Restaurants in Mallorca have cooked up a plan to stop ‘no shows’ wasting their time and money.
Restaurant owners on the popular tourist island could start charging people if they don’t show up to reservations.
Hospitality action group CAEB association president Alfonso Robledo said the move comes amid an increase in ‘no shows’ at eateries on the Balearic Islands.
He said some restaurants will now require credit card details when reservations are made in a bid to guarantee customers show up.
“On average larger restaurants in Mallorca have about 15 reservations that do not show up per day,” Robledo told the Olive Press.
“It’s incredible they don’t come. We are trying to teach people to respect the bookings they make.”
Robledo said the flakey behaviour started happening during the Covid-19 pandemic, and the idea was to now advise customers that their credit card details would be taken when booking, and that customers would need to cancel four hours prior to their reservation time or else they would be charged a 20% fee.
The fee would be up to the discretion of the restaurant, Robledo said.
“After you cancel there are labour and production costs that restaurants still need to pay such as staff wages, food, electricity,” he said.
Some restaurants around Spain are already charging customers who don’t show up to a booking.
Michelin star restaurant Lienzo in Valencia charges customers if they fail to alert staff about a canceled booking 24 hours prior.
Mugaritz restaurant in the country’s northern Basque region requires a 48-hour notice period.
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