Not showing up at the restaurant after having made a reservation can be very expensive if not notified in advance. Ask the diners who did not cancel the table they had at the Amelia bi-star restaurant in San Sebastián, which cost them 510 euros without trying a single bite from the menu. Is this charge justified?
Rubén Sánchez, general secretary of FACUA-Consumers in Action, considers that the penalty should be proportional to the damage caused to the restaurant. "If it is a business with a normal flow of customers and not one in which you have to reserve three months in advance, it is very possible that the table will end up being occupied by another diner. In other words, you do not cause any damage to the business and, in this case, it doesn't make sense to charge for a cancellation".
But Sánchez does not see it the same in the case of Amelia, a restaurant where the menu costs 300 euros and which clearly specifies the cancellation conditions on its website. "If we talk about an establishment like this, which can only be accessed with a prior reservation that is made well in advance, it does cause damage to the owners if you do not notify them in time, since hundreds of euros stop entering there" he explains.
For this reason, from FACUA they believe that in this case a charge of 100 or 150 euros is justified, but not for the entire menu, because the restaurant "does not throw away the food, but rather has the possibility of serving it to another". In fact, customers who have paid 510 euros for not canceling their reservation in advance at Paulo Airaudo's establishment have not taken care of the entire menu, but only part of it (170 euros per head).
Despite everything, Sánchez says that a mathematical rule cannot be established to know with certainty in which cases this charge is justified. "It's complex," he admits. "But there are situations where it is very clear, such as if they are forcing you to pay after canceling the reservation within a reasonable period of time."
Chef Paulo Airaudo's reservation policy is not unusual. In some Spanish establishments they even ask for an advance payment, as in DiverXO, the three-starred Dabiz Muñoz. On the website of the venue it is indicated that to make a reservation it is necessary to buy a ticket, "like when you go to the theater or to see a football game". The price for booking is 365 euros per person, which corresponds to the cost of the menu (drinks are not included). Date changes are not allowed, but the table can be canceled (and therefore refunded) a couple of weeks in advance. In addition, the reservation is transferable in the event of not being able to attend. The number of attendees cannot be changed either, "if you are fewer, the account will include the full menu of the number of people included in the reservation," they warn.
Another example is that of the Aponiente restaurant, run by chef Ángel León. His website also explains that cancellations must be made 72 hours before the date of the initial reservation. "In the event that you cancel or modify the reservation less than 72 hours in advance, it will entail a charge of €150 per diner, which will be withdrawn from the card provided at the time of making the reservation," they point out from the establishment.
These are just two examples, and there are many. But chef Paulo Airaudo, from Amelia, encourages cooks who do not yet have these cancellation policies to implement them, reports EFE."People are afraid of charging for their work," he laments.
