A Cork restaurant has begun charging people for no-shows

Sage Restaurant in Midleton, Co, Cork has begun charging people who fail to show up without cancelling beforehand.

Since lockdown restrictions began to ease, numerous restaurants have complained of multiple no-shows and have called for consideration from the public when booking a meal. For Sage Restaurant, owned by chef and restaurateur Kevin Aherne, enough is enough.

Kevin posted an image to Twitter last night showing an email he sent to a customer along with the words ‘due to non-cancellation of booking as per terms set out, your card has been charged the no-show rate.’

Officially the first time I’ve had to do this – Hopefully they will learn & wont do it again 👊🏻 pic.twitter.com/wwOLDFSyyQ

— Kev Aherne (@KevAherneSage) August 1, 2020

Many would agree that this is the appropriate action to take, and Sage is just the latest in a number of establishments to share this kind of experience post-lockdown. Just a couple of weeks ago,  Cava and Tartare in Galway revealed that they had a total of 15 cancellations over one weekend. Meanwhile, in Dublin, The Bank Bar, Las Tapas de Lola and Bon Appetit have all taken to social media to share their frustrations.

During these uncertain times, it really is a privilege to head out for an evening while being safe and following hygiene advice. The least we can do is let restaurants know if we’ve had a last-minute change of plan.

(header image: @SageCork on Instagram)

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