The restaurant should be apologetic and perhaps offer some compensation?

[AlphaApple]

DD is 18 this week and booked a 6pm table at a restaurant/pub for 12 people to celebrate with her friends. It’s been booked for months.

Last night they called her and told her that they now had another booking and they were cancelling hers. After some negotiation they said she could come in at 5.30 but would have to leave by 7. They were not at all apologetic.

AIBU that they should have been apologetic and maybe offered something to say sorry? DD is really fed up and the new time is not really convenient for everyone (after school commitments etc.)

Yeah that's fucking awful! Do you think they thought they could bully her a bit easier because she's younger?

It's very shit - I wouldn't expect compensation but they shouldn't have done it in the first place! Can't you find somewhere else?

I would go somewhere else. They don’t deserve her business

Yes agree that's awful. Find another venue if possible.

That’s awful, I’d find somewhere else and leave them factually bad reviews.

That’s crap, I’d go elsewhere. I remember (a while back now 😂) my 21st birthday, table booked for 15 people. We arrived and they’d given my table to another party that had turned up which just so happened to also be of 15 so they apparently presumed it was me?! We went somewhere else and never ate there again.

Or they thought they could extract more money from older customers?

Find somewhere else to go, then name and shame the original place on social media, leave bad reviews etc.

Don't go there and contribute to their profits by paying for a rushed meal!

Id be furious. They're basically saying the other people who booked their custom is important/wanted than yours. Id probably be trying to book elsewhere and never go there again.

I am pretty sure it's this.

I’d leave a review in trip advisor

Either way it's crap, and I would be putting on every review site I could.

Absolutely appalling way to treat any customer.

I agree your DD should make sure she leaves reviews detailing what happened.
People deserve to know if the restaurant doesn't honour bookings made in advance.
And yes she should find somewhere else for her celebration.

I hope she has a very happy and enjoyable birthday despite this unpleasant treatment.

Probably not much you can do about it apart from leave shitty reviews on Google/TripAdvisor etc.

Dreadful of them. No excuse.

It will probably be a larger works Christmas party booking-type thing that they know they will make more profit from.

I can can see why they did it, but it's not a nice thing to do.

They should go in at 5:30 but make sure they are nowhere near finished by 7.

Leave a truthful review regarding what happened.

That is so poor. Is somewhere else available. If so I'd go there, and not even go to the 1st place. But leave it a poor review.

It's a dreadful thing to do. It's not often I'd leave negative reviews but I would for this, and I wouldn't accept the alternative booking either.

As should everyone in the group that was due to go.

Terrible behaviour from the restaurant.

If it’s a chain restaurant/pub, I’d be writing to their head office to complain.

Thanks all. DD works part time in hospitality and so is an overly considerate customer. I’ll call them today to see if they will honour their original booking.

Going somewhere else might not be an option. It’s a relatively small town with not many inexpensive options but I will have a think.

Name and shame on social media

Awful. I don’t say this when a story has two sides, but agree DD and her friends should leave as many factual reviews as possible on SM.