No-shows take bigger bite out of restaurant business

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This article was published 18/11/2022 (1142 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Dining and dashing is bad enough, but now restaurant owners are dealing with patrons who don’t even show up.

“It has been going on for years, but lately it has been getting worse,” said Tony Siwicki, owner of the Silver Heights Restaurant in Winnipeg.

Some people make a reservation and don’t bother to cancel it despite knowing they won’t show up. Others don’t show up at the last minute because they got sick or think they might be coming down with illness.

It’s causing havoc as the restaurant industry crawls out of the financial hole left by COVID-19 shutdowns.

Siwicki, who is also chairman of the Manitoba Restaurant and Foodservices Association, said it amounts to about 10 per cent of their reservations.

“Just the other day we had a table of 14. We confirmed it, but when they came in, only five of the 14 showed up. There was no apology, or saying sorry. All they said was ‘Oh, I guess no one else will show up. I guess we’ll order now.’”

In Quebec, restaurant owners are so frustrated by the increasing number of no-shows, they have asked the provincial government to let them charge people for not honouring reservations that have been secured with a credit card. They have suggested a fee in the range of $5 to $20.

Since the pandemic arrived in Manitoba in March 2020, the restaurant sector has had to contend with months of provincially ordered shutdowns and restrictions.

Several restaurants didn’t make it and have disappeared from the Winnipeg landscape. Those that are still around are faced with a high debt load, are battling to find employees, or both.

Michelle Field, vice-president of operations at Wow Hospitality Concepts, which owns 529 Wellington, the Peasant Cookery, Prairie’s Edge, Bluestone Cottage and Alena Rustic Italian, said they’ve always called back to confirm reservations, but no-shows are still a problem.

“We have found that people are cancelling reservations more frequently than pre-COVID, generally due to someone in their party being unwell,” Field said.

“Even though we do confirm reservations, we have had no-shows and reservations being fewer people than the confirmed number. Again, usually due to people in the party being unwell.”

No-shows cost the restaurant money, Siwicki said. In the past they only phoned back to confirm reservations of six or more — now they do it for all reservations to reduce the chance of suddenly being stuck with empty seats and tables.

“When we had the table for 14 booked, I brought in two staff, but when only five showed up, I didn’t need the extra staff person,” he said.

“If it is one or two people, we don’t bat an eye, but when more than half the table doesn’t show up, that hurts. I could have filled that spot. I just said no to 30 or 40 other people who could have come.”

Siwicki said he can understand if someone suddenly feels sick.

“That’s an acceptable excuse,” he said. “We get it. People are sick now and people are cautious. If they have the sniffles, they don’t show up. We tell our staff to stay home if they think they are sick.”

Siwicki doesn’t want to turn down any reservations, but he has some advice to patrons who realize they are coming down with COVID-19, the flu, a cold, or don’t know which. It is especially important heading into the first holiday season that customers pay them the courtesy of a heads-up, he said.

“Just call,” he said. “We would have time to move tables around and maybe even call servers not to come in. Ninety per cent of them are all good, but it is the 10 per cent that hurt the most.

“It would be a relief.”

kevin.rollason@freepress.mb.ca