How to Avoid Dine-and-Dashes and 'No Shows'

A restaurant can never predict who will dine-and-dash just by looking at them. Furthermore, 'no shows' are problematic for restaurants that might have turned away guests at the door because the reservation shows that it's full, only to have tables remain empty due to 'no shows'.

Here are some tips on how to avoid dine-and-dashes and 'no shows'.

Credit Card Guarantee - Trivec + Waiteraid

When making a reservation through the restaurant's website and using Waiteraid guest reservation system, guests can be prompted to fill in a form to add a credit card as security for the selected seating. Restaurants have full flexibility to use this feature as needed, for example, during dinner sittings or for special occasions and specially composed menus. It is then easy for the restaurant to see who has booked and (if the restaurant has informed the customer in advance) a fee can be charged if the guests do not show up.

In Waiteraid you save the guest’s card details in their profile, making it easier to book since the guest does not need to enter their information every time they make a new reservation. You can also see the history of the customers' reservations, no shows and consumptions and toggle conditions on or off for the specific customer. There is also the option to charge the customer from the POS directly through Waiteraid if they leave or no physical card was present at the time of visit.

Table reservation Systems

Many table reservation systems have set up some rules for those booking tables. It could be that the guest receives an SMS a few hour before dinner that they must be present at least 15 minutes after the booked time, otherwise, they lose the table. Other rules could be that guests receive an SMS or an email about the importance of canceling at least 5 hours before a dinner sitting.

This way, you avoid not knowing anything about the guests who book.