Seafood Restaurant Suffers 3 Million Won Loss Due to 'No-Show'... Owner Frustrated
Different Business Name and Far Distance... "Mistaken Restaurant" Excuse
Owner Plans to Sue for Obstruction of Business
A restaurant owner shared a story about suffering a loss of approximately 3 million won after a group reservation failed to show up on the scheduled date. JTBC 'Sageon Banjang'
At a sashimi restaurant in Busan, an elementary school alumni association that made a group reservation for '90 people dining' became a no-show on the day, causing the restaurant to suffer damages worth 3 million KRW in sashimi.
On the 2nd, JTBC's Incident Commander introduced a report from a man who experienced this at a sashimi restaurant run by his father-in-law. According to the informant, on October 9th, a male customer named Mr. A visited the sashimi restaurant. At that time, Mr. A said, "We are planning an elementary school alumni meeting on November 9th, a month later," and made a reservation for 80 people. He also requested to use the restaurant exclusively, so the restaurant agreed to rent out the entire first floor.
Because the reservation was so large, the restaurant called Mr. A once more on the day to confirm and inform him of necessary details. They also contacted him again three days before the visit to check for any changes. Mr. A firmly said, "(There are) absolutely no changes," and mentioned that about "90 people, slightly more than initially expected," would attend. The restaurant and Mr. A kept in touch until 30 minutes before the scheduled time.
However, Mr. A and his party never showed up at the restaurant. Mr. A called and said, "The sashimi restaurant situation got complicated," and informed them that they could not come. Mr. A claimed that he had mistaken the restaurant for another sashimi restaurant where a deposit had been paid in advance. He also insisted that at the affected restaurant, he only had a reservation consultation and was told, "We will contact you once confirmed." Afterwards, he blocked the restaurant's phone number.
Mr. A told the 'Incident Commander' team, "I was not exactly sure if it was the informant’s sashimi restaurant or another one, but I thought it was the one I reserved, so I spoke on the phone," and expressed the view that "If you reserve for 80 to 90 people, you should pay a deposit for the reservation to be certain." Regarding why he did not answer the affected restaurant’s calls, he explained, "I was busy and kept getting calls, so I temporarily blocked the number. I have now unblocked it."
A restaurant owner shared a story about suffering a loss of approximately 3 million won after a group reservation failed to show up on the scheduled date. JTBC 'Sageon Banjang'
In response, the affected restaurant said, "Mr. A wrote down the reservation date, time, and number of people," and "We never said we would contact him once confirmed." They added that when Mr. A called from another number, they answered, but when he revealed it was the affected sashimi restaurant, he hung up. It was confirmed that the restaurant Mr. A confused with had a completely different name and was located quite far away.
The informant lamented that the no-show caused financial damages exceeding 2.7 million KRW and that they could not accept waiting customers at the time. The informant stated they plan to sue Mr. A for obstruction of business. Mr. A said, "Compensation is not something I decide," and "I will report this to the alumni association president."
Netizens who read the story reacted strongly, saying things like, "What are you supposed to do if you no-show at a sashimi restaurant? Even if you lack common sense, there should be limits," "It must have been difficult to handle, how did they manage?" "There definitely needs to be a solid no-show countermeasure," "All restaurant owners should take deposits," "I run a restaurant and feel like going crazy because of no-shows," "They probably couldn’t do business that day. It’s heartbreaking," and "Mistaking the restaurant? You need to be smart even to make excuses."
Meanwhile, on the 2nd, President Yoon Suk-yeol announced measures for small business owners and self-employed people, including the introduction of a 'no-show reservation deposit system.' President Yoon stated, "Small business owners and self-employed people need to regain vitality and work joyfully to overcome polarization," and added, "We plan to improve the reservation deposit system and dispute resolution standards."
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