Restaurant Etiquette

I would move without saying a word and without arguing.

But I would request a table nearby so that I could watch the action unfold as i'd secretly semi-unscrewed the top off the salt.
 
If I were the original couple I would have also refused to move, whether I'm on drinks/meal/coffee. You rock up at a restaurant, you sit down, you don't move especially if it's the error on behalf of the restaurant staff. The restaurant should suck it up.
 
Bear said:
Let me get this straight, if you booked a seat on a plane and someone who managed to get on the plane before you bought a last minute ticket at the desk which was a mistake by the airline, you wouldn't expect the person sitting in your seat to move?
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If we had the same seat numbers then no. First come first served.
 
Guest2 said:
If I was given a nice big seat on an airplane then some tall guy came along and I was asked to move and sit next to two fat guys then I would definitely refuse
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Ah it wouldn't be an Overclockers thread without a totally exaggerated hypothetical situation as a comparison would it.

And to ruin your straw man a bit more if someone else had booked your seat on the plane I hate to say it you'd have no choice but to move.
 
With the Airline example if you ever pick a seat the selection is only ever a preference. The airline can always move you.
 
Westyfield2 said:
This. It's not the other customers fault the restaurant made a mistake.
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So if you don't believe in the business honouring advanced bookings then how would you feel if another customer bump you off a booking if they chucked the person at the desk tenner or what ever?
 
No chance I would have moved. If I choose to go to a restaurant on the spur of the moment and get a decent table then there is no way I am moving for mr and mrs boring advanced booking. Zero percent chance, unless a 50% discount is offered.
 
Bear said:
So if you don't believe in the business honouring advanced bookings then how would you feel if another customer bump you off a booking if they chucked the person at the desk tenner or what ever?
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I don't think this is relevent. However you spin this it is purely the restaurants mistake and nobody elses. They should honour advance bookings - but they should do this by having a robust enough process that the wrong table isn't given to people without reservations.

Once you've walked in and been offered and accepted a table, thats that. If it's already reserved the restuarant has made a mistake and must therefore take steps to rectify that and that doesn't mean simply pushing the mistake onto the innocent people who walked in, asked for a table, and were offered one.

If the process fails, people affected by this process failure should be compensated as is the case when any business experiences process failure that affects customers.

Personally I'd probably move - I don't tend to buy into the whole 'But my night will be ruined!' crap, but that would be entirely my choice and not something I should feel obliged to do.

It's the easiest thing in the world to sort, too.

'I'm terribly sorry Sir, we accidently allocated you to the wrong table. If I could ask you to follow me to a different table, where I'll then fetch you the drink of your choice from the bar by way of apology'.

Job done, sorted, probably with a cost to the business of no more than £10 but crucially without affecting the customer loyalty of either party.
 
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Bear said:
So why would you not move if the restaurant is honouring the advanced booking based on their mistake? :confused:
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At what point does an unrelated customer become responsible for rectifying process failure within a business? That seems slightly odd. It's the business who should take steps to honour an advance booking, not the customer.
 
it's a big mess up by the restaurant, nobody else was inconsiderate or at fault but them. If I am sat at a table I refuse to be disturbed, be it with or without food or just drinks.

Entirely restaurant fault that messes up the evening of both couples.
 
Considering it takes nothing more than a few bits of card to easily identify reserved tables, it amazes me such mistakes are even made in the first place
 
[TW]Fox;23137744 said:
I don't think this is relevent. However you spin this it is purely the restaurants mistake and nobody elses. They should honour advance bookings - but they should do this by having a robust enough process that the wrong table isn't given to people without reservations.

Once you've walked in and been offered and accepted a table, thats that. If it's already reserved the restuarant has made a mistake and must therefore take steps to rectify that and that doesn't mean simply pushing the mistake onto the innocent people who walked in, asked for a table, and were offered one.

If the process fails, people affected by this process failure should be compensated as is the case when any business experiences process failure that affects customers.

Personally I'd probably move - I don't tend to buy into the whole 'But my night will be ruined!' crap, but that would be entirely my choice and not something I should feel obliged to do.

It's the easiest thing in the world to sort, too.

'I'm terribly sorry Sir, we accidently allocated you to the wrong table. If I could ask you to follow me to a different table, where I'll then fetch you the drink of your choice from the bar by way of apology'.

Job done, sorted, probably with a cost to the business of no more than £10 but crucially without affecting the customer loyalty of either party.
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Absolutely, without a doubt it is the fault of the restaurant. At the end, one party will be upset at the outcome and IMO it is the advanced booker that should take precedence and the party that wasn't the booked party should be adequately recompensed to their satisfaction to correct the error.
 
To be honest I'd move if I wasn't eating.

My decency is there by default, it isn't bought with a free drink :\
 
Zefan said:
To be honest I'd move if I wasn't eating.

My decency is there by default, it isn't bought with a free drink :\
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You miss the point. Decent people shouldn't NEED a free drink to move, but decent restuarants shouldn't expect customers to rectify mistakes the restuarant has made without an offer of something by way of compensation.
 
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