Restaurant charges $17 fee for customers who commit this common dining practice: Going a bit far

People are expressing “reservations” about this new policy.A French restaurateur has been ripped online after announcing a new fine on dining parties whose number of members didn’t match their original booking.Olivier Vincent, chef and manager at L’îlot in Amboise, had reportedly become fed up with parties that either exceeded or fell short of the number of patrons they had reserved for, local media reported.The problem — which reportedly occurred on a “weekly” basis, per the boss — was particularly damaging as his venue only has 20 seats.Vincent announced in a Facebook post, which has garnered 27,000 views in the first 24 hours, that diners who fail to arrive with the number of guests specified on their reservation “will be charged 15 euros ($17.27) per missing or additional person.”“Thank you for your understanding,” the Frenchman wrote.“We’re here because we need to make people responsible.”L’îlot currently boasts a respectable 4.7 stars on Google, where it’s described as serving “inventive gourmet plates prepared in a down-to-earth restaurant with an open kitchen.”According to Vincent, the incorrect booking issue had been ongoing since COVID, but things came to a head last Sunday when one customer exchanged multiple messages trying to change the booking.“After about ten emails with one person, she told us there would be eight, then nine, and finally, they arrived at seven without warning, without apology,” he recalled.Vincent said there’s no excuse for this mistake in a day and age where “everyone has their phone on them, 24/7, in their pocket.” “If we are able to reserve, we are able to call to say if we will be less, or more, or that we are not coming,” he declared.“If we are here, it is to work.

It is not to have tables, not to have customers,” Vincent vented.“We organize ourselves so that everything is serene.

We have staff.We work with fresh products.

We do not pay employees and suppliers with...