No-shows!

People who reserve a table and then cancel at the last minutes are one of the biggest problems for Italian restaurants.

There is a problem that is becoming increasingly serious for top Italian restaurants: the so-called no-shows, people who make reservations and then cancel them at the last minute or do not show up at all. This is, first of all, bad manners but also an act of inconsideration for those who have bought food in view of an expected number of guests, employed wait staff, perhaps even calling in extras, and turned down reservation requests from others due to lack of seating.

During the recent Easter holiday, the operators of a famous restaurant outside Rome told me that out of 27 reservations accepted, 20 did not show up, almost all of them cancelling their reservations at the last minute, making it practically impossible to accept others to replace the no-shows.

The solution to this problem would be, in theory, a simple one: request the credit card number of those making the reservations with the understanding that there would be a penalty for unjustified late cancellation. This is what is done in hotels around the world where guests who fail to take a room will be charged just the same unless they have given ample, prior notification.

What is absurd is that this option cannot be practiced by restaurants because it violates privacy laws. Specific authorization is necessary and usually it is only granted to organizations like ResDiary or The Fork, which are composed of paying members, whereas it becomes complicated for smaller enterprises like many restaurants.

Given that a system-solution exists, efforts should be made to apply it, even if it is not that simple. Then again, politicians from every party have for years consistently called for simplification, even if it has evidently never reached this sector.

By no means am I saying that the problem of clients who do not show up after making a reservation, sometimes creating serious problems for a restaurant, is one of life or death. There are, obviously, much more serious problems in the world. However, if a solution cannot be found for rude behavior, which is on the rise, also because it is unpunishable, then this is a problem for certain sectors. And I am convinced that anyone with a little common sense, not to mention a political one, can easily understands this. I am equally convinced that operators in a sector afflicted by such problems should let their voices be heard in a serious and effective way.

My advice to restauranteurs who have suffered damages from no-shows is to, in a semi-official way, draw up and share a list of people who have a history cancelling reservations at the last minute or not showing up. Should those on the list then seek to make a reservation in the future, they should be told that, incredible as it may seem, for them the restaurant will always be booked up.