People are selling pre-paid restaurant reservations on Reddit
Those who can't make their restaurant reservations are selling them on Reddit
There’s more than one way to get a reservation.
The foodservice industry has been hit hard by the pandemic, and many businesses have had to adjust their practices in order to stay afloat. Some restaurants, for example, have had to adjust their reservation policies in recent months.
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A pinned post on the "Food NYC" subreddit details the various rules for selling restaurant reservations on the site. (iStock)
Many restaurants have seen a rise in people not showing up for reservations, which has caused some to adopt a paid-reservation policy. Basically, customers have to pay ahead of time to secure a seat at the restaurant. That way, if they don’t show up, the restaurant isn’t stuck with an empty table not making any money.
This new system could leave some customers stuck having to pay even if they had a legitimate reason to cancel.
In response, Reddit users have been selling paid-reservation spots for restaurants that don’t offer refunds.
A pinned post on the Food NYC subreddit explains the rules, which have been created to prevent people from trying to scalp restaurant reservations.
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Users can't sell reservations for profit. Instead, the selling of reservations is only supposed to help prevent people from losing money on a missed reservation. (iStock)
For example, the first rule states that users are only allowed to sell reservations for equal to or less than the cost of the original reservation. The rule specifically states that "gouging will not be tolerated."
The second rule states that only non-refundable reservations may be sold.
The rules also state that the subreddit isn’t responsible for any sales that occur on the platform. It urges users to do their own research before purchasing any reservations and call the restaurants to confirm the information.
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Some restaurants have been forcing patrons to pay for their reservations ahead of time, due to an increase in missed reservations. (iStock)
Lastly, the rules state that people can post offers for their own reservations, but other users can’t make posts requesting to buy specific reservations. This rule was put in place to further prevent users from scalping reservations.