Or was this restaurant useless?

[mslevine86]

Starting to doubt myself a bit so thought I would ask for opinions.
Last night was our anniversary and OH had booked a restaurant, told him to keep where it was a surprise but knew it would probably be one of about three places.
Turned up at said restaurant and it was closed!! Ok surely a mistake made somewhere, rang them no answer, stood outside in the cold. Went on their Facebook page and there was a post from the previous day stating they were shut from Tuesday til Thursday (no reason) my OH has fb but doesn't really use it and clearly hadn't seen the post. I didn't know we were going there and don't follow the place on fb as haven't been before so I didn't see it either. Checked his phone and they had actually tried to call him a week ago, one missed call. Rang voicemail number as no notification that they've left one and there was a message from them to say can you give us a ring please? He was in work at the time and it wasn't saved in his phone so ok he could have checked who had rang him, but could but am I being unreasonable that they should have made more effort to let us know? In this day and age a text even? And if it was something like this rang more than once? He had actually rang them yesterday afternoon to confirm with them as it's a 'fine dining' type of place (tasting menu wine flight etc) and he would have spent quite a bit on the meal and drinks, when we've eaten at these types of places before they normally ring to confirm were still coming. They have a cancellation policy on the website that if the customer cancels with less than 48 hours notice they charge 50 pound per head so although they didn't answer he assumed all was ok.
I was really disappointed as was my OH and commented on their post to tell them we were stood outside and did they think it was acceptable to which I've not yet had a response and I've drafted what I think is a very reasonable message to tell them this in detail as I think we deserve an apology. Luckily we managed to get in at another restaurant after my OH phoned round a few places so it wasn't a wasted journey but it wasn't what he had planned so did put a bit of a downer on the evening.

mslevine you are being incredibly self-absorbed here. You have no clue why the restaurant was shut, and yet you seem to think that you should be the priority over whatever else was going on in the owner's life.

They rang your DH. He didn't respond. He then rang them and didn't get an answer and yet still didn't think to investigate further.

You found another restaurant. You had a nice night. Your minor inconvenience (caused by your DH's ineptitude) is in all likelihood a lot less than whatever a business owner is going through if they have to suddenly shut their business for a prolonged period.

If you feel aggrieved don't go back there. But in terms of putting in a complaint because they didn't follow round after your DH as if he was a small child - then yes YABU

OP, YANBU and I struggle to see why people think you are BU. Let's face it your DH did in fact ring back- albeit much later and not because they told him to- but was not given the message. If they want one call/ message to suffice, they need to give the message, ie say they're closed. Being vague leaves the onus with them.

hmm seems a bit of six of one... they shold have just confirmed on vm that the booking was cancelled also should have an answer message on their line for when customers call

but he shold have noticed a call a week ago aswell then he wold have rung back and found out then

Oh come on. They called and left a message but you are trying to lay fault

I agree with Original, plus the message asking you to ring back was probably so they could rearrange the booking rather than just cancel it totally.

How many attempts should they make to contact customers? No doubt they had to cancel others who had booked and those customers managed to either answer their phones or respond to their voicemail messages, how could the restaurant know that you and your dh are a special case who require several phone calls to be made?

The missed call/voicemail from last week wouldn't have been about cancelling, if DH rang to confirm yesterday and they said nothing about it then.
Therefore I'd say the only warning was the Facebook post, so YANBU.

Did nobody that is asking "Why didn't he just listen to the voicemail?" reading the part where the OP said there was no notification. Or do people randomly ring their voicemails for the fun of it?

" how could the restaurant know that you and your dh are a special case who require several phone calls to be made?"

A message being left would have negated the necessity of another phone call though.

No voicemail notification is not the restaurant's fault, that's a complaint to the phone company or a need to update software or something.

