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.)

Definitely leave a bad review.

But - if you go there a lot, or even semi-often in your shoes i would be phoning them and telling them that from now on i will not be spending a penny of my hard-earned in their establishment. And that i would be encouraging all my friends to do the same.

Fuck 'em. The hospitality business is on its knees. They need to keep the custom they have.

(this has happened to me for a Christmas day booking. I am fucking furious because nowhere else has space)

This

Another one for trip advisor reviews. Businesses need to be held accountable for shitty behaviour.

Find another venue and then write really shitty reviews saying what happened on as many review places and sicials as you can find. And tell ppl not to go there.

Is it a local place or a chain? If a chain then I would take it to their head office.

I would book a large table for a future date and then not turn up!

Yes, because we all want to financially screw over our local pubs.

The ones that behave as described in the OP? Absolutely.

What you need to do is make a fake booking for about 18 people. It's what they deserve.

This happened to DS last year. They had a society dinner booked at a restaurant. There were 24 of them. It was confirmed in advance and they all had to provide meal choices etc.

1pm on the day of the event the restaurant emailed (they didn't even call) and cancelled because they were too busy. Absolutely appalling.

Some places really do not value their customers. We had a meal for my cousin's hen party, she didn't want a boozy one, just a freinds and family get together. While some of the party were still eating they came and asked those who had finished their meals to leave the table as they needed it for another booking. I said no as it wasn't our faults they had booked too many in and what if we had wanted desserts as we hadn't even been asked. It was an absolutely disgusting way to treat customers as it wasn't like we had been sat there for hours taking up the seats.
I would ring them yourself and say you have family and friends travelling especially for the event and why now do you get the call to change it when they have known about the booking for a long time?

Find somewhere else and name and shame them across social media and any other review pages!!! Disgusting.

I would get someone to ring up pretending to be the local press and say you are writing an article on bad local business practices and you have heard on the grapevine they had recently overturned a genuine booking and left a young girl high and dry on a special birthday in favour of a more affluent booking. And you are looking for their comment on the matter. Articles is going to press in 2 days.

Is it because it’s an 18th.
We had terrible trouble finding a venue for our dd’s 18th.
It’s partly because of licensing laws, some of the 18 year olds are able to drinks legally others not.
Eventually we had dd’s party in a small marquee which we bought as marquee companies wouldn’t even hire out for an 18th.

None of the restaurants around here allow 18th parties (apparently due to underage drinking from guests who will be younger).

I wonder if whoever took the booking didn't realise that and when it came to light, ended up getting a bollocking?

I know they offered 5.30 but they probably did that in the hope she wouldn't accept.

It wouldn’t be petty. It would be enjoying the service booked - unless there was a 90 min limit on the original booking, obviously. And it would definitely inconvenience the restaurant having half a group unable to be seated.

Ha! I had this happen to me recently. They bloody place kept phoning me and asking me to move my booking as it wasn't very convenient for them. I moved my booking to a new venue, problem sorted.

Could you negotiate with them - if its only half an hours difference can they turn up at 6 but put their orders in in advance? So the kitchen will be ready to serve soon after?

Tbh I'd be tempted to agree it but then as long as a few people start turning up in dribs and drabs from 5.35 onwards they aren't actually going to make them give up the table if some people don't turn up until 5 to 6 or whatever - they're unlikely to get 12 walk ins at that time. It's whether your dd wants the aggro if arguing with them though.

I'd equally be tempted for everyone to have water with their meals and then make a big noise about going to a different pub to get drinks. Or could go back to yours and order fancy desserts from deliveroo, so they get a main meal out but the restaurant loses the items (drinks and desserts) that makes them the most profit, but you don't have to do the part that involves most cleaning and cooking? And they can just sit anywhere for that rather than needing space to host 12 eating.

If restaurant doesn't agree then yep I'd be encouraging all 12 friends and you to leave bad reviews everywhere you can.

They've gone about it in such a shoddy way - for the sake of half an hour if they'd just said "would it be okay if you send your orders in advance, so youre ready to eat shortly after 6, we will give the bday girl a free bottle of wine as a thank you" chances are they'd have been finishing eating not long after 7 anyway, and restaurant could have just asked them to move to bar area to carry on if they wanted a few drinks after.

Terrible customer service and I cannot believe they actually told you they were cancelling because they got another booking, that is madness for them to even admit. I know you say you like the place but it was booked, you have confirmation it was booked and a place that cannot honour a booking should not be given your custom.

Appalling
You need to write a formal complaint

Go elsewhere. Dont go there and give them your money!

Wouldn’t spend a penny with them. Tell them to cancel any booking and go elsewhere

Then leave a shitty review on Tripadvisor stating that customers shouldn’t try to book anything in advance as they are likely to cancel

What do they mean by another booking? Do they mean they've double booked or that they just like the other customers better? I'd be on the blower to the manager toute sweet asking him that very question, and what he was going to do about it. And definitely leave a bad review.

that would be their find out after fucking around.

But i don't agree that booking and not showing up is a good thing to do. And round here you have to leave a credit card to book and then they just deduct the booking fee anyway.

Yes, they would momentarily find out but then so would the community when another pub shuts down.