A post on Chowhound has been causing quite a stir after one user (ironically named violin) posted a sob story about how they "just feel...bad. So bad," as well as "sad" and "painful" due to a $100 charge for a missed reservation at top-rated Chicago restaurant, Alinea.
Apparently, the Chowhound user was given a $100 gift certificate that was set to expire in August. Like everyone else, they were forced to book in advance (with the added touch that the birthday dinner would be spent at a "table for one" at the notoriously pricey restaurant), but due to a long string of personal problems combined with a "tendency to hate my pagers/cell phones and not utilize fancy palm pilots/iPhones," they somehow missed picking up multiple reminder phone calls made by staff members, leading to the implemented policy of a $100 for no-call/no-show. Bearing the heavy cross, violin is just so sad about the whole thing, ending with an "aw shucks" moment of how it's just not meant to be and, again, how painful it all is: "I understand why they do it, and I can't blame them. But it is just too painful."
Spurring a lengthy debate among users, Alinea co-owner Nick Kokonas stepped in with a post on the Alinea Mosaic blog with a pretty simple explanation: "Alinea has 20 tables and serves roundly 80 people per night [...] If a table for 4 no-shows, 5% of our revenue that night is gone. If two tables do so that night we have a serious issue." He notes that in addition to phone calls and e-mail reminders, the restaurant will go as far as to track incoming flights for guests. As far as expired gift certificates are concerned, Kokonas also says that the restaurant is not only legally obligated to honor gift certificates past the expiration date but does so out of ethical reasons "because it is the right thing to do."
Beyond the obvious revenue loss for a no-call/no-show, Kokonas sums up the policy as another use-it-or-lose-it ticket to entertainment: "Buy tickets to the Cubs, Bruce Springsteen, or a theater and no-show and what happens? You miss the show." [Chowhound, Alinea Mosaic]