The chef is the owner. Who has been very active on social media every day. But it doesn't really matter why they cancelled, I'm not bothered that they couldn't have us last night, I'm bothered that I turned up and the restaurant was closed and we didn't know about it. There are numerous ways they could have got in touch with us and unfortunately my OH missed the one call they made. His phone doesn't group calls on number it does it on time of call.
I don't think I deserve special treatment, I just think I deserve the same as any other customer. Self absorbed?! No matter what the reason you shouldn't take a booking then not ensure the customer was aware you're closed.
No it wasn't KFC 😁 I think the ones near me are still serving, should have just gone there!
I expected more than one call. I don't think they had many bookings or I doubt they would have cancelled so the chef owner could have gone out for a meal.

Notification or not, the voicemail did not explain that the booking was cancelled.

It would have taken them 30 seconds to send a text, if they were bothered about ensuring the message got through.

You don’t have to be a perfect customer to be entitled to decent customer service.

If I was the one trying to let a customer know something similar, I would've tried until I had spoken to him. That's just me, though. Conscientious. So I don't think YBU.

estell the DH got no answer when he called. But assumed all was ok.

The restaurant called and left a message it's not their fault that the dh has voicemail notifications switched off, is the restaurant meant to be psychic?

Ah, I misread.

I think it's a bit of both really. One missed call and a voicemail asking to be called back with no details is not good enough. It could have been anything from closure to letting you know they were missing an item from a tasting menu which have very different effects on your booking. I would have called again and if still no answer left another voicemail explicitly saying that the restaurant will be closed and the booking had been cancelled. I think feedback along those lines is fully justified and will hopefully inform future procedure. I wouldn't expect freebies etc. I also agree that if you were cancelling and left a voicemail saying call me back, it would not be sufficient to avoid the cancellation charge.

Your husband could have been more proactive ringing back the missed call and checking his voicemail. When there was no answer on his lunchtime check he could have also checked his voicemail at that point. I would have checked social media at that point too if I couldn't get hold of anyone.

This is one of those threads where about half the answers are pointless as they've got the details wrong.

Even the ones addressing the wrong one's are getting it wrong

estell not picking at you. Loads have done it. It's funny x

The reason you didn't know the restaurant was closed was because your dh couldn't be bothered to check his missed calls and/or voicemail.

You do seem to want special treatment because of the way your dh manages his phone calls/voicemail, other customers obviously managed to get the message.

"I don't think they had many bookings or I doubt they would have cancelled so the chef owner could have gone out for a meal."

Now you are BU. You're making things up because you are annoyed. You have no idea why they closed and what the chef does when they are closed is, literally, none of your business.

I think it is safe to say that the DH will now be checking his voicemails and have his notifications turned on or buying a new phone that actually works!

Surely the restaurant should have left an answering machine saying "sorry closed" so that when people rang it didn't just ring out? I think it's poor.

I also think they should have left a message saying "booking cancelled next week" not just "please call us".

I recently had a physio appointment cancelled at short notice - 8am for an 11am session. I didn't answer my phone as I wasn't next to it at the time. The physio was capable of leaving a message saying "I'm sick, sorry". I would expect that as standard.

When my dentist has cancelled they leave a voicemail and a text. They don't want you to make a wasted journey.

6 of one and half a dozen of the other. If this were my business I would have tried to call several times. If then you still can’t I through fine but at least I did the best I could. However this should demonstrate to you the importance of a contact number that you can be reached on.

I think if i was managing a restaurant and we had to cancel bookings and we had mobile numbers i'd ring, and if no answer leave a message to ring back and then text as well. I'd text 'Problem with booking on x date at x restaurant, please ring us'.

I don't think they had many bookings or I doubt they would have cancelled so the chef owner could have gone out for a meal

You have no idea if that's why they cancelled. They could have had a problem with the electricity or the plumbing. They could still have had a family emergency - plenty of people eat out during family emergencies.

How many calls would you expect them to give your DH? It's a restaurant booking not a heart transplant. They tried to contact him, he didn't check his voicemail. That's his fault. For all you know they might have had dozens of bookings to cancel. How much time are they supposed to devote to chasing up people where they have already left a message.

In any case, you went on and had a meal elsewhere and had a good evening. So why are you making such a big deal of this? Just don't go back if you're not happy.