A Melbourne woman has slammed a local restaurant for their cancellation policy which left her forking out $1020. The internet, however, is divided over the entire debacle.
Lorida Quiambao had booked a table for six at Restaurant Navi in Yarraville for a birthday celebration on Saturday, but she decided by Thursday morning that she was too sick and would have to cancel the booking.
The next morning (Friday), she received an email informing her of a cancellation fee being charged to her card – which is pretty standard practice in the restaurant world.
But it was the cost of the cancellation fee that got Quiambao’s head spinning after she was charged $1020 for the cancellation.
“I understand cancellation fees,” Quiambao wrote online. “I’ve worked in hospitality before.”
Restaurant Navi is a small establishment with a set menu of $170 per person for eight courses chock full of locally sourced produce.
Since Quiambao cancelled her booking, she was charged $170 a head which again, makes sense as to where the $1020 price tag came from.
“They will probably book that table and make the money,” Quiambao said. “No restaurant or business should be allowed to charge these kinds of cancellation fees as an offhanded thing.”
Quimabao also shared two screenshots appearing to show conflicting information regarding the cancellation policy.
An email she received from the restaurant manager said they required at least five days notice of a cancellation or the full menu price per person would be charged.
But a screenshot from the restaurant website acknowledging her cancellation through its booking system, said 48 hours notice was all that was required.
As per 7News, a spokesperson for the restaurant said that the differences in cancellation policies was due to the size of the bookings.
For groups of five or more, the restaurant requires five days notice for cancellations. Whereas a booking of four people or fewer, only requires a notice period of 48 hours.
Chef and owner Julian Hills has attempted to call Quiambao to explain their policy and offer a refund, the spokesperson told 7News.
“We only have one table of six, which is one quarter of our restaurant,” Hill wrote online.
“If we fill the table, which we make all efforts to do (including contacting those on our waiting list and sharing on socials) we refund.”
“I’m a small business and can’t afford to take the hit of a quarter of my restaurant missing without ample time to fill.”
The restaurant made a call out via their social media calling for people to fill the booking as well as contacting everyone on their waiting list.
The whole sitch has received a pretty divided response online with no one really knowing how to feel.
There have been people online agreeing with Quiambao who also think the cancellation cost is a bit cooked.
“This will leave a sour taste in people’s mouths,” one person said via Facebook.
“I won’t book with a restaurant that requires a deposit or credit card to secure a table,” another person commented.
But there are also people sticking up for Navi sharing their own thoughts about the cancellation policy and in the current cozzie livs crisis, I can’t say I blame businesses for wanting to keep their cash.
“They’re also booked out every single day for the entire available booking period — except for a table for six for 8pm (on Saturday),” one commenter said.
“Unlikely anyone would even realise they could get a table for six on a Saturday night on such short notice. So your cancellation would likely have impacted them financially.”
In some better news, if you’ve been wanting to wine and dine at Navi for a while, there might still be a table for six up for grabs.
