Ask & Answer: How Do You Combat Cancellations and No-Shows?

Got reservations about reservations? If you’re a restaurant operator, you probably should. With today’s vast world of choices, and a lack of online accountability, diners may whimsically change their minds about restaurant reservations. It’s when they don’t let you know in a timely fashion—or worse, not show up at all—that it eats into your bottom line.

We’re in the hospitality industry, so charging a cancellation fee isn’t exactly hospitable. So, what do we do? Do we overbook? Take a deposit? Publicly shame repeat offenders? Or dump reservations altogether? There’s no easy answer, but here’s what these industry professionals do to contain the madness:

Got a vexing question that’s keeping you up at night?
E-mail us at members@restaurantscanada.org and
we’ll get the experts to weigh in!