Industry warning after online booking scam targets upscale Brisbane restaurant
Restaurants still struggling with Covid-19 restrictions are on high alert after a nasty booking scam cost one restaurant thousands of dollars.
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The Brisbane hospitality industry is urged to be on alert after Newstead degustation restaurant Rogue Bistro suffered significant financial loss due to a number of fraudulent online bookings at the weekend.
Four large online bookings made weeks in advance for the evening of Friday, November 6 failed to show up, reducing the restaurant’s nightly earning capacity by 25 per cent, or well over $2500.
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It was a hefty blow to the restaurant at a time when the hospitality industry is struggling to regain ground following months of closures and the ongoing limitations of COVID-safe practices.
“The industry as a whole is walking on eggshells,” said chef and owner Dan Myers.
“Our confidence is coming back slowly, we’re trying to make up for lost time, and it’s just another hurdle we now have to overcome.
“We’re at limited capacity with the social distancing that needs to happen, we need additional staff to assist in sanitising between sittings … it’s a big commitment and there’s real pressure when you invest in what you believe will be a full night.”
The restaurant offers a six-course degustation experience at $85 per head, with the average diner expected to spend approximately $100.
Despite the need to capitalise on each and every service, the restaurant had thus far been lax with its reservations policies, seldom cancelling bookings which failed to respond to both the text and email confirmation messages.
Management steered away from credit card confirmations in favour of a convenient booking system, finding the number of reservations fell when diners were asked to provide payment information.
“As silly as it sounds, it’s a huge hurdle for people and a big step backwards in convenience,” Mr Myers said.
“We’ve been in operation for eight years now, and 99 times out of 100 they always get back to us, and if they don’t they still rock up anyway.
That faith meant the restaurant ignored several red flags on Friday afternoon, when the phone numbers were disconnected and the emails bounced back for each of the four bookings.
Whether the reservations were made maliciously, or simply interference from an automated bot, Mr Myers hopes his loss may be a lesson for Brisbane restaurants relying on online booking systems.
The restaurant shared their experience to their social media pages, describing the event as “absolutely heartbreaking”, prompting shock and disgust from other customers.
“It is potentially the case that it was an attack of sorts, but even if it was a bot system, it would be a shame if we didn’t tell anyone and they potentially stitch someone else up that wasn’t privy to it,” he said.
“The bookings were generated within five minutes of each other, that’s a telltale sign for others to look out for.”