Penalties for ghost reservations | Restaurateurs do not dare

While it was a regulation that they have been demanding loud and clear in recent years, several restaurateurs, one month after its entry into force, ultimately do not impose fines on ghost reservations

They now have the frank cubits, but do not dare to do it. A fear of a break in the bond of trust or a drop in reservations, administrative heaviness, these are the reasons invoked by several establishment owners to explain their decision not to quit against customers who ask them a rabbit.

“For real, putting this in place is Too Much. Too much organization, too much management with the customer. I have a lot of regular customers, I don’t want to say: “We don’t have confidence in you”, “explains Nathalie Côté at the end. The comments of the co -owner of the two Stella Pizzeria restaurants in Montreal are representative from the point of view of many restaurateurs, whether it is a chain or a small neighborhood bistro.

However, in the middle, it was unanimous: all denounced the phenomenon of ghost reservations, which was qualified as disrespectful. The Catering Quebec Association (ARQ) has even done its workhorse in recent years. She has multiplied meetings with the government so that the owners of the establishment can be legally raised. To support this request, it notably referred to the data collected in a survey led by Léger in the fall of 2023. Almost 69 % of Quebecers supported the idea of imposing a “modest” penalty, which they estimated on average at $ 17 per customer, taken from the credit card of those who leave their table empty … without warning. According to the ARQ, the scourge leads to an average annual losses of nearly $ 50,000 for establishments that have to face it.

Since July 17, restaurateurs can therefore impose a maximum fine of $ 10 for each client who makes them miss without warning. Now, now that they have the possibility, many restaurateurs seem cautious at the idea of having recourse to this dissuasive means.

“We realized that customers are more careful [lorsqu’ils réservent]even if we are not able to measure it, ”says Lafleche Francœur, executive vice-president of Pacini restaurants.

Conscious customers

Alone, the media threshing surrounding the no-shows made it possible to make customers aware, estimates Mr. Francœur. It didn’t take more for the chain known for its bread bar and garlic butter decides not to take out the stick in the face of this phenomenon. “” [On a dit] to our franchisees not to go there. And they agreed with that. We think at the end of the line that it will serve us well to have this approach. »»

“We do not want to respond too hard to something which, in our case, was not a scourge,” he adds while recognizing that Pacini does not want to “rush” his customers. “We didn’t want the antidote to be stronger than the problem. »»

Mr. Francœur recalls that restaurateurs do not all live the same reality.

St-Hubert as well as the grandio group (the cage, the crazy pig, monthhes) will also not punish customers who will put a rabbit. While the specialist in roast chicken qualifies the “complex to apply” regulation, the grandio group only judges them, the systems in place ensure good management of reservations, thus limiting the number of ghost reservations.

In the east of Montreal, in Tétreaultville, Matthieu Bonneau, co-owner of the Bistro Le Cerf-Volant, also decided to pass his turn. “When your restaurant is fine and it rolls … I have a very good relationship with my customers. This is a question of respect ”, underlines the one who directs an establishment of 80 places.

At the ARQ, it is recalled that the important thing is that restaurateurs now have a tool available to them. “If this has already made it possible to raise awareness of the consumer without the operators having to tackle the penalty, so much the better,” supports his vice-president of public and government affairs, Martin Vézina. At least, if the situation is deteriorating, the restaurateur will be able to use the penalty since it is now permitted. »»

Decrease in reservations?

At the Tapeo, in the Villeray district, the co -owner Victor Afonso considers that “the problem is not big enough to start loading the world”.

The owner of the Saint-Bock brewery, Martin Guimond, learned it at his expense. During the last month, the one whose establishment is located in the Latin district saw its number of reservations drop by 30 %. A decrease which he attributes in particular to the fact that customers must now leave a card number when they want to retain a table. “What was a good idea may not necessarily be,” he says.

Now remains for him to analyze what may affect his business the most: the no-shows Or the drop in reservations? “Of both ailments, you will have to choose the least. I have no more no-shows ; Sure… I have no more reservations. »»