer service, and it really frustrates me how entitled people seem these days!

When booking for dinner with my wife I often book a table for 3 of 4 as we don’t like the pokey tables for two or those awful tables where you sit side by side. We then sit and ‘wait’ for our friends to arrive before explaining they can’t make it. We then have a larger table which we’re happy with.

when i managed a restaurant our policy was first in first served, i would have seated you as there was a free table and the next in line wold have had to wait... i guess it depends on that restaurants policies

That's very unfair on the restaurant, FlouncyDoves.

Four seater tables are for 3 people though. Where do you expect 3 people to sit, restaurants don’t have 3 seater tables.

If I knew it was no reservations I would go earlier if I wanted to be seated quickly. I can’t get worked up about it.

I wouldn’t wait. I would go elsewhere. I hate restaurants where you can’t book. If I particularly want to eat there, I would go early or late. I would never wait 50 minutes for a table. That’s insane.

Was it in London? Nowhere let’s you book anymore and I find it irksome. I have been informed by dfriend that I am being seriously uncool in thinking that .

Lets*

Flouncy- you would be swiftly moved in mine and many of my friends restaurants!

But then we also run places that also charge £40 per head if your party is less than booked for, without giving notice!

If I was running that restaurant, OP, I would have offered you a drink each on the house and asked you if you'd care to sit in the lounge area (I'd make sure there was an area in the restaurant for that purpose as it sounded like it was quite a big place).

For the price of 2 drinks it would have kept you both happy for around 20 mins and then we'd have a table for you.

It's a shame people don't think outside the box about customer service and how to keep reputation positive. Your comments show that they've 'missed a trick' and risked you not going back.

It depends. If they’d said you would only have a very short wait I think it’s ok, but to just tell you to wait with no indication of whether it will be for five minutes or half an hour isn’t good. I would have left.

We don’t eat in restaurants where you can’t reserve a table. I’m not paying a babysitter and getting ready for a rare night out to find out we can’t get a table anywhere!

Flouncy it's so nice to meet you. Normally we only hear about CFs but don't actually get to meet them ourselves. Let's hope the meeting is kept to an Internet message board and not a restaurant though.

this isnt really about customer service though. it is about organisation. you didnt have to wait for a table. you could have gone somewhere else. how long did you wait in the end.
is it a fast paced restaurant?

how was the food?

Wow this thread wins the CF awards, yeah you Flouncy!!

The restaurant was right & clearly had good staff who knows the system. Maybe you don’t eat out often or at high end establishments.

Go to the bar, have a drink and a chat, no big deal. Oh & lol at free drinks, how many customers would catch on to that trick and you’d soon be out of business very soon. Honestly the people who have no idea how business works amaze me, it’s about balance.

I can't abide no reservation restaurants. Never eat at them, I'm not standing for an hour in a queue for normal Italian served on bloody chopping boards.