Ahead of Christmas, a restaurant with a prior reservation
suddenly sends a message about menu changes and price increases
"I reserved just one here"... Consumers frustrated
Ahead of Christmas, a story spread about a restaurant that suddenly changed its menu, raised prices, and then demanded a deposit for reservations, causing netizens to frown. The photo is unrelated to the article. Pixabay
A story of a consumer who suffered damages due to a restaurant's unilateral price increase after making a reservation ahead of Christmas has sparked public outrage.
Recently, a post titled "Got Betrayed by a Christmas Restaurant" was uploaded on the online community FM Korea. The author, Mr. A, began by saying, "In early December, I looked for a restaurant for a Christmas date. Since many places were offering special courses at unreasonable prices for Christmas, I reserved a restaurant that was operating as usual without a course."
However, on the 17th, seven days before Christmas, Mr. A received an absurd text message from the reserved restaurant stating that the menu would be changed. According to the text conversation Mr. A shared, the restaurant said, "After lengthy discussions, we decided to proceed with a single set menu for smooth service. We made the set composition substantial as an apology," and requested, "Please deposit a reservation fee of 30,000 KRW per person." The restaurant changed the originally reserved menu to a "Christmas set" priced at 85,000 KRW per person, including steak, and asked for a 30,000 KRW deposit per person in advance. The menu consisted of a two-person course including focaccia, salad, potato gnocchi, tenderloin steak, and tiramisu, priced at 85,000 KRW per person.
In response, Mr. A sent a protest message saying, "I reserved here and waited for Christmas, so what am I supposed to do if you proceed like this all of a sudden? Other places are already fully booked; are you kidding me?" He continued, "Is it reasonable to add one steak to the existing lunch set and charge 50,000 KRW more?" and expressed frustration, "It just sounds like you want to charge more because of the Christmas special. Isn't this how you shouldn't do business?" The restaurant replied, "We contacted you despite our embarrassment because we thought we couldn't handle it with the regular menu. Sorry. We unified the menu to minimize customers' waiting time and considered that many people usually order steak."
Mr. A expressed feelings of betrayal and said he would not visit the restaurant. Through the community, he lamented, "I'm really upset that the initial message only informed about the reservation fee without any price information," and added, "My girlfriend was really looking forward to it, but I'm so upset that I probably can't go." Netizens responded with "Are they planning to do business for just one season and then close?" "Bold business tactics, impressive." "What nonsense is it that they can't handle the number of reservations they accepted?" "85,000 KRW for that menu is a bit much." "Too much just because it's Christmas." "It's better to just stay home during the holidays." "Really shameless." "It's really annoying to do this after taking reservations." showing strong reactions.
Later, Mr. A shared a follow-up that the restaurant apologized over the phone. In an additional post on the 18th, he said, "I just spoke with the store manager, who said that the owner and manager have checked the post and comments. They admitted 100% fault and sincerely apologized. They said, 'If you visit, we will show you properly,' but I was already upset, so I said, 'It's okay.'" He added, "Everyone is having a hard time these days with the recession, so I guess that's why they did that," and continued, "When I told my girlfriend, she said it would be fine to just go to a local cafe and eat bread on Christmas Day. Thanks to that, it looks like this year will pass smoothly."
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