Merivale’s Justin Hemmes to hit diners with $100 cancellation fee
Dealt a massive blow after being forced to close due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Sydney restaurant owners are being forced to take drastic measures against diners who book then fail to turn up. SEE WHAT THEY’RE PLANNING.
NSW
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Diners who fail to show for restaurant bookings will have as much as $100 for every person in their party wiped from their credit card.
In brutal new measures designed to help business owners rebuild after the crushing closures of bars and restaurants, some of the biggest names in Sydney hospitality are joining forces in the fight against what they call “the scourge of the industry”.
Diners who fail to cancel a booking within 24 hours or, worse, still simply fail to show up, will now have to cough up anything from $20 to $100 with holding deposits now set to be standard practice in many of Sydney’s eateries.
Merivale boss Justin Hemmes is introducing the strictest measures ever seen with a $100 deposit now to be taken from every diner, with credit card bookings to be mandatory across all of his high-end venues.
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It comes as restaurants move from a 10-person limit to 50.
“With reduced guest capacity the financial impact of no-shows is huge,” said Hemmes, who has implemented a $100 per-person prepayment at his eateries Mr. Wong, Felix, Fred’s in Paddington, Mimi’s (Coogee Pavilion) and Bert’s at The Newport.
The remainder of the Merivale venues will require a credit card with all reservations, with a $50 per-person fee for any no-show.
“Pre-payments or cancellation charges are the only way restaurants can protect themselves and their suppliers … and facilitate a swift recovery,” he said.
“Restaurants are doing everything they can to reopen, re-employ staff and keep their customers safe. In return guests need to play their part.”
The hard line follows a week that saw several top Sydney venues call out the no-show diners which, in one case, saw one restaurant left empty after a party of 10 failed to front for the night’s only booking.
Laura Carson of swanky CBD bar and restaurant The Prince Of York said staff were left “stunned” midweek after a party reserved the venue’s total seating allowance of 10 people only to ditch the booking at the last minute.
“They booked for 8.30pm and it got to about a quarter to nine and the chefs in the kitchen started to say: ‘You know what … they’re not coming’,” said Carson, who had called in three chefs and two waitstaff for the evening.
“We called the mobile phone number provided with (the booking) and it was switched off.
“We were all devastated. We had about 100 other people try to book for that night and we had turned them all away. By 9pm it was too late to get offer the tables to anyone else.”
Carson later attempted to bill the booking credit card a cancellation fee of $50 per person only to find the card had been stopped.
“In that case … what can you do,” she said, adding the no-show cost the restaurant “thousands”.
“It’s kind of heartbreaking really. We are in the business of making people happy because we love people. That’s what hospitality is all about,” she said.
“We don’t want to charge no-show fees and ask for deposits but in the current climate we just don’t have a choice.”
Marc Polese, owner of Sydney institution Beppi’s, made headlines last week when he took to social media to lambaste a party of six that failed to show for a Friday night dinner reservation — a snub that accounted for 60 per cent of his business.
But Polese — who took over the 64-year-old business following this passing of his father Beppi in 2016 — said he is reluctant to move to credit-card bookings and no-show fines.
“Because it’s just not our style,” he said.
“I’ve thought about blacklists and things like that but I feel it’s not fair to punish the majority for a bad minority.
“But the message I want people to know is … imagine you threw a party and spent thousands on food and drinks and decorations and then nobody turned up.
“Imagine the hurt and the devastation. Then think of that next time you decide not to turn up for a booking.”
Originally published as Merivale’s Justin Hemmes to hit diners with $100 cancellation fee