Woman refunded after $1020 restaurant cancellation fee
A Melbourne restaurant has refunded a customer who criticised the venue online when she was slapped with a $1020 fee over her late booking cancellation.
A Melbourne restaurant has confirmed it issued a refund to a customer who criticised the venue online when she was slapped with a $1020 fee over her late booking cancellation.
Lorida Quiambao took to social media late last week, sharing that she’d reserved a table of six at Yarraville eatery Navi for Saturday night, dining from its $170 per head set menu.
When on Thursday she felt too sick to attend, she cancelled the booking – only to receive an email letting her know she’d been charged more than $1000.
“No restaurant or business should be allowed to charge these kinds of cancellation fees as an offhand thing,” Quiambao wrote on Facebook.
A spokesperson for Navi has since told 7NEWS that “at 2.58pm [on Saturday] we managed to fill the table and the patron has been refunded in full”.
They added it was always the venue’s policy to charge the cancellation fee, and to refund it if they could find an alternate group for the reservation.
But according to Quiambao, “not once did the restaurant mention to me that they would be trying to fill this table or that I would be refunded if this occurred”.
“The restaurant posted this on their social media and also told 7NEWS this before ever trying to communicate this with me,” she said.
“And I have still not yet received a confirmation on a refund nor has the restaurant told me.”
Quiambao said she was surprised by the fee because on Navi’s website, it said 48 hours notice was required to cancel a booking.
However, in an email she received from the restaurant manager, they explained she needed to give a minimum of five days’ notice.
The restaurant has since clarified that bookings for fewer than four, only 48 hours are required. However, for bookings of five and above, it is five days.
Defending the policy online, Navi’s chef and owner Julian Hill wrote that the venue only has “one table of six, which is one quarter of our restaurant”.
“If we fill the table, which we make all efforts to do (including contacting those on our waiting list and sharing on socials) we refund,” Hill added.
“I’m a small business and can’t afford to take the hit of a quarter of my restaurant missing without ample time to fill.”
The situation divided diners, with some vowing they “won’t book with a restaurant that requires a deposit or credit card to secure a table”.
“It’s a very odd backwards practice, and never experienced this outside of Australia,” the added.
“There are plenty of places to eat without going to a place that treats customers with a lack of trust.”
Another wrote: “I’ve never heard of varying cancellation policies based on table numbers.”
But others said Quiambao had bought it on herself.
“They’re also booked out every single day for the entire available booking period – except for a table for six for 8pm (on Saturday),” they commented.
“Unlikely anyone would even realise they could get a table for six on a Saturday night on such short notice.
“So your cancellation would likely have impacted [the restaurant] financially. You agreed to it when you booked.”