Restaurant demanding table back?

[Wildflower123]

Came over and (we’d only just finished our food and were still enjoying the rest of our bottle of wine) and said we need this table back in 5 minutes.

There was no prior warning given at any point. Sing to think this is bad service?

Depends how long you’d been sitting there really!

2-2.5hrs is normal. Most restaurants do this at busy times.

if they needed the table back by certain time should have said when you ordered however they can't expect table back at 4.30 if you didn't get your food until 4.15

most restaurants expect to turn tables in an evening so if you book for 6pm they might want table back by 8pm most places allow 2 hours I think a cafe type place doing posh sandwiches or soup quiche type quick lunches may expect about an hour at lunch time in at 12.30 out by 1.30

Did you leave then. I guess you won't be going back there and leaving a less than sparkling review.

It's not a way to treat customers (unless you had been there for hours and hours and they were waiting to go home)

If they are the kind of place that does this, they usually tell you when booking or when seating you. Bad customer service partic as they sounded abrupt and unapologetic.

How long had you been at the table?

YANBU unless they told you when you booked or when you sat down, eg “we do have a table but we’ll need it back by xxx time”

If you spent four hours over a two course dinner, YABU. Of course they might have needed the table back.

How long had you been sitting there?

Restaurants can't afford to have tables sat there for hours on end.

YANBU - if a restaurant has a time limit on a table, they should make it clear at the point of reservation. If I use opentable, bookatable, or designmynight to book a restaurant, they always state if the table is needed back after 2/2.5 hours.

Not appropriate unless they made the time limits clear when you booked, and unless they have been reasonably fast about service. When something like this happened to me - and the service had been less than impressive - I obviously decided I wasn't going there ever again and noted it in a review.

Another one wanting to know how long you were sitting there? A lot of restaurants have a time limit at peak times. Were you the one that booked it? Quite often they say at the time of booking, or sometimes it's on their website.

If there was a time limit they should have told you before you sat down and ordered food.

Most restaurants work on the basis that each cover takes 2 hours. Sometimes they state this in their booking terms and conditions online. It really depends.

Another here that needs to know how long you had been sat there and what sort of restaurant it was before I can decide.
Also, if you sat for 45 mins/an hour at the table having a drink before ordering, that would also make a difference.

They should make it clear when you book.
I've booked a restaurant this month and they want the table back after two hours, that's fine, another place once wanted there's back with two hours, and I said no, we'd be ordering a lot and wanted to spend the whole afternoon, they were fine with that too

They usually tell you at the time of booking if they're going to turn the table - second sitting is likely 9pm for tables booked at 7 for example. I'd be miffed if they came chasing when they hadn't made us aware beforehand.

Totally depends on how long you had been there, or did you have the early bird menu, which is cheaper and you would expect them to want the tables back fairly quickly after for a la carte diners.

If they’d said they needed the t table for other dinners but you were welcome to enjoy the rest of your wine in the bar or something, that would be ok imho. Depends how they asked really.

With no prior warning, i.e. nothing on booking email etc, yes, bad form.

The lack of notice is crap But it’s not exactly unusual

If this wasn't made clear to you at booking, it's bad service. I'd complain and tell people in reviews.

Provided you hadn't been sat at the table for hours, then yes that's really rude.

I think this is poor service, and I wouldn't be going back

If they need the table back by a certain time tell me at the start.

At the end of the day it's all very well to say "had you been there for 4 hrs" but if you'd just finished your mains it's irrelevant really how long you've been there as it's related to their service speeds

I only really eat out at nice places*, and I'd be pissed off if it was suddenly sprung on me I had to leave in 5 minutes.
*Not because I'm up my own arse, but because I eat out rarely and save for nice places, rather than lots of cheaper places.