A few days after penalties for no-shows came into effect, Quebec restaurant owners are disappointed that a maximum amount has been imposed on them and that they have not been given the freedom to choose the fees they deem most appropriate for their situation.
“It’s just a shame that we’re all lumped together, that the restaurant serving sandwiches on the corner and the one serving a 12-course meal are treated exactly the same with the same per-person fee,” said Montreal restaurateur Vanya Filipovic, who is also chair of the board of directors of La Table ronde, a collective of 197 restaurateurs across Quebec.
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Since July 17, a new regulation has allowed restaurateurs to charge a maximum fee of $10 per person when customers fail to honour their reservations, also known as “no-shows.”
However, this penalty cannot be applied if the customer canceled the reservation at least three hours in advance, if at least one member of a group is present at the scheduled time, or if the restaurant owner did not clearly communicate these fees or send a reservation reminder six to 48 hours in advance.
In the eyes of some restaurant owners, however, these $10 per person fees or the three-hour deadline are far from sufficient to have a real impact.
Laurie-Alex Vézina, general manager and co-owner of Laurie Raphaël restaurant in Quebec City, knows this all too well.
Just last Friday, a group of eight people who had confirmed their reservation failed to show up, resulting in a loss of revenue of nearly $2,000.
“For a gourmet establishment like ours, which works with fresh products, often customized menus, and limited capacity, late cancellations or no-shows have a significant impact,” she explained in an email to The Canadian Press.
For Filipovic, who also owns Mon Lapin and La Lune rotisserie, the $10 per person fee is ultimately more symbolic than anything else.
La Table ronde sent a letter to the Minister for the Economy, Christopher Skeete, during the consultation on this regulation.
The collective indicated that it would agree to an initial version of $10 per person, but that it “strongly suggested allowing up to $20 per person,” Filipovic said.
“It’s a shame that we don’t have the government’s confidence to apply individual rules that are appropriate for each restaurant and its respective business model,” she said, although she understands that a single rule is necessary for consumer protection laws.
This opinion is also shared by Vézina, who believes that “there is still a long way to go before regulations take into account the diversity of realities in our sector.”
For his part, Olivier Visentin, director of the Monarque restaurant in Montreal, has chosen not to apply any fees.
“It happens every day that people don’t show up, but we are privileged and lucky to have people coming into the restaurant every day who make up for the shortfall,” he said.
However, that does not mean he thinks charging fees is a bad idea.
“In a 20-seat restaurant, when eight people don’t show up, it’s the end of the world,” he said. “I think it’s a matter of perspective.”
Filipovic has already received feedback from restaurant owners who have applied the $10 per person fee in what she calls “clear-cut no-show cases,” i.e., customers who did not respond to reservation follow-up calls and then did not show up.
She also argued that restaurant owners do not want to abuse the law, but only “apply it as a last, last, last resort.”
“The penalty really comes into play when the customer is extremely irresponsible and disrespectful, but that’s really not the majority,” she said.
If a customer can’t show up because they’re sick, have a family emergency, or are the victim of an accident, for example, most restaurant owners will decide not to apply the fee.
“The restaurant is designed to make the customer happy and to remain a place that is flexible with regard to schedules and everyone’s unexpected events,” said Filipovic.
For her part, Vézina hopes that “dialogue can continue in order to achieve a better balance between consumer protection and the viability of restaurants that offer a high-end experience.”
–This report by La Presse Canadienne was translated by CityNews
